TATTOOING IN THE 
 
 MARQUESAS 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLOWDEAN CHATTERSON HANDY 
 
 
 
 Bernice P. Bishop Museum 
 Bulletin i 
 
 WITH j8 PLATES 
 
 ' L' '■" •- 
 
 BAYARD DOMINICK EXPEDITION 
 PuBucATioN Number 3 
 
TATTOOING IN THE 
 MARQUESAS 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLOWDEAN CHATTERSON HANDY 
 
 Bernice P. Bishop Museum 
 Bulletin i 
 
 WITH 38 PLATES 
 
 BAYARD DOMINICK EXPEDITION 
 
 Publication Number 3 
 
 HONOLULU, HAWAII 
 
 Published by the Museum 
 1922 
 
WiLLOWDEAN Chatterson Handy served as 
 Volunteer Associate with the Marquesas 
 PARTY OF THE Bayard Dominick Expedition, 
 1920-1921. She has taken skillful advan- 
 tage OF HER OPPORTUNITY TO OBTAIN WHAT IS 
 BELIEVED TO BE AN UNUSUALLY COMPLETE AND 
 INTIMATE RECORD OF TATTOOING DESIGNS. 
 
Tattooing in the Marquesas 
 
 By WiLLOWDEAN Chatterson Handy 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 Drawings and photographs of tattooing patterns on the bodies of 
 natives were made by the author during a residence in the Marquesas 
 Islands in 1921. As tattobing is now forbidden by the laws of the country 
 and the art is consequently dying out, this collection of the last specimens 
 of tattooing patterns which exist today in the Marquesas has seemed to 
 demand a complementary collection of information regarding the practice 
 of the art, to the end that the beautiful motives might at least be partly 
 accounted for and might some day take their merited place in the history 
 of art. The data have been drawn from natives who have been decorated, 
 from one old tuhuna, or artist, w'ho has practised tattooing, and from 
 literary sources, thus piecing together a fairly accurate picture of the 
 practice. Discussion of the design itself, of which the natives know 
 nothing today beyond the nomenclature, is undertaken in a spirit of ap- 
 preciation and with the hope that the suggestions offered regarding the 
 evolution and significance of this form of decoration may uncover other 
 possibilities and lead to a more conclusive interpretation of the art. 
 
 THE PRACTICE OF THE ART 
 
 It would appear that this form of body decoration was not confined to 
 certain ranks or classes in the Marquesas, though what might be called 
 a property qualification limited somew^hat the complete covering and finer 
 work to the wealthy who could afford to employ the best artists and stand 
 the attendant expense of feeding them and their assistants as well as the 
 large band of ka’ioi w’ho erected the special house for the occasion. A 
 father prepared long in advance for the payment for tattooing of his first- 
 born, raising pigs, and planting ute, paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyri- 
 fera), for the making of tapa as gifts for both the kcPioi and the tuhuna. 
 Payment also took the form of ornaments, war clubs, and more recently, 
 guns. Langsdorff says that they paid for their decorations according to 
 the greater or less quantity of them, and to the trouble the figures re- 
 quired ; that during the thirty or forty years when the body was gone over 
 again and again with the tattooing bones until the skin was completely 
 covered, the cost became considerable; and that such all-over decoration 
 necessarily indicated a person of great wealth (10 p. i2o)h It follows 
 
 ’ Throughout this paper the numbers in parentheses refer to the bibliography on 
 page 26. 
 
4 
 
 Bernice P. Bishop Museum — Bulletin 
 
 naturally that it also appeared only upon people of advanced years (6, p. 
 130; 13, p. 102-103), a circumstance which undoubtedly led to Captain 
 Chanal’s conclusion that the marks had no relation to anything but age 
 (II, p. in). 
 
 While the tuhiina was paid generously for work on an opou, the eldest 
 son of a wealthy man, no payment was asked of the k(^ioi, a more or 
 less unorganized group of younger sons and daughters, who took such 
 part in the preparations as raiding for food and building the special house, 
 and who slipped in to have designs punctured upon them gratis when the 
 opou was resting or recuperating from the effects of the operation. It is 
 perhaps these ka’ioi to whom Melville (12, p. 49) refers in speaking of 
 the common fellows who were practiced on. Langsdorff was apparently 
 unaware of this custom, for he says that those who could not afford tat- 
 tooing went without : 
 
 The poorer islanders who have not a superabundance of hogs to dispose of in 
 luxuries, but live chiefly themselves upon breadfruit, are operated upon by novices in 
 the art, who take them at a very low price as subjects for practice. The lowest class 
 of all, the fishermen principally, are often not able to afford even the pay required 
 a novice, and are therefore not tattooed at all. (10, p. 120.) 
 
 With the lower classes noticeably less tattooed than the higher, the 
 conclusion was often drawn by early visitors that this form of decoration 
 pointed out noble or distinguished persons (8, p. 155 and 13, p. 84). 
 Berchon, writing in 1859, avows that all classes were tattooed at that 
 time, but that formerly it was a sign of nobility and distinction. From 
 w'hat is to be gathered today from living informants, this is a miscon- 
 ception, in the main, based on the fact that wealth was in the hands of 
 chiefs and distinguished men. 
 
