Body art

Tattooing is again popular through out the Pacific after the missionaries tried to stop the practice a half century ago. On Tahiti they (Tahitian as well as the French) stick mostly to traditional Polynesian style made up of black patterns, though you will see the occasional heart or eagle. Though the fashion tattoos today, made with a modern tattoo-gun at one of the tattoo studios, are the most esthetically to look at, there is just something authentic about the elder's old and faded pieces that easily fill out a whole leg or back. These were made by hand with the use of crude tattooing instruments by repeatedly tapping a stick with a row of needles into the skin. So when you get tired of looking at the turquoise sea, turn your eyes to the walking skin art in the streets.

Samoa is a nation of tattooed people and fortunately many still prefer the traditional black style. The most recognisable tattoo is probably the male pe'a, which cover from waist to the knees. But you see every kind of tattooes on both men and women; hands, full legs, and backs, however no facial tattoes. Every tattoo means something and is made to commemorate life events. A traditional Samoan tattoo is made by hand, no tattoo-gun, with an angled stick which has sharpened bones or boar teeth. The ink then gets injected by continuously hitting the stick with another stick. The international word tattoo actually comes from the Samoan word tatau.

In the not-so-old days of tribal warfare, the tribes of Malaita fancied a bit of head hunting. To be able to distinguish friends from enemies, they practised facial scarification as a means of tribe identification. Each tribe had their own design made up of circles and lines which were cut into the cheeks of infants. When they grew up, the marks would smoothe out and leave discoloured facial patterns. Though the Christian missionaries have managed to ban the head hunting, some people of Malaita still perform facial scarification with the ancient patterns. And it still looks really cool.