I t goes without saying that these days, tattoos are everywhere. And while societal acceptance of ink has ebbed and flowed, many people who spent hours in tattoo parlors adding to ...

When a Master Tattoo artist etches markings onto skin these markings are symbols of traditional and religious “tatau” found among the people of Oceania including Samoa. Army Captain Isis Sake ...

Etched into her skin from the wrists up to her nail beds, the markings are no ordinary tattoos, but symbols of traditional “tatau” found among the people of the Polynesian island country Samoa.

There’s a common format to the tattoos, which usually have symbols important to the Samoan culture, such as the canoe, Liufau said. “They’re the leader within their family, their community.

“Tattoos in Samoan culture are very ... It started with a crest on his pec that he designed himself that includes three symbols. One of them is a Celtic eternity knot that represents his ...

The islands that make up Polynesia are culturally diverse with unique tattoo traditions and symbols. This graphic from Teiki Huukena’s Polynesian Tattoo Dictionary: Marquesas Islands shows a ...

Given how personal Polynesian tattoos can be, it also requires deep ... To anyone who isn’t familiar with the meaning of these symbols, the markings appear as diamonds and arrow-like marks ...