As I lept from video to video about sock poi or poi in general, I happened across a video about Maori doing a poi performance. The link is in yesterday’s post. I remember the first time I heard about the Maori, it was in reference to body tattoos and how they will tattoo their face as part of their cultural traditions. It seemed a bit over the top on one hand, but cultural traditions are what they are, so I completely understand from that point of view.
But the more tattooed faces I saw, the more I liked them. They’re not just tattoos to stand out or be different or be like everyone else. They’re symmetrical, they tell a story, they’re part of their heritage. They’re Ta Moko. The men usually have spiral tattoos over their entire face; the women on the lips and chin only.
I wondered what it would be like to see a businessman with a Maori tattoo in the US. They look so good (to me, anyhow, and I’m not a tattoo fan either) that I think it wouldn’t be long at all before I would stop noticing the tattoo altogether and it would become part of the person.