Maori art style is a traditional body art style. It is one of the most old and unique tribal tattoo styles. The Maori tattoo designs originated in New Zealand, thanks to Maori people who are the indigenous Polynesians of New Zealand. The traditional art styles used by these people to draw permanent body and face tattoos are called Ta moko. People usually make many blunders while practicing these styles of art. With the popularity of new tattoo designs all over the world, Maori tattoos still hold the special place in body art culture till date.
The traditional Maori tattoo designs are very ancient so they are popular around the world. The art has spread globally through people from different cultures. The multi-cultural societies of current age have also embraced the Maori tattoo designs with grace.
The current trend in tattoo industry has been influenced a lot by the Maori designs. You may say people have stolen the designs to get it clubbed with the typical tattoo designs to bring out a completely new and impressive design.
The artistic lair of the tattoo designers enable them imbibe the Maori designs to the traditional tattoo designs to create innovative designs and make them popular worldwide. To get familiar with the Maori designs, you need to be well aware of the Maori terminology. Ta moko is the primary terminology used in the Maori designs. The Ta moko is the name of the family identification of Maori that form part of the group known as whakapapa.
It is quite important for the Maoris to be aware of their family histories as they have been involved in wars for centuries together before they arrived on the shores of New Zealand. Maori tattoo designs are still available and can be read only by the chiefs of Maori communities by just feeling the textures of the designs by touching them. The chiefs are able to say the accurate age of the designs and the origins of the designs.
Though you are aware that getting a tattoo these days are quite painful, you might not believe Maoris used sharp brutal tools and the bones of albatrosses to cut deep into the skin in order to design a tattoo. The concept of designing tattoos for Maoris was to distinguish their clan from the other tribes as they used different color of inks. A common misconception prevails throughout the world that suggests that Maori tattoos were originally done on faces only. However, that is never true as the tattoos were also done on the bodies as that allowed them to distinguish their chiefs or leaders.
