The following is a brief excerpt from Tattoo History: A Source Book, by Stephen G. Gilbert now available in print.

Tattoo History Source Book: Polynesia Today

Tricia Allen interviewed by Steve Gilbert Steve Gilbert: I didn't know anything about a tattoo revival in Polynesia until I began corresponding with you. I thought tattooing had been stamped out by the missionaries in the 19th century. I thought they had put a stop to it everywhere, and I think a lot of people think that, because that's what you read in the histories of tattooing. So tell me just in general what's going on in Polynesia today.

Tricia Allen: There is a revival of all of the ancient arts: tattooing, tapa making, weaving, carving, dance, chanting and firewalking. There is a whole resurgence of Polynesian culture, and tattooing is just a part of that. In my mind it is one of the most significant parts of the revival because it's such a permanent statement: "I'm Polynesian." And to some degree in many cases it is a political statement, or a statement of allegiance to the traditional culture.

SG: How and when did this revival get started?

TA: It varies quite a bit. In most cases it's been within the last 20 years. In Tahiti it was 1981. There was a ex night club owner from Waikiki who went to Samoa, where he was partially tattooed. Then he took the Samoan tofunga or tattooists back to Tahiti, where they demonstrated tattooing in the Bastille Day Festival. In Tahiti Bastille Day is a month-long festival. It includes traditional arts, dance competitions, and so on. So it was through watching these Samoans work that the Tahitians got inspired to recreate a tattoo form of their own. And at first they started with traditional tools based on the Samoan tools. And then in 1986 the Ministry of Health banned tattooing with traditional tools, and that's when they started using the machines which they make from electric razors, that they are using today.

SG: Why did the Ministry of Health ban tattooing?

TA: Because of health risks. The porous materials (bone and wood) that the tools are made from cannot be easily sterilized.

SG: Did they demonstrate that disease had been transmitted by tattooing?

TA: Not to my knowledge. It's just because it's such a likely means of transmission.

SG: If they banned it with traditional tools, why do they think it's safer with machines?

TA: Because the needles are disposable, it probably is safer. If adequate precautions were taken with the traditional style tools, such as carving a new set of tools for each tattoo, it would be safe. This would be terribly time consuming, as the tools are not quick or easy to make. Other precautions like soaking the tools in bleach before each use would >certainly help. But this would be difficult to regulate, so the Ministry of Health just banned it altogether.

SG: But the tubes aren't disposable, and if they don't sterilize them ...

TA: Right. But they don't use tubes. In Tahiti most tattooists are using a machine that they have created from an electric shaver or razor. They just attach the needles to a wooden match stick and attach that to the head of the razor. It's not an elaborate rotary type razor, it's the old basic type twhere the head just goes back and forth. You could pull the head off and pull the section off the head of the razor that has the blades in it and then just attach a wooden match stick that has the sewing needle tied on to it.

SG: How is the ink held onto the needle?

TA: They use a sewing thread and wrap the legnth of the needle tightly to within an eighth of an inch of the point.

SG: Can they do shading with that?

TA: No. There are only a few tattooists that I know of down there who are doing shading at all. Most strictly do traditional style designs that are composed of the big black areas without shading. If you're referring to this, they are able to do big fill-work pretty well, but would have a hard time with grey work.

SG: How about the big areas of solid black? Does it result in scarring?

TA: It's pretty slow but they can do it. I've used their home-made machines quite a bit and let them try my machines. The problem I've found with their machines is that you get a lot of skin snag. I don't see many tattoos that are scarred, in Tahiti, that is. The Samoan method definitely can result in scarring. Most Samoan tattoos have a lot of scar tissue because they tend to go so deep. And there's a lot more blurring of the lines. But with the Tahitian homemade machines they are doing really good clean work.

SG: So back to the history. They started using machines in Tahiti about 1987 - then what happened?

