tribal tattoos of arunachal pradesh, India

Centuries before rockstars and
celebrities, tattoos were used by
tribal men and women across the
world, whether it was the Maoris of
New Zealand or the Apatanis of
Arunachal Pradesh, to mark out
identity and territory ...
On his Orkut profile, Michi Laling, a 20-
year-old Delhi University student,
describes himself as a "free soul with
strategically placed tattoos and body
piercing". Ink, in fact, runs in Michi's
blood. Back in his village in Arunachal
Pradesh's Ziro valley, his 80-year-old
grandmother also wears a tattoo, though
for entirely different reasons. While body
art is a fashion statement for Michi, his
grandmother was forced to get her face
tattooed when she was barely eight.
Centuries before it became an accessory
for rock stars and celebrities, Arunachal
Pradesh's Apatani tribe - to which Michi
belongs - was tattooing its womenfolk to
make them unattractive to rival tribes in
neighbouring districts, who might
otherwise abduct their prettiest women.
Today's quintessential fashion statement,
a tattoo, was a way to protect the
identity of various tribes, revealing a rich
and eerie intersection of primitive art and
violence.
"Apatani women were often abducted by
the neighbouring Nishi tribesmen for
their beauty, so to make themsleves look
unattractive, they tattooed their faces
and wore huge circular nose plugs," says S
K Baruah, an anthropologist who has
researched on the tribes of Arunachal
Pradesh for more than 30 years. Though
not many women born in the last three
decades have chosen to get their faces
inked - the 'inhuman' practice was banned
by the government in the '70s - elderly
Apatani women can still be seen with a
thick blue line running from their
forehead to the tip of the nose and six
smaller lines on their lower chin.
The Apatani tattooing procedure used to
be a very painful affair. Unlike the state-
of-the art tattoo guns and ink used today,
the Apatanis used thorns to cut the skin
and soot mixed in animal fat for the dark
blue colour.The wounds were allowed to
get infected so that the tattoos became
larger and clearer.
The Apatanis are not the only tattooed
tribe in northeastern India.The
headhunting Konyaks of Nagaland used to
tattoo their faces like headhunters from
the Philippines, Taiwan and other Pacific
islands. Facial tattoos were marks of the
head-taker, the various designs indicating
the person's prowess in battle and his
head-count, write Aditya Arya and Vibha
Joshi in their book Land of the Nagas.
Researchers also say that tattoos helped
establish tribal identity besides enabling
recognition after death in a war or a fatal
accident. Facial tattooing was prevalent
among Noctes and Wanchos of Arunachal
as well.
The married women of the Singpho tribe,
found both in Assam and Arunachal, were
tattooed on both legs from the ankle to
the knee, while the men tattooed their
limbs, while unmarried Singpho girls were
barred from wearing a tattoo.
With the modernisation and urbanisation
of northeast India over the decades, the
tattoo culture has shifted significantly.
The traditional patterns may have been
replaced by modern motifs, but the
meaning behind the pain-inducing
practice hasn't changed much - just like
today's city bred youth, Nagas regarded
tattoos as a sign of strength, courage, and
virility because of the pain associated
with it.
Indian tribes are not the only ones that
tattooed themselves. The Ainu of Japan
traditionally wore facial tattoos. Today,
one can find Berbers of Tamazgha (North
Africa),Maoris of New Zealand, Arabic
people in east Turkey and the Atayal of
Taiwan with facial tattoos. The practice
was widespread among Polynesian
peoples and among tribes in the
Philippines, Borneo, Samoaa, and
Cambodia .
Despite some taboos surrounding
tattooing, the art continues to be popular
in many parts of the world.
Ancient art
Tribal adaptation of popular designs like
the dragon and tiger and abstract art is
gaining popularity among the youth.
Done in black ink - which shows up very
nicely on Indian skin complexion - 'tribal
tattoos' accounts for a third of all tattoo
design searches on the internet, according
to recent statistics provided by Google.