 Melville (13, p. 102) at one time assigns tattooing to the warrior 
 class, but present information states that the untattooed as well as the 
 tattooed went to war. That warriors, as well as other groups, wore 
 special designs as badges is stated by modem informants as true in a 
 few instances, and is frequently suggested by the early voyagers to the 
 Marquesas. Spirals over the eyes (PI. v, 7) are today described as be- 
 longing to all warriors in ancient times, while spirals called kokoata on 
 cheeks and hips indicated chiefs, as do the tiny pinlike marks (PI. xxxviii, 
 G. d) to be seen today on the inside of the left ankle. After a battle 
 these marks — according to the informants — were sought for by the priest 
 of a victorious army on the ankles of the slain to determine whether a 
 chief had been killed and a great battle fought. Beyond these distinguish- 
 ing marks, living informants make no mention of the badges described 
 
Handy — Tattooing in the Marquesas 
 
 5 
 
 by early visitors, such as the mata-komoe distinguishing a hero (lo, PI. 
 VIII, fig. 9 ; p. XV ), the marks of high birth put upon the arms of women 
 in families of chiefs (i8, p. 222-223), the tattooed right hand and left foot 
 of women as a sign of wedlock (13, p. 221-222). Mr. Linton was told 
 that only chiefs had their feet tattooed ; but this is not borne out in the 
 late practice of the art nor corroborated by other informants. The con- 
 fusion probably arises either from the distinguishing chiefly marks being 
 upon the ankle, or from the custom of tattooing the body of the opoii 
 from the feet up, contrary-wise to that of the kaioi. 
 
 The only distinguishing feature of the tattooing of a ka’ioi, as re- 
 ported today, is the order in which the designs were put on, the face 
 being decorated first. The reason assigned by a Pua Ma’u informant for 
 the custom of beginning with the feet of the opoii was that the face if 
 tattooed first was liable to become infected and cause a stoppage of the 
 operation. It is possible that the reverse order in the case of the ka’ioi was 
 the result of indifference as to their fortunes, but it is also possible that 
 there was here a fundamental class distinction. There is no proof today 
 that the work was not of the same pattern as that of the opou, though 
 Melville thought he distinguished a difference in the quality of the work 
 put upon “inferior natives,” their designs appearing to him like daubs of a 
 house-painter’s brush (13, p. 250). 
 
 Berchon says that tattooing was an obligation rather than a mark of 
 distinction for women, that the right hand must be tattooed by the age 
 of twelve so that it might be used in making popoi, in making pakoko (the 
 circular movement of two fingers in taking up popoi to eat it) and in 
 rubbing dead bodies with coconut oil (i, p. 114-115). Natives today say 
 that an untattooed hand could not make popoi nor eat it from the same 
 bowl as a tattooed hand, that a tattooed man could not eat with a woman, and 
 that a man with all his designs finished could not eat with a man whose 
 designs were unfinished ; but any reason for these requisites beyond their 
 being “pretty” is unknown. Women would not marry untattooed men, 
 probably because the decoration represented either wealth, endurance of 
 pain, style, or all three. 
 
 A special effort was made to find some trace of banqueting societies 
 distinguished by marks tattooed on the chest, which Krusenstern, Langs- 
 dorff, and Melville’ describe (8, p. 159-160; 10, p. 121-122; 12, p. 50-51) ; 
 but no memory of anything in the nature of such fraternal orders supported 
 by the chief and tattooed gratis is discoverable today. With Berchon’s con- 
 
 ’ All of the detailed information of Krusenstern and Langsdorff came from two 
 white sailors living among the natives, whose accounts are in many instances un- 
 mistakably erroneous and exaggerated. It would not surprise me in the least if 
 
6 
 
 Bernice P. Bishop Museum — Bulletin 
 
 elusion that the fact reported must have been “quite exceptional” we must 
 agree. It was customary, however, during famine times, for people to 
 seek the service of chiefs in order to be fed, and it may have been the 
 whim of some chief to have a particular mark tattooed upon them, but 
 this was certainly not a general custom. Indeed, Melville relates the “Hana- 
 manoo” episode as an especial and unusual case ; and it does not seem 
 unlikely that the same story is at the basis of both his and the Russians’ 
 accounts. They have probably misinterpreted the ordinary custom of the 
 father of the opou during the period of tattooing feeding the ka’ioi, who 
 were no more* closely organized as a society than is our own “younger set,” 
 to whom they were somewhat analogous. This would fit, too, with the 
 custom of the tuhuna’s giving them samples of their art gratis during the 
 rest periods of the opou. 
 
 A careful search for any possible significance of face designs as tribal 
 marks, corroborative of Porter’s statement to this effect (14, p. 114), 
 calls forth today, except in one instance only, vociferous refutation. How- 
 ever, that face patterns w^ere insular during a later period of the art is 
 certain, the oblique paheke belonging to Nuku Hiva, the horizontal bands 
 called ti’ati'apu being worn by Hiva Oans, and tbe latter’s variant, the 
 ihuepo, whose central band covers the nostrils themselves, being prevalent 
 on Fatu Hiva. Lacassagne (9, p. 79) quotes Lombroso as declaring that 
 face tattooing on Nuku Hiva distinguished two enemy factions, the one be- 
 ing marked by a triangle, the other by a circle. Triangles are associated 
 with the tattooing of the inhabitants of Tai-pi Valley by IMelville and Ber- 
 chon, and these Tai-pi were powerful enemies of the tribes of Tai o Hae 
 Valley. More than one present-day informant has stated that men of a cer- 
 tain tribe living in Tai o Hae were marked with a great black circle on the 
 face (PI. v, 10). Seeing the two styles and finding them associated with two 
 enemy factions, it might be natural to conclude that face decoration was 
 to distinguish enemies ; but this is the one instance in which a tribal 
 significance is assigned today to a face design. 
 
 That the operation of tattooing was performed during propitious sea- 
 sons or at times of importance in the life of the individual to be decorated 
 has been reported by Desgraz (18, p. 223). Living Marquesas informants 
 place its practice during the dry season when there was no breadfruit to 
 be harvested, during the months of October, November, December and 
 early January. The women, whose tattooing may still be examined, place 
 the beginning of their work at from seven to twelve years of age ; the 
 
 Melville made up his story of the “Hanamanoo” episode after having read Langs- 
 dorff or Krusenstern. 
 