TA: Right. But they don't use tubes. In Tahiti most tattooists are using a machine that they have created from an electric shaver or razor. They just attach the needles to a wooden match stick and attach that to the head of the razor. It's not an elaborate rotary type razor, it's the old basic type twhere the head just goes back and forth. You could pull the head off and pull the section off the head of the razor that has the blades in it and then just attach a wooden match stick that has the sewing needle tied on to it.

SG: How is the ink held onto the needle?

TA: They use a sewing thread and wrap the legnth of the needle tightly to within an eighth of an inch of the point.

SG: Can they do shading with that?

TA: No. There are only a few tattooists that I know of down there who are doing shading at all. Most strictly do traditional style designs that are composed of the big black areas without shading. If you're referring to this, they are able to do big fill-work pretty well, but would have a hard time with grey work.

SG: How about the big areas of solid black? Does it result in scarring?

TA: It's pretty slow but they can do it. I've used their home-made machines quite a bit and let them try my machines. The problem I've found with their machines is that you get a lot of skin snag. I don't see many tattoos that are scarred, in Tahiti, that is. The Samoan method definitely can result in scarring. Most Samoan tattoos have a lot of scar tissue because they tend to go so deep. And there's a lot more blurring of the lines. But with the Tahitian homemade machines they are doing really good clean work.

SG: So back to the history. They started using machines in Tahiti about 1987 - then what happened?

TA: By 1987, when they banned traditional tattooing, there were quite a few Tahitians who had gotten involved in the revivial. At least five or six were tattooing regularly, doing very good work, and doing what research they could considering the limited resources available to them. And it really took off.

SG: Why?

TA: Well, Teve, who was the first completely tattooed Tahitian, is a professional dancer. His full body suit was completed in 1982. And he was really successful. He was in all sorts of advertisements: television, beer commercials, posters, post cards, calendars, and all of the hotels wanted him, either as a door man or in the dance shows. And so in part due to his success, other dancers and other people were inspired to do large tattoos. It's probably equally or even more influenced by the whole political and social climate. Tahitians are seventy percent of the population of the Society Islands, and in many cases they very much resent the French presence. Teve is still working as a dancer. Lately he has been traveling Europe doing dance demonstrations and performances for a tourist establishment called Tiki Village Theater.

SG: So he made a career of being an authentic tattooed man? And did other people try to do the same thing?

TA: Yes, there are several others who wear full body suits. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of people walking around on the island of Tahiti with a full arm or a full leg tattoo. In 1993 I sat downtown by the post office where there's a nice park one day and counted 150 major tattoos go by in about 5 hours: either a full arm or a full leg piece.

SG: What kinds of designs are they?

TA: Most of these are Marquesan designs. There are fewer than 20 known illustrations of authentic ancient Tahitian tattoos. The arts in general in Tahiti were not highly decorative as they were elsewhere. So today they are borrowing tattoo designs from the Marquesas, where the art was very well documented.

TA: Because of health risks. The porous materials (bone and wood) that the tools are made from cannot be easily sterilized.

SG: Did they demonstrate that disease had been transmitted by tattooing?

TA: Not to my knowledge. It's just because it's such a likely means of transmission.

SG: If they banned it with traditional tools, why do they think it's safer with machines?

TA: Because the needles are disposable, it probably is safer. If adequate precautions were taken with the traditional style tools, such as carving a new set of tools for each tattoo, it would be safe. This would be terribly time consuming, as the tools are not quick or easy to make. Other precautions like soaking the tools in bleach before each use would certainly help. But this would be difficult to regulate, so the Ministry of Health just banned it altogether.

SG: But the tubes aren't disposable, and if they don't sterilize them ...

TA: Right. But they don't use tubes. In Tahiti most tattooists are using a machine that they have created from an electric shaver or razor. They just attach the needles to a wooden match stick and attach that to the head of the razor. It's not an elaborate rotary type razor, it's the old basic type twhere the head just goes back and forth. You could pull the head off and pull the section off the head of the razor that has the blades in it and then just attach a wooden match stick that has the sewing needle tied on to it.

