'My Culture on My Face': New Zealand's Maori Assert Identity
By Tracey Shelton, Al Jazeera
17 February 20
Ta moko, the traditional tattoo symbolising a Maori's heritage, is making a
comeback after colonial suppression.
ary Harding's body is a living testimony to his Indigenous New Zealand
heritage.
Ta moko, a cultural tattoo artwork, adorns Harding's face and body, a
visualisation of his Maori "whakapapa" or genealogy, his role in the
community and his life's journey.
"I enjoy when someone asks questions, then I have the opportunity to share
and educate them, rather than just staring and making assumptions," he told
Al Jazeera.
For generations, ta moko was outlawed and later adopted by Maori gangs,
which led to widespread discrimination and stigma that made finding work and
social acceptance difficult.
But its image is slowly changing as a new generation embraces ta moko and
more and more companies, including service industries, government sectors
and even political parties, abandon their exclusion policies.
New Zealand's Indigenous Maori were renowned as skilled hunters, warriors
and artists. They were also famous for traditional performances, including
the fearsome Haka, a ceremonial dance.
Before colonisation brought western materials, tribal designs were carved
into the skin with a chisel-shaped instrument made of bone, the incisions
coloured with ash or other natural substances.
Different tribes had their distinctive artistic styles to adorn various
parts of the body including the back, chest and limbs. The most sacred were
reserved for the face.
While men often wore full-face designs, women wore tattoos known as "kauae"
on their lips and chin.
Cultural suppression
New Zealand was colonised in 1840 and a suppression act in 1907 outlawed the
teaching and practice of Maori culture.
For generations, ta moko was scarce.
"My grandparents would get caned for speaking the language at school,"
Harding said, adding that ta moko became something that was only seen among
tribal elders or in old photographs.
Harding teaches Maori culture to juveniles in detention.
By the 1970s, Maori language and arts began experiencing a resurgence but
many Maori gangs adopted the ta moko as part of their insignia.
Many young people join criminal groups because they feel disconnected from
their Indigenous heritage and are searching for something to make that
connection, but end up in the wrong place, he said.
With young offenders, he strives to instil pride in their ancestry and a
sense of self.
"There's a clear difference between a gang tattoo - that might be designed
to be intimidating - and cultural markings," Harding told Al Jazeera.
He also coaches a youth rugby team.
A few months ago, when he arrived for a meeting with fellow coaches in the
Australian city of Melbourne, Harding said he was refused entry at a
restaurant amid snide comments.
Non-Maori often do not understand the tattoos' importance.
"People like myself have to go through these scenarios so society can become
more aware," he said, adding that his attempts to explain the cultural
significance of his facial tattoos were met by more "ignorant" remarks from
the restaurant worker.
"People can walk around in a burka or their cultural dress," he said.
"What's the difference between me walking into a place and wearing my
culture on my face?"
Asserting identity
Harding was one of the first people in public service to wear facial
tattoos.
After his mother died in 2016, he went to his employer - the New Zealand
government's child protection service - and told them that on the following
Monday he would be arriving with a full facial design.
"I sat down with my boss and explained the importance to me, my mother and
my family," he said. "I didn't ask: I told them this is what's happening and
they accepted it. It was a big step."
In September, Air New Zealand changed its policies to allow all staff
including cabin crew, to display the ta moko.
"It reinforces our position at the forefront of the airline industry in
embracing diversity and enabling employees to express individuality or
cultural heritage," said the airline's former Chief Executive Officer
Christopher Luxon in a statement.
Rawiri Barriball changed the face of the country's military in 2017 when he
was granted permission to become the first naval officer to receive his
facial markings.
Women have also blazed a trail towards renewed acceptance of the kauae.
Last year, Nanaia Mahuta became the first female MP to sit in parliament
with a chin tattoo and Oriini Kaipara became the first female television
news anchor to read the news with a kauae last month.
Harding's mother, a well-respected school teacher, wore her kauae proudly,
long before it was common or widely accepted.
"On her deathbed, she asked me to receive mine - passing the mantle of
bearing the family's history," he said.
"It was quite special for me to be able to receive mine from the same artist
in the same living room that she received hers and the same place where she
passed away. It was very spiritual."
Lisa Isherwood, who runs a sustainable farming project in Turangi a town on
the North Island, was one of the first in her family to receive a ta moko
and her children have followed in her path.
"It's our birthright - our identity," she said, adding she faced much
opposition even from within her family.
"I'm not gonna let anybody tell me how to be Maori."
She explained the meaning of each design.
"This shows I am the first-born and a worker of the land," she said. Another
symbol resembling a hammerhead shark signifies her training in Maori
weaponry.
She now plans to receive a skin carving as her ancestors once did.
Spiritual connection
Clyde Peri has been a ta moko artist since 1996.
He first learned Maori wood carving and was later accepted for training in
ta moko techniques.
"Every piece starts with a prayer to connect with the ancestors and ask for
their blessing and guidance - the designs come from them," he told Al
Jazeera.
This is followed by a conversation about the person's life story,
achievements, bloodline and what has inspired them to receive the ta moko.
"I'm like a medium - they are already wearing their story," he said as he
worked on a piece at the Tatt Datt studio in Melbourne. "I just need to make
it visible. It's a spiritual connection."
Ta moko is always drawn freehand, and Peri said he does this while speaking
to the person so he can draw from their emotion and energy.
Peri's ancestors were also ta moko artists. On the wall is a picture of one
of his forefathers who used the ancient skin carving technique rather than
needles. Deep grooves form a tribal pattern on the man's face.
Peri, who has lived in Melbourne for 21 years said most of his customers are
from the city's large Maori community.
But some non-Maori also request Peri's designs - a practice that has been
met with controversy over the years.
"The meaning is the same to me," Peri said. "I use the chance to educate
them about what it means."
British singer Robbie Williams was one of the first to receive a Maori
tattoo design from a tribal elder who supported his request.
Peri uses the same process, asking the client about the loved ones they want
to represent and their own life journey.
But facial ta moko remain the most sacred and are usually received later in
life.
Makere Kupenga, 30, wears a large ta moko representing her mother and
sisters on her back. She also has smaller designs behind her ears, but no
kauae on her chin and lips.
"It is a heavy weight to carry my family's full whakapapa history," she
said. "But I will receive the kauae when I feel I am ready and worthy."
I visited New Zealand in 1987. The Maori were treated as a historical
phenomenon, with films shown to tourists about them and a visit to a Maori
village, which was, of course, not a real village. In reality, they were a
minority group, poor people, a fringe group, basically segregated from the
rest of society. White New Zealanders might occasionally tell us, with
pride, kind of like Elizabeth Warren's claim to membership in an American
Indian tribe, that they had Maori blood.
Miriam