Handy — Tattooing in the Marquesas 
 
 7 
 
 men, from fifteen to twenty. Within these limits fall the more or less 
 definite statements of such early writers as Garcia, Desgraz, and Ber- 
 chon. Porter interpreting the time as “when they are able to bear the 
 pain.” All imply — and Krusenstern (8, p. 155) definitely states — that 
 the beginning of the operation was connected with the period of adoles- 
 cence. Berchon (i, p. 113) tells us that pregnancy would hinder the 
 success of the work and that it was never undertaken for a woman when 
 she was in that condition, from which we may again infer that the coming 
 of puberty was the time for starting the bodily decoration. There seems 
 at the present time to be no definite connection in the mind of the Mar- 
 quesan between the two, and the fact that tattooing was practiced during 
 the growing or maturing season of the land just before harvest-time 
 seems also to have no significance at present. However, the celebrations 
 associated with the harvest and with the completion of the tattooing of the 
 adolescent youth of the land were united in a great ko'ina or feast. It 
 may be remarked, too, that there is at present no indication that important 
 times in the life of the individual, other than adolescence, were the oc- 
 casions for tattooing, although Langsdorff, in a description of the cnata 
 design, says that it was put on when an enemy had been killed or eaten 
 (10, p. XV). 
 
 As has been stated, preparations for the tattooing of an opou began 
 with the raising of pigs and planting of iite for gifts and payment for 
 tuhuna and ka'ioi. Several days before the beginning of the operation, 
 the father announced that the oho’an tiki, or special house for the occasion, 
 was to be built. About one o’clock on the morning on which the erection 
 of this structure was to take place, two great drums (pahu) and two small 
 ones (hiitii) were beaten on the public festival place, to declare the be- 
 ginning of the tapu and to summon the ka’ioi. These, usually from 
 forty to eighty in number, immediately gathered at the festival place and 
 together proceeded, under direction of the tuhuna, to raid the place of 
 the opoii’s father. They demolished his houses and those of his relatives, 
 with the exception of the sleeping houses ; they seized not only material 
 for the building of the oho’au, but that for making tapa, or the tapa 
 itself in the event of its already having been made. Enough pigs and 
 other food, sufficient to last for the entire period of the operation, its 
 length depending upon the sickness of the opou, were taken for the feed- 
 ing of the ka'ioi, tuhuna, and all those who were to stay in the oho’au. 
 Not only was the father of the opou the victim of this fao or seizure of 
 food, but also his father’s sisters and even other relatives of the father and 
 mother, if the duration of the operation was extended; and it was these 
 relatives who cooked the food during the entire time. 
 
8 
 
 Bernice P. Bishop Museum — Bulletin 
 
 The oh^’aii tiki, together with a sleeping house and a cook house, 
 which were placed on a stone paepae near a me’ae (sacred place), or a 
 tohua (public place), was erected for the first-born or adopted boy 
 (matahiapo), other sons usually being ka’ioi and achieving their tattooing 
 piecemeal and gratis in the oho’au of the opou. This house, which be- 
 longed with all its appurtenances to the opou and not to the ka’ioi who 
 built it — although they slept in it during the period of the operation — was 
 carefully built, though it was lashed with the coarse strips of hibiscus bark 
 rather than with the finely braided pu’ukaha or coconut fiber cord usual 
 in other dwellings. Melville might seem to suggest a different custom 
 in Hiva Oa from that of Nuku Hiva in the description of the tattooing’s be- 
 ing performed in large houses belonging to the tuhuna themselves (12, 
 p. 48-49) ; but all modern recollection in Hiva Oa is of the similar custom 
 of building the special oho’au for the opou. It may be said in passing 
 that neither Melville’s descriptions of the spacious houses of the tuhuna 
 with their numerous small apartments set apart by screens of tapa for 
 private patients and of the small tents of coarse tapa erected by itinerant 
 tuhuna for patients at the times of religious festivals, nor Langsdorff’s 
 account of the operation for persons in middling station being performed 
 in houses erected for the purpose by the tattooers and tabooed by authority 
 (10, p. 120), are corroborated in the information gathered last year in 
 the Marquesas. The Russian says further that the women were not, like 
 the men, shut up in a tabooed house during the operation, but that 
 it was performed without ceremony in their own houses or in those of 
 relatives. This is corroborated today, particularly on Nuku Hiva; though 
 sometimes, we are told, a small house called the fa’e po’a (po’a, coconut 
 thatching j was built alongside the family dwelling for the tattooing of a 
 girl and in it lived the whole family during the entire period of the 
 operation, the main house being tapu, though the fa’e po’a was not. 
 
 The oho’au tiki, itself, which we must take as the usual scene of the 
 operation, was very tapu to outsiders. Those who entered it could have 
 nothing to do with women, who were spoken of at this time as vehine 
 pu’atea (pu’atea, a kind of tree with soft wood). Indeed these men must 
 hide if a woman were even sighted at a distance, and it was necessary for 
 them to cook for themselves. The men who held the legs and arms of 
 the opou, and who fanned flies during the work, were especially tapu 
 and had to be served with special food. There seems to have been no 
 regular food tapu for the patients during the period of the operation, 
 though according to early visitors, there were dietary restrictions ap- 
 parently for the sake of health. Garcia says the patients were forbidden 
 for several days to take certain kinds of nourishment, such as pig and 
 
Handy — Tattooing in the Marquesas 
 
 9 
 
 kava, and Melville speaks of the small portions of food that were pushed 
 under the curtain by unseen hands to the tapu patients within the apart- 
 ments, the restriction in food being intended to reduce the blood and so 
 diminish inflammation ; Langsdorfif reports that the patient must drink very 
 little for fear of inflammation, and must not eat early in the morning. 
 
 The work was performed by tuhuna patn tiki (patu, to mark or strike; 
 tiki, designs), artists, evidently trained in the school of experience, some of 
 them coming to enjoy great vogue on more than one island. Although 
 Garcia states that the office was hereditary, each great family having its 
 family of tattooers trained from generation to generation for its use, 
 nothing of the sort can be traced today. According to modern informants, 
 skill alone was qualification for practice and requisite for patronage. 
 Langsdorfif tells of novices who, for practice, operated upon poor people 
 at very small charge, and Melville reports even the hiring of “vile fel- 
 lows” as models on whom they could practice. 
 