SG: How is the ink held onto the needle?

TA: They use a sewing thread and wrap the legnth of the needle tightly to within an eighth of an inch of the point.

SG: Can they do shading with that?

TA: No. There are only a few tattooists that I know of down there who are doing shading at all. Most strictly do traditional style designs that are composed of the big black areas without shading. If you're referring to this, they are able to do big fill-work pretty well, but would have a hard time with grey work.

SG: How about the big areas of solid black? Does it result in scarring?

TA: It's pretty slow but they can do it. I've used their home-made machines quite a bit and let them try my machines. The problem I've found with their machines is that you get a lot of skin snag. I don't see many tattoos that are scarred, in Tahiti, that is. The Samoan method definitely can result in scarring. Most Samoan tattoos have a lot of scar tissue because they tend to go so deep. And there's a lot more blurring of the lines. But with the Tahitian homemade machines they are doing really good clean work.

SG: So back to the history. They started using machines in Tahiti about 1987 - then what happened?

TA: By 1987, when they banned traditional tattooing, there were quite a few Tahitians who had gotten involved in the revivial. At least five or six were tattooing regularly, doing very good work, and doing what research they could considering the limited resources available to them. And it really took off.

SG: Why?

TA: Well, Teve, who was the first completely tattooed Tahitian, is a professional dancer. His full body suit was completed in 1982. And he was really successful. He was in all sorts of advertisements: television, beer commercials, posters, post cards, calendars, and all of the hotels wanted him, either as a door man or in the dance shows. And so in part due to his success, other dancers and other people were inspired to do large tattoos. It's probably equally or even more influenced by the whole political and social climate. Tahitians are seventy percent of the population of the Society Islands, and in many cases they very much resent the French presence. Teve is still working as a dancer. Lately he has been traveling Europe doing dance demonstrations and performances for a tourist establishment called Tiki Village Theater.

SG: So he made a career of being an authentic tattooed man? And did other people try to do the same thing?

TA: Yes, there are several others who wear full body suits. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of people walking around on the island of Tahiti with a full arm or a full leg tattoo. In 1993 I sat downtown by the post office where there's a nice park one day and counted 150 major tattoos go by in about 5 hours: either a full arm or a full leg piece.

SG: What kinds of designs are they?

TA: Most of these are Marquesan designs. There are fewer than 20 known illustrations of authentic ancient Tahitian tattoos. The arts in general in Tahiti were not highly decorative as they were elsewhere.So today they are borrowing tattoo designs from the Marquesas, where the art was very well documented.

TA: Because of health risks. The porous materials (bone and wood) that the tools are made from cannot be easily sterilized.

SG: Did they demonstrate that disease had been transmitted by tattooing?

TA: Not to my knowledge. It's just because it's such a likely means of transmission.

SG: If they banned it with traditional tools, why do they think it's safer with machines?

TA: Because the needles are disposable, it probably is safer. If adequate precautions were taken with the traditional style tools, such as carving a new set of tools for each tattoo, it would be safe. This would be terribly time consuming, as the tools are not quick or easy to make. Other precautions like soaking the tools in bleach before each use would certainly help. But this would be difficult to regulate, so the Ministry of Health just banned it altogether.

SG: But the tubes aren't disposable, and if they don't sterilize them ...

TA: Right. But they don't use tubes. In Tahiti most tattooists are using a machine that they have created from an electric shaver or razor. They just attach the needles to a wooden match stick and attach that to the head of the razor. It's not an elaborate rotary type razor, it's the old basic type twhere the head just goes back and forth. You could pull the head off and pull the section off the head of the razor that has the blades in it and then just attach a wooden match stick that has the sewing needle tied on to it.

SG: How is the ink held onto the needle?

TA: They use a sewing thread and wrap the legnth of the needle tightly to >within an eighth of an inch of the point.

SG: Can they do shading with that?

