Unraveling the History of Hawaiian Tattoo

June 28th, 2006 by annabelle a. udo · No Comments

The art of Hawaiian tattooing has not been addressed so comprehensively in modern literature as in Tricia Allen�s Tattoo Traditions of Hawai�i which can turn even a complete novice into a well-versed tattoo aficionado by the end of the book. Allen, a Hawai�i-based cultural anthropologist and long-time tattoo artist, has not only studied Polynesian tattoos for many years but has adopted it as a way of life, pursuing a graduate degree in art history at the University of Hawai�i in the late �70s.

The book is the manifestation of an inexhaustible 15-year period in which Allen hunted for and gathered original illustrations and photographs included in Tattoo Traditions of Hawai�i, several of which have never before been published. This fascinating collection of the preliminary accounts of tattoo artwork from its roots in ancient Polynesia also features an extensive study of the sketch artists who traveled with early European explorers to Hawai�i during a time that it was becoming a whaling center and part of the trade route with China.

Allen takes readers on an odyssey down the vast timeline of Hawaiian history and seamlessly brings together ancestral voices and the impact that this tattoo renaissance has had on today�s Hawaiian communities. With the help of the early writings by missionaries and Hawaiian scholars as well as the assistance of prominent members of the Hawaiian communities such as David Malo, Samuel Maniakalani Kamakau, and Mary Kawena Pukui, Allen was able to unravel much of this historic information. Very little had been passed to the present-day Hawaiians since tattooing was not practiced after the mid-1800�s.

Allen is on the mainland approximately 30 weeks a year with a majority of tattoo clients being members of the Polynesian community in California. �There is a lot of aloha and a strong sense of unity there,� Allen states in her book, �as mainland Hawaiians are so far from home and in such a minority. They feel a strong bond and love for the islands, and often a tattoo is a way of marking that. It�s perhaps the strongest statement of identity and self-definition one can make.�

The author of numerous articles on tattoo in magazines and academic journals, Allen�s Tattoo Traditions of Hawai�i is the first endeavor of what will be a total of 4 books dealing with the subject of Polynesian tattooing.

Tattoo appointments are still available for her next Bay Area visit but are filling quickly. For more information visit www.tattootraditions.alohaworld.com. Tattoo Traditions of Hawai�i can be purchased through Barnes & Noble, Borders, Amazon.com, as well as the publisher at Mutual Publishing www.mutualpublishing.com.