The Tattooing Arts of Tribal Women

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Throughout history, women have tattooed human skin to beautify, heal, empower or carry the body into the afterlife. Tattoo bearers were participants in shared pain and recuperation, and the skin was the location where their identity and experience met. A woman's tattoo anchored indigenous values on the skin by creating a living canvas rooted in traditional practice. As ritual, tattooing re-enacted myth by imitating the actions of the gods and ancestors who sacrificed their own skins to make them more lasting and sacred. This account of the vanishing art of women's tribal tattooing is the record of tattoo anthropologist Lars Krutak's ten-year research with indigenous peoples around the globe. Spanning five continents and with more than 250 images, The Tattooing Arts of Tribal Women not only examines the history and significance of tattooing through a comparative study of tattoo patterns and techniques, but also through interviews with the indigenous people who created them. The result is a comprehensive overview that establishes new ways of seeing and reading the messages encoded in ancient and more contemporary forms of tattooing.