 All present-day information denies Melville’s statement that there were 
 orders of tattooing artists. It is more likely that there were itinerant 
 members of the profession, as he states. All seem to have practiced quite 
 independently, although there was probably the kind of bond between them 
 that followers of any profession feel. It is said in Ua Pou that there were 
 different tuhuna for men and women because of the rule of tap\i which 
 ascribed to men greater sacredness than to women, but this was not true 
 during the latter days of the art. No woman tuhuna was ever heard of. 
 There were evidently contests between tuhuna, two or three working at 
 the same time in an oho'au, attempting to excel one another in rapidity of 
 execution and delicacy of designs. In the light of knowledge about the 
 ancient native training in other artistic lines, it is possible to hazard the 
 guess that to be accepted at all as a tuhuna, a thorough acquaintance with 
 all the conventional units of the art was requisite ; for, although individual 
 tuhuna certainly varied and elaborated designs at will, yet they did not 
 stray from the basic units. 
 
 A tuhuna was aided in his work by four or five assistants called ow’a 
 (or koiia — translated by Dordillon, pupil, disciple — meaning also shrimp). 
 He was consulted as to the choice of designs, his decision apparently be- 
 ing usually accepted, although the opo>u was free to select his patterns. 
 He outlined the designs upon the body with a piece of charcoal. But it 
 was the ou’a who held the arms and legs of the patient, who stretched the 
 skin to make a smooth surface upon which to work, who fanned the 
 flies from the bleeding wounds, and who often, it is reported, filled in the 
 outlined designs. 
 
lO 
 
 Bernice P. Bishop Museum — Bulletin 
 
 Before the coming of the tuhuna, the father of the opou had pre- 
 pared the pigment (hinu). The preparation of this was a very tapu 
 operation, the man making it being forbidden all relationship with women 
 during the period; and, according to Lesson (i, p. 107-108), it was 
 necessary for a virgin to aid him in the work. The shells of the ama nut 
 (Aleurites triloba) were heated so as to open easily (7, p. 45), and the 
 kernels placed over a fire in a kind of pocket of stones which allowed 
 the smoke to ascend through a small passageway in order to collect on a 
 smooth stone (pa’e hinu). Upon this stone a constant tapping was kept 
 up while the soot collected to the depth of about an inch. This process, 
 according to Berchon, was called antahi ama. The soot-covered pa’e hinu 
 was then placed on a banana leaf and left in the sun to dry, being kept 
 thus until the tuhuna arrived for his work. Thereupon, the father, ac- 
 cording to present-day information, mixed the soot with plain water in 
 a small coconut shell (ipu hinu) and gave it to the artist. Marchand 
 Langsdorff, and Porter agree upon water as the solvent ; but Berchon 
 further reports that the ink, which he calls kaahi, was made by mixing the 
 soot with coconut oil; while IMelville (13, p. 246) gives vegetable juice 
 as the liquid. He and Langsdorff describe the use of the ashes, rather 
 than the soot, of this nut kernel, and Porter thought burnt and powdered 
 coconut shell was used, but apparently no other pigment save carbon was 
 ever employed in the IMarquesas, as all early voyagers remark only the 
 dark blue or blackish coloring. (See 15, p. 16; 14, p. 78; 10, p. 118; 
 8, p. 155; 13, p. 158). Jardin (7) speaks of carbonizing and pulverizing the 
 kernels of the ama and mixing the powder with water to trace the de- 
 signs on the body, and it may be that the residue of the burnt nuts was 
 so used. 
 
 When the tuhuna arrived, bringing his instruments in a bamboo case 
 seven or eight inches long (pukohe fan hinu), stoppered with a wad of 
 tapa, he spread them out upon a piece of tapa on the ground, ready for 
 use. The instrument is generally known as ta (to strike), but Berchon 
 (T, p. no) gives the following nomenclature for its various parts: ta’a 
 (a point) for the toothed end, kakaho (reed or cane) for the horizontal 
 support of the teeth, and ta-tiki (strike-tiki) for the baton (Berchon, p. 
 no). There was always an assortment of these toothed ends of varying 
 fineness or coarseness appropriate for all grades of work from the delicate 
 hair lines to solid patches. The flat instruments for straight lines and 
 gradual curves were of human bone, sometimes of the bones of enemy 
 sacrifices (izn heana). They were about three inches long, flat and 
 slightly wedge-shaped, and toothed or comblike at the end. Instruments 
 for the smaller curves were of the bones of the kena (Sula piscatrix), 
 
Handy — Tattooing in the Marquesas 
 
 II 
 
 or of a tapn bird on the small island of Fatu Uku, the leg bones having 
 been used (at least they are used for the instruments seen today), and 
 according to Langsdorff, wing bones also. Marchand describes these .fa as 
 sometimes of tortoise-shell; Berchon adds, of fish bone; and Melville men- 
 tions sharks’ teeth: but no trace of combs other than of human or bird 
 bone remains today. The number of teeth varied from three to about 
 twenty — Melville saw some with a single fine point — according to the size 
 and use of the instrument. Melville says that some had points disposed 
 in small figures, so that the whole design was printed at a single blow. 
 
 These bone combs were inserted into a slit in a piece of reed stalk, 
 bamboo (lo, p. ii8), or ironwood (ii, p. no; i, p. 109), six or seven 
 inches long, which acted as a horizontal handle (see, however, 12, p. 51, 
 note), held, while in use, in the left hand of the tuhuna. This was, as 
 far as could be ascertained today, straight, though Melville speaks of 
 curved ones. The baton, about three quarters of an inch thick and from 
 a foot to eighteen inches long, was of hibiscus wood. 
 
