If you turn on the television in Aotearoa (the name for New Zealand in the Maori language), you will probably see more people on the screen displaying Maori symbols on their skin than ever before.
Last December, journalist Oriini Kaipara became the first Maori woman to present the news in prime time while wearing traditional symbols on her chin.
These symbols are called moko kauae.
A few months earlier, in 2020, New Zealand MP Nanaia Mahuta became the first Maori woman to be appointed foreign minister and, therefore, the first woman to post a moko kauae in the global field of politics.
ang moko kauae is a sacred tattoo traditionally worn by Maori women. It covers most of the chin and lips. The male equivalent is livewhich can interrupt almost any face.
Increasing the visibility of these tattoos is the realization of a dream for Julie Paama-Pengelly, Maori activist and artist who contributed to its resurgence in the 1990s.
” When we began this period of rebirth a few years ago, that is what we expected. “
But I never thought it would turn out this muchhe confessed into the microphone of Rosanna Deerchild, the host of the radio show There is no reservesa CBC.
In the Canadian Far North as well
From the Maori of New Zealand to the Inuit of Canada, indigenous peoples around the world are reviving traditional tattoos and designs after these symbols and practices were stigmatized under the impact of Western colonialism.
In Canada, former Nunavut MP Mumilaaq Qaqqaq was the first elected official on Parliament Hill to wear designs on his face and chin. In an interview in 2019, he said he prefers to call them symbols. traditional inspiration.
In Canada, the recent resurgence of Inuit tattoos (including facial tattoos, called tunnieit) was notably led by Hovak Johnston, designer of the Inuit Tattoo Revitalization Project.
This young Inuk learned from Nunavut the so -called tattoo technique poke of the hand in English (using a manual device instead of electric) after noticing that this ancient work was about to disappear.
Since then, he has traveled to communities throughout Northern Canada teaching techniques and their historical importance.
Aedan Corey attended such a gathering in his hometown of Cambridge Bay, Nunavut in 2016. Prior to that, he had not seen anyone in the community with a traditional Inuit tattoo. He describes this experience as a incredibly special moment.
The tattoo on the maiden’s chin has a special meaning. Her great -grandmother was wearing the same design.
” In Inuit culture, it is said that some of the people whose names we retain remain within us. So I thought it would be appropriate for my ancestor to get a tattoo. “
But it is not just a personal act. By reviving the art of Inuk tattooing, this young artist is helping to revive a practice that has been further erased from the collective memory.
During the process of assimilation into Christianity, we as Inuit were not allowed to practice tattooing. It was greatly frowned upon by the missionaries and somehow became an underground practiceexplanation of the maiden.
Resistance to the effects of colonization
Anishinabe singer and historian Isaac Murdoch has 17 tattoos on his body. Many of them describe thunderbirds (thunderbirds) adults and infants, who plays a major role in a story his father often told him when he was young.
In this story, the thunders fought the snakes. Baby thunderbirds represent the next generation of life on the planet. He said he only shares the details of this story at ceremonies to maintain the respect and integrity it deserves.
It’s a very, very good story of how our people are going back to the land and back to their traditional way of life.says Isaac Murdoch, who sees similarities between this story and the resurgence of ancestral tattooing.
Wearing these stories in a more permanent medium like one’s own skin makes them a symbol of strength and integrity, according to this member of the Serpent River First Nation in Ontario.
” Because the Canadian government has deliberately suppressed this knowledge, it feels good to wear it on our bodies. “
It feels so good to walk into society and say, “Hey, I’m Indigenous. I have Indigenous tattoos. They’re telling stories. We’re still here. We survived. Our story lives on.”
The ransom of victory
Juile Paama-Pengelly narrated that the same attempt at erasure happened to the Maori. A law in 1907 banned all traditional activities, including medicine and art.
For nearly a century, the your motheror is made underground. In the 1990s, Ms. worked. Paama-Pengelly along with politically motivated artists and language and cultural experts to evoke the resurgence of your moko.
Due to some effort, the stigma surrounding your moko began to fade in New Zealand, but not at all. Shortly after being promoted to the position of Foreign Minister of New Zealand, Nanaia Mahuta faced criticism from some public figures and others on social media.
Another challenge: face the ransom of glory. While the ta moko from darkness to light, Julie Paama-Pengelly fears that they will suffer from the phenomenon of cultural appropriation.
Some non-Maori, he says, have chosen to get tattoos in the Maori style. They are often called kirituhi. I don’t have much tolerance for that.
Based on text by Jonathan Ore, CBC, from the radio show There is no reserve
Source: Radio-Canada