TA: No. There are only a few tattooists that I know of down there who are doing shading at all. Most strictly do traditional style designs that are composed of the big black areas without shading. If you're referring to this, they are able to do big fill-work pretty well, but would have a hard time with grey work.

SG: How about the big areas of solid black? Does it result in scarring?

TA: It's pretty slow but they can do it. I've used their home-made machines quite a bit and let them try my machines. The problem I've found with their machines is that you get a lot of skin snag. I don't see many tattoos that are scarred, in Tahiti, that is. The Samoan method definitely can result in scarring. Most Samoan tattoos have a lot of scar tissue because they tend to go so deep. And there's a lot more blurring of the lines. But with the Tahitian homemade machines they are doing really good clean work.

SG: So back to the history. They started using machines in Tahiti about 1987 - then what happened?

TA: By 1987, when they banned traditional tattooing, there were quite a few Tahitians who had gotten involved in the revivial. At least five or six were tattooing regularly, doing very good work, and doing what research they could considering the limited resources available to them. And it really took off.

SG: Why?

TA: Well, Teve, who was the first completely tattooed Tahitian, is a professional dancer. His full body suit was completed in 1982. And he was really successful. He was in all sorts of advertisements: television, beer commercials, posters, post cards, calendars, and all of the hotels wanted him, either as a door man or in the dance shows. And so in part due to his success, other dancers and other people were inspired to do large tattoos. It's probably equally or even more influenced by the whole political and social climate. Tahitians are seventy percent of the population of the Society Islands, and in many cases they very much resent the French presence. Teve is still working as a dancer. Lately he has been traveling Europe doing dance demonstrations and performances for a tourist establishment called Tiki Village Theater.

SG: So he made a career of being an authentic tattooed man? And did other people try to do the same thing?

TA: Yes, there are several others who wear full body suits. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of people walking around on the island of Tahiti with a full arm or a full leg tattoo. In 1993 I sat downtown by the post office where there's a nice park one day and counted 150 major tattoos go by in about 5 hours: either a full arm or a full leg piece.

SG: What kinds of designs are they?

TA: Most of these are Marquesan designs. There are fewer than 20 known illustrations of authentic ancient Tahitian tattoos. The arts in general in Tahiti were not highly decorative as they were elsewhere. So today they are borrowing tattoo designs from the Marquesas, where the art was very well documented.

TA: By 1987, when they banned traditional tattooing, there were quite a few Tahitians who had gotten involved in the revivial. At least five or six were tattooing regularly, doing very good work, and doing what research they could considering the limited resources available to them. And it really took off.

SG: Why?

TA: Well, Teve, who was the first completely tattooed Tahitian, is a professional dancer. His full body suit was completed in 1982. And he was really successful. He was in all sorts of advertisements: television, beer commercials, posters, post cards, calendars, and all of the hotels wanted him, either as a door man or in the dance shows. And so in part due to his success, other dancers and other people were inspired to do large tattoos. It's probably equally or even more influenced by the whole political and social climate. Tahitians are seventy percent of the population of the Society Islands, and in many cases they very much resent the French presence. Teve is still working as a dancer. Lately he has been traveling Europe doing dance demonstrations and performances for a tourist establishment called Tiki Village Theater.

SG: So he made a career of being an authentic tattooed man? And did other people try to do the same thing?

TA: Yes, there are several others who wear full body suits. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of people walking around on the island of Tahiti with a full arm or a full leg tattoo. In 1993 I sat downtown by the post office where there's a nice park one day and counted 150 major tattoos go by in about 5 hours: either a full arm or a full leg piece.

SG: What kinds of designs are they?

TA: Most of these are Marquesan designs. There are fewer than 20 known illustrations of authentic ancient Tahitian tattoos. The arts in general in Tahiti were not highly decorative as they were elsewhere. So today they are borrowing tattoo designs from the Marquesas, where the art was very well documented.

SG: Where do they find pictures of Marquesan designs?

Next Page