 Although everything connected with the operation itself was extremely 
 tapu, tattooers in general, in Nuku Hiva at least, being under the auspices 
 of the god Hamatakee (2), Tahu being the god of the tuhuna and the 
 ka’ioi, Pupuke of the ou’a, yet there are no records of opening ceremonies. 
 The patient, clad only in a girdle, was simply laid upon the floor, arms and 
 legs held by four ou’a. When a design had been sketched in charcoal 
 upon the body, the tuhuna, or an assistant, held in his left hand the 
 toothed hammer and a piece of tapa, with which by a dextrous twist of 
 this hand he wiped away the blood as it flowed from the punctures made 
 in the skin by the gentle tapping on the top of the comb with the baton 
 held in the right hand. As he worked, he kept a sufficient supply of pig- 
 ment upon the teeth by dipping two fingers of his right hand into the 
 ink and rubbing them upon the comb. Garcia, Marchand, and Berchon 
 agree with this procedure; but Langsdorff and Krusenstern declare that 
 the punctures were made in the skin until the blood oozed out and then 
 the dye was rubbed in. While the tapping went on, the operator chanted 
 in rhythm to his strokes the following words to allay the pain of the 
 opou: 
 
 Ua tuki-e, ua tuki-e, ua tuki-e, 
 Ua tuki-a, to tiki-e, 
 
 Poparara’ to tiki-e, 
 
 O te tunane o te kui-a, 
 
 O te tuehine o te kui-a, 
 
 To’u tiki-e. 
 
 It is struck, it is struck, it is struck. 
 It is struck, your design. 
 
 Tap-tapping your design. 
 
 The brother of the mother. 
 
 The sister of the mother. 
 
 My design. 
 
 ’ Poparara is onomatopoetic, the sound of tapping. 
 
12 
 
 Bernice P. Bishop Museum — Bulletin 
 
 Chants for women do not seem to be general. At some time during the 
 operation, the opou was given a new name, referred to as patiki. This was 
 taken from some personal defect of his own, such as a blind eye, for example, 
 or from some imaginary peculiarity of the genital organs of his father or 
 mother. 
 
 The operation, as may be imagined, was extremely painful and the 
 patient cried and screamed without restraint. Berchon notes that after 
 each sitting, there were from eight to twelve days of local inflammation, 
 followed by fever and sometimes swellings, which were at times fatal. 
 Light inflammation and swelling and ulcers lasting for several days (6, p. 132 ; 
 II, p. no; 10, p. 1 18) seem to have been usually the most serious results 
 of the rigorous treatment. The juice of the banana stem was used as 
 an ointment ( paku ) to hasten healing. Berchon says an emollient of 
 hibiscus leaves was applied to relieve the inflammation. 
 
 The duration of the operation depended largely upon the fortitude 
 and health of the patient. A Nuku Hiva man is reported to have been 
 completely covered in three days ; the legs and back of one man of Hana- 
 menu were done in seven days ; but as a rule the designs were put on 
 in more leisurely fashion, a section of the body being covered at a sitting, 
 with three-day rest periods called days of blood ( a toto ) after each, so 
 that the operation covered from two weeks to four months. Under such 
 conditions a woman’s lips and shoulder might be decorated in a day, a 
 man’s legs from knees to ankles, or perhaps his thighs and buttocks. 
 Langsdorff says that the first sitting usually lasted from three to four 
 weeks and that only the groundwork of the principal figures upon the 
 breast, arms, back, and thighs, was laid the first year, additions, however, 
 being made for years at intervals of from three to six months. 
 
 After the operation, fruits of noni (Morinda citrofolia) the most usual 
 healing agent, were offered at the mc’ae or sacred place ; the tuhuna was 
 paid ; and, when the tapu was lifted, the sacred oho’au tiki was burned 
 (though not the common house of women) ; and all those participating in 
 the operation, who had not been allowed to bathe during the entire time, 
 now went first to the sea to bathe, afterwards to the river. This ac- 
 complished, they covered themselves with fragrant ointment, which turned 
 the skin yellow so that their new patterns showed brilliantly. Meanwhile, 
 relatives had prepared such ornaments as tortoise-shell crowns, girdles 
 of tapa, feather head ornaments, earrings, and the like. These they left 
 outside their houses on the night before the festival (Ko’ina tuhi tiki; 
 Ko’ina, feast; tuhi, show; tiki, design), which was always given to cele- 
 brate the completion of the work, and the newly decorated girls and 
 boys donned them before their appearance on the paved floor of the 
 
Handy — Tattooing in the Marquesas 13 
 
 festival place where admiring friends and relatives were gathered to view 
 them. There, two large drums (paJiu anaana) and three small ones 
 (tutu) were beaten, the opou marching with the ka’ioi around the paved 
 area to show his designs. While two men and two women danced, the 
 ka’ioi accompanied them with handclapping and the chanting of a putu 
 or special chant for the oho’au patu tiki. In an unpublished manuscript 
 Dordillon and Pere Pierre state that at this feast a human victim was 
 sacrificed and eaten. When a man gave a feast in celebration of his wife’s 
 acquisition of a bit of tattooing, as Langsdorfif reports was sometimes done 
 (10, p. 121), she was allowed to eat hog’s flesh as a very special privilege. 
 
