Tattoo History - Moko

Probably the most impressive form of the polynesian tatau is the Moko, the facial tattoo of the male Maori, the natives of New Zealand. The moko was first told about to the old world in 1769 by Sir Joseph Banks, the british adventurer who accompanied James Cook on his first journey to the southern pacific. During an argument and a fight between the brits and the Maori, one of the Maori died. In his records, Banks described the dead Maori as "A man of middle height who was dressed in fine clothes which were manufactured in a modern technique, his hair was tied to a knot, his facial color was brown but not very dark and he had a spiral line tattooed on one of his cheeks".

These complex facial tattoos were done by engraving lines and spirals into the skin with a very fine, serrated, chisel like instrument which was used by the tohunga-ta-moko, the honored masters of this technique. Typical for the moko facial art were the swung, radially lines and the one, and sometimes even two times rolled spirals called koru. The pattern and ornaments found their role models in nature. In unfolding leaves of the native fern trees which symbolized the strength and resistance against the inhospitable climate of the country.

During times of war the moko was used as camouflage and it also gave the warrior a threatening and intimidating appearance. It also symbolized the virtue of perseverance and showed the warriors ability to stand pain and it increased the attention of the enemy. If disliked tribes met up, they started their dispute with a war dance called Haka. Staring at each other with wide open eyes, their tongues stuck out, representing their unprotected bodies, thereby searching for a potential opponent. A very special effect had the interaction between the facial expressions and the tataued face. To find out what exactly those tataued facial expressions had looked like, new Zealand's TV company Te Haeata Productions founded the Moko Toa Project. Pictures of masks with mokos were used to feed the computer and brought to virtual live with computer animation (www.robot.co.nz).

Of course the moko motives also had a mythical background. The name moko means lizard and at the same time Whiro, who is the ruler of the underworld and diseases. He and his brothers came of a union between heaven (Rangi) and earth (Papa). In a dispute between Rangi and Papa of the supremacy between them, Whiro and Tane, the god of the woods and the creator of man, turned out as the two strongest opponents. Whiro lost to Tane and withdrew to the underworld from where he, ever since, troubles man with diseases and where the tatau of the maori has it's mythical origin. To protect man from Whiro's diseases those symbols were not only cut into human flesh but also into lifeless objects.

Another form of the moko were tatauings in the so called puhoro style in which the face was pigmented entirely just leaving out single, untreated skin parts. This technique was not used on the face later on any more but it was still used for buttock and thigh tataus. Those were the forerunners of today's tribal tattoos.

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