The tattoo, or moko, (its native name,) is done either with the sharp bone of a bird, or with a small chisel, called uhi. The candidate for this distinction reposes his head upon the knees of the operator, who drives the chisel into the skin with his hand. Each time, the chisel is dipped into a pigment called marahee, which is prepared by carbonizing the resin of the kauri-pine, and after each incision the blood is wiped off. The persons operated upon never allow the slightest expression of pain to escape them; and, after the inflammation has passed away, the regular and clear scars appear dark. The tattooing of the lips is the most painful part of the operation.
The moko is the same in all tribes, and does not form what might be called the arms of the individual; neither is it given as a reward for valiant deeds. Nor is it an enforced ceremony, but any one may have it done or not, according to his wishes. Neither is it in many cases complete, but often remains unfinished. "The complete tattoo comprises theface, the posteriors, and the anterior part of the thighs to above the knees." The girls as soon as they arrive at a certain period have their lips tattooed with horizontal lines, to have red lips being a great reproach to a woman. With females, in many cases, the operation ceases here; but more frequently, I understand, the chin is tattooed, especially in the Waikato tribe, and the space between the eye-brows, much resembling the tattoo of the modern Egyptians; and, in some rare cases, it extends over the angles of the mouth.
The general effect of the tattoo is to give the face a rigorous and unchangeable appearance; and it prevents the symptoms of age from becoming visible so early as they otherwise would. The tattoo of the lips, however, in women, gives them a livind, deadly appearance, certainly not to their advantage. The reasons the men assign for their observing the custom are, first, it increases, as they think, their beauty, makes them admired by the ladies, who are not supposed to fall in love with a plain face; and, secondly, it secures the preservation of their heads when dead, as an untattooed face is not considered worth preserving. The faces of some of the old men were elaborately, and, as far as art was concerned, beautifully carved. Most of the young men present on the occasion this morning exhibited but few lines, some not any; but the practice still obtains to some extent, and will doubtless do so, until Christianity becomes more prevalent, and takes a deeper hold upon the native population: then, like every other pagan custom, it must perish.
The practice of marking the skin appears to have been in use among the ancients. Hence the Mosaic prohibition, Lev. XIX. 28: -- "Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you." These were doubtless customs of neighbouring tribes, connected with idolatrous worship. Men printed marks upon their flesh in honour of the objects they worshipped. Herodotus mentions it as prevailing among the Thracians, who considered that "to be marked with punctures was a sign of noble birth." Among the Greeks these marks were called stigmata. To these St. Paul is supposed to refer when he says, "I bear in my body the marks (stigmata) of the Lord Jesus." Caesar remarks it as prevailing among the Britons, and Pliny says they introduced the juice of the plaintain into punctures made in the skin, so as to form a permanent delineatino of various objects.
The Southern World: Journal of a Deputation from the Wesleyan Conference to Australia and Polynesia, by Robert Young (1855)| Tattoo marks of the Watambwee Add URL |