 THE DESIGN 
 
 Any attempt today to make a first-hand study of tattooing design must 
 be based upon the examination of not more than a hundred and twenty- 
 five persons who are the only living examples of the practice and whose 
 designs represent for the most part a late development of the art, and 
 upon their explanations and descriptions, and those of the single surviving 
 practitioner of the art, \vhose actual practice ceased many years ago. The 
 practice was forbidden by the French in 1884 and the edict was enforced 
 as strictly as possible from that time on in the group of Nuku Hiva and 
 Ua Pou, where the government was in occupation. On Hiva Oa, Tahu Ata, 
 Fatu Hiva, and Ua Huka, the practice continued some years thereafter in 
 the absence of authority to abolish it. As a consequence, one finds in the 
 northwestern group that the majority of examples is the work of tuhuna 
 of the southeastern islands, a few very old people, alone, representing 
 that of the former islands. Just as these northwestern natives now 
 living went surreptitiously to tuhuna of the other group to be tattooed 
 upon parts of the body that would not show beneath their clothes, so in 
 the southeastern group those who continued the practice after the pro- 
 hibition was actually enforced there, about twenty-five years later than in 
 the more closely espionaged islands, were decorated chiefly upon the legs 
 from hips to ankles where dress or trousers would cover the pattern. 
 Gradually, even this practice ceased, and today the only tattooing that is 
 done is now and then of names in print upon the arm. It will be seen 
 from this, that only upon very old people can anything approaching a full 
 suit of tattooing be seen. Though there is but one man living who, as far 
 as I know, might be called fully tattooed, still there are to be found on 
 different subjects designs for practically all parts of the body originally 
 covered. There still remain several women fully tattooed, probably for 
 the reason that their designs are less conspicuous. The plates herewith 
 
14 
 
 Bernice P. Bishop Museum — Bulletin 
 
 represent about as full a collection as could be obtained today of the 
 tattoo designs of the Marquesas. What may be learned of the history 
 and meaning of the art from the study of these designs may be of interest. 
 
 The parts of the body ornamented differ today, as they have always, 
 for men and women, a complete suit of tattooing for the men (PI. i) 
 covering the crown of the head (PI. v, 9), face (Pis. iii, iv, v) including the 
 eyelids, often the inside of the nostrils, tongue, palms and back of tbe 
 hand (Pis. viii. A; xi, C), arms (Pis. xii-xiii), legs (Pis. xxix-xxxviii), 
 and the entire trunk (PI. xiv) but not the penis, which all save one of our 
 modern informants deny ever to have been tattooed. (See also: 15, p. 16; 
 4. P- 14; 5 > P- 232; 14, PP- 78, 1 14; II. P- hi; 10, pp. 122-123; 8, p. 155; 
 17, p. 306; 13, pp. 83-84, 90-91 ; 18, p. 222.) At the present day, the one 
 man who might be said to be fully tattooed or moho, is lacking the crown 
 piece, save for a section, and the tongue and palm coverings. From the 
 earliest times accounts such as those of Cook, Marchand, Langsdorff, 
 Krusenstern, Melville, Berchon and Porter note the simpler decoration of 
 the women, G. Forster observing none on them. On the bodies of women 
 observed today, patterns are found on the lips running back to the 
 base of the gums (Pis. ii. A; vi. A), on the ear lobes, behind the ears 
 (PI. VI, C; Porter, p. 114), on the curve of the shoulder (PI. vi, B; see 
 also 13, p. 95; 6, p. 132), on the lower back of which but one example 
 remains, as far as known (PI. xv), on the hands (Pis. vii-xi) and on the 
 legs from the buttocks down (Pis. xvi-xxviii). One old woman of Nuku 
 Hiva describes the tattooing on women as covering also, formerly, the 
 whole length of the arms on the inside, the buttocks, and the abdomen. 
 She, as well as all others living today, declares that the vulva was never 
 tattooed, although one woman reports a girdle that came around in front. 
 
 Various reasons are given for covering different parts of the body. 
 The decorated hand was noticeable in kneading and eating popoi. The 
 under-arm pattern made a fine showing when the arms were uplifted to 
 strike with the war club. Shoulder and chest decorations were displayed 
 when men walked with arms crossed behind the back. Circular motives 
 on the inside of the knees were in evidence when men sat cross-legged. 
 The inside thighs where the loin cloth hung and covered them were often 
 left vacant. 
 
 There are numerous indications both in the types of design to be seen 
 today and in descriptions and stories of natives and of visitors to the 
 islands, that fashion in this mode of decoration was no exception to 
 the rule of fashion’s fickleness. There are to be seen naturalistic, 
 geometric, and conventional motives, both symmetrically and irregularly 
 arranged ; there are stories of inter-island exchange of motives and of 
 
Handy — Tattooing in the Marquesas 
 
 15 
 
 the teaching of the tnhiina of the northwestern group by those of the 
 southeastern ; there are to be found in literary sources accounts of the 
 vogue of different artists and statements from which may be deduced 
 complete changes in the type of design. With a view to discovering how 
 dependent style was upon the taste and originality of individual artists, the 
 names of all artists who executed the designs recorded were noted. When 
 two pieces of work done by the same tiihuna were found, the choice of 
 pattern seemed sometimes to be identical (PI. xi, C), sometimes altogether 
 different (Pis, ix, B and x. A), while the work of different tuhuna was 
 sometimes identical (PI. xiii, B). It would seem that all tuhuna drew, 
 more or less at their will, from a single body of design. 
 
 In the hope of making as clear as possible the probable evolution of 
 this art in the Marquesas towards the elaborate conventional design that 
 prevailed when it was forbidden thirty-eight years ago, the following de- 
 tails are set down. 
 
 Quiros records in his description of Mendana’s visit to the south- 
 eastern islands in 1595, the observation of “fish and other patterns painted” 
 upon the faces and bodies of the natives. This is corroborated by a living 
 informant who says that formerly women had birds and fish behind their 
 ears and on their legs, and men are reported to have had lizards on their 
 faces. The next word from a voyager that comes to us of this group 
 is dated nearly two centuries later when Forster observes in 1772 that 
 the motives in Tahu Ata are not naturalistic but geometric, taking the 
 form of “blotches, spirals, bars, chequers, and lines;” while J. R. Forster 
 confirms this analysis, adding however, “circles,” and Marchand in 1790 
 reiterates the two lists and swells them with “parts of circles .... square 
 or oval figures .... inclined and variously crossed lines.” It would 
 appear, then, that in the southeastern islands during these hundred and 
 eighty-odd years, there had been in the type of design a change from the 
 naturalistic to the geometric. 
 
 We have no similar statements regarding what was happening in the 
 northwestern group during the early period, the first observations there 
 being set down by Marchand in 1790, who visited both groups. Though 
 Marchand touched for a short time at only two bays in the northwestern 
 islands, still it is valuable to have his statement that he finds in Ua Pou 
 the same custom of tattooing as in Tahu Ata but not so general, few 
 tattooed individuals being seen (ii, p. 167). Unfortunately he does not 
 define the types of motives there as he does in Tahu Ata. Just a few 
 years later, however, in 1803, Langsdorff gives a number of drawings 
 from the northwestern group with explanations of them (10: PI. vi, p. 
 1 17; PI. VII, p. 1 19; PI. VIII, p. 122; pp. XIV, XV, XVI ). which show that 
 
i6 
 
 Bernice P. Bishop Museum — Bulletin 
 
 by the beginning of the nineteenth century, designs in Nuku Hiva were a 
 combination of purely geometric figures with all save two of the principal 
 conventional units of the latest phase of the art that at the present day 
 is universally attributed by the natives to the southeastern islands, which 
 for convenience may be referred to as the Hiva Oa development. Dor- 
 dillon (3) gives the names of many motives which have completely disap- 
 peared today, most of them recorded in the northwestern group. Of 
 these, several would indicate naturalistic treatment : a’akiva, line of sea 
 builders ; aukohuhu, a seaweed ; haha’ua, a kind of ray fish ; homae, a 
 fish ; koao, a fish ; matuku, a bird ; keeheii, wing ; .tikmi’e, fly ; toetoe, crab. 
 Furthermore, in 1843 Melville saw fish and birds and an artu{?) tree 
 tattooed on natives of Nuku Hiva (13, p. 157) ; Desgraz, the same year, 
 describes fish and shells (18, p. 223); Garcia in 184.5, ^sh ; Berchon, in 
 1859, boots, gloves, suns, sharks, cockroaches, coconuts, lizards. In ad- 
 dition to these naturalistic motives, all these visitors also saw geometric 
 patterns, showing that in the northwestern group as long as we have any 
 record of tattooing there, the two types have existed side by side as 
 they do today. (For naturalistic motives see Pis. xviii ; xx, B, c; xi, D; 
 XXX, ;; for geometric, Pis. xviii, xix, xx. A, h; xxi, D, a). 
 
 On the other hand the earliest drawings obtainable that are known 
 to be of the Hiva Oa type are those drawn by Proiho and an old tuhuna 
 pa,tu tiki of Fatu Hiva (Pis. ix. A; xii, C; xiv, B; xvi ; xxx). These 
 are impossible to place chronologically and are no longer found upon the 
 body in exactly these forms. Among them is found but one genuinely 
 naturalistic motive (PI. xxx, j) but a combination of geometric figures 
 such as squares (PI. xii, C, b and r), bars (PI. xxx, C), oblique (PI. 
 xxx, d) and variously crossed lines (PI. xvi, d; xxx, a; xxx, k), with 
 simple forms of all the modern conventional motives save the matakomoe 
 of Langsdorff, now called po’i’i (PI. xxxiii, e) and the flower-like or 
 sunlike disk variously called puahitu, puahue and huetai (PI. xxxiv, e), 
 both of which are to be found in primitive form in the early Nuku Hiva 
 art (PI. XXIX, f, c). Today three naturalistic designs, and these very 
 crude, are to be found in the southeastern group, and these are all the 
 work of the same artist. (Pis. x. A, 2, a; xxviii, D, E). The designs 
 described as belonging to former Nuku Hiva and Fatu Hiva styles have 
 in common several units, many of them in primitive form which are to 
 be found today in the Hiva Oa style: for example, the koheta (Pis. xxx, 0; 
 XXIX, a and b; xxxiv, a and b); the kaake (Pis. xxx, i; xxix, h; 
 XXXIV, g insets) ; the hikuhiku atii (Pis. xxix, b; xxx, g; xxxiii, h) ; and 
 the mata hoata (Pis. xxx, e, lower a; xxix, g; i, D, thigh) ; and what I 
 
Handy — Tattooing in the Marquesas 17 
 
 conceive to be the forerunner of the underarm ipuoto, the original po’i’i or 
 shellfish motive (PI. ix, A, a; xii. A, B, D). 
 
 An examination of the extant examples of the art shows a distinct 
 cleavage between the two groups in their conception of design, that of the 
 southeastern being purely conventional with but minor relics of the geo- 
 metric and the slightest trace of the naturalistic ; that of the northwestern 
 showing several examples of naturalistic art, many of the geometric, and 
 a simpler form of the conventional than the other. Marquesans are all 
 agreed, that, as far as tattooing customs went, the islands were divided 
 into two groups: Nuku Hiva and Ua Pou forming one; Hiva Oa, Tahu 
 Ata, Fatu Hiva and Ua Huka — because of its close intercourse with the 
 north and west coast of Hiva Oa — forming the other. It may be re- 
 marked that Fatu Hiva is accepted as the home of carving and modern 
 tattooing; but, being regarded as a kind of suburb of Hiva Oa, the latter 
 island is referred to as the center. Several trustworthy informants de- 
 clare that before the whites came, tiihuna patu tiki went from Hiva Oa to 
 Nuku Hiva to teach them the art there, as before this time the Nuku 
 Hivans used only “dirty black patches.” We know that, by Melville’s 
 time, a transfer from the one to the other group was taking place, for he 
 says that when he was in Nuku Hiva in 1843 (12, p. 48), Hiva Oa 
 enjoyed a reputation for tattooing in the whole group. At the time of 
 its discontinuance as a practice, it was certainly Hiva Oa tattooing that 
 prevailed over the whole group. 
 
 Face patterns seem to have followed the same general lines of develop- 
 ment, with a period at least of divergent styles in the two groups. Some 
 Hiva Oa natives say that lizard motives were anciently used on the face ; 
 but early voyagers indicate only geometric figures, Marchand — the first 
 to attempt to define them — speaking vaguely of various lines on the fore- 
 head representing kinds of hieroglyphics or characters of Chinese writing 
 (16, Vol. II, PI. 133; 10, PI. VI, p. 1 17). Langsdorff pictures a man with a 
 spiral on his cheek (10, PI. vi, p. 117) and this convention is confirmed 
 by living informants who describe these kokoata (PI. v, 7) on the faces 
 of warriors and chiefs. Today, naturalistic motives are not to be seen 
 upon the face, but what may be a descendant of the spiral occurs on 
 Ua Pou in a fine design on the nostril (PI. iv, 7, 10; V, 4). The prevalent 
 style called ti’atiapn, to encircle several times, consists of three solid 
 stripes, sometimes seen as unfinished half-stripes, banding the face hori- 
 zontally, one across the forehead, one across the eyes and the third across 
 the mouth. (See Pis. iii-v.) This is everywhere declared to be a Hiva Oa 
 style and there is a variant where the mouth band covers the nostrils, 
 
i8 
 
 Bernice P. Bishop Museum — Bulletin 
 
 said to belong to Fatu Hiva. Of this but one living example could be 
 found (PI. V, 8). Of the old Nuku Hiva paheke, distinguished by an oblique 
 band running from the right center of the forehead across the left eye 
 and cheek (PI. y, 5), there remain today but two examples. What form 
 the transition from spiral to band may have taken can only be conjec- 
 tured. A reliable Hiva Oa informant describes a former convention of that 
 island which seems to be a combination of over-eye arcs — perhaps a relic 
 of the spiral — , of peheke and fi’ati’apu (PI. v, 6; see also Langsdorff’s 
 description and PL viii, figs. 10, ii, p. xi). In Melville’s time, both the 
 modern styles were seen on Nuku Hiva, and in the tattooing to be seen 
 today, the Hiva Oa has replaced the Nuku Hiva design completely. In the 
 fine inset and inter-band motives are to be found both geometric and con- 
 ventional motives, never naturalistic. 
 
 How may this divergence between groups and the growth from the 
 naturalistic through the geometric to the conventional — as seems to be 
 the probable development — be accounted for? 
 
 Perhaps it may be postulated that before the seventeenth century 
 naturalistic motives were used in both groups, that during the two un- 
 recorded centuries geometric figures appeared in the southeastern group, 
 that these gradually replaced the naturalistic there or transformed them 
 into the conventional, and that at each stage of development the new 
 styles were carried to the northwest where they did not so completely 
 obliterate or amalgamate the native patterns, some of which persist to 
 this day in their old form. 
 
 Influences which may have contributed to such a development are 
 suggested by an examination of adzing and carving motives. Ornamental 
 adzing in simple geometric patterns seems to have been the primitive 
 form of wood decoration. Imitation of its technique as well as the use 
 of its motives on the body is evident. The former is seen in the filling 
 of spaces, ordinarily made solid in color, with parallel, oblique, zigzag 
 or wavy lines (PI. iii, 7, inset in eye band; xxi, B, b; xxxvi, insets 
 in e and g; xxxv, inset barred teeth in f; xxx, d) ; in the use of the inter- 
 section of adzing lines to form the motive called kopito (PI. xxiii. A, d; 
 possibly also the inset in the forehead band in PI. iii, 8). In tattooing 
 are found such housepost motives as the cross formed by adzing off the 
 corners of a square (PI. xii, C, b), concentric circles (PI. xii-£, b) and 
 concentric half-ovals (PI. xxviii, E; xviii, a). It is possible that the 
 use of four triangles in a square or oblong, as well as the conception of 
 design in bands may have come from this art of adzing wood. When it 
 is remembered that wood was scorched before a pattern was adzed or 
 carved upon it, so that the design was in natural wood color, the back- 
 
Handy — Tattooing in the Marquesas 
 
 19 
 
 ground in black, the conclusion suggests itself that such motives as the 
 pahito (PI. XXIII, A, j and k, left and right) and the flamelike ends of 
 triangles (xviii, xix A) may be copies of the black background left by 
 
 gouging alongside a line in the one case and by cutting short lines 
 
 vertically out from a straight line in the other. It seems as if the 
 checkerboard pattern, of which but one example is extant, must have 
 originally been carved on wood (PI. xxi, D, a). Parallel and wavy 
 lines and other adzing and carving concepts are used on the body, as 
 seen in the preceding example. It will be noticed that most of these 
 coincidences are found in Nuku Hiva, Ua Pou or early Fatu Hiva types, 
 rather than in the prevalent modern patterns, though among these are 
 two examples of the scroll so prominent in carving (see also Pis. xxxviii, 
 D ; XXXV, c). 
 
 Wood carving, as distinguished from adzing, which decorated bowls, 
 paddles, clubs, etc., seems to be a mixture of adzing patterns, geometric 
 
 squarish spirals and a few of the conventional motives usual in tattooing. 
 
 Of carving technique copies such as the veining along a midrib (PI. 
 xxviii E) are found in tattooing; of carving design, similarities to old 
 war club patterns (PI. vi, B; x. A, 2, a; the tava, which was formerly 
 burned on a plank in the house of the inspirational priest (PI. xvi, m) ; 
 
 and such small units as the tiki in forehead and mouth bands of Plate iii, 7. 
 
 Common to both carving and tattooing are such conventional motives as 
 the honu kca or woodlouse, the mata hoata or brilliant eye, the ka’ake 
 or underarm curve, the poka’a or wooden block for carrying a load on 
 the shoulder, the enata or man. Whether these motives originated as 
 wood carving patterns or as body decoration and in which direction the 
 transfer and adaption was made it is impossible to say definitely. 
 
 Several interesting possibilities are suggested by an analysis of the 
 various motives called kea today. It would appear that the kea of com- 
 mon occurrence on wood is really a conventionalization of the honu kea 
 
 or woodlouse with its six legs and two antennae. This was seen but 
 
 once in tattooing, on the wrist of an old woman of Fatu Hiva (PI. vii. A, 
 i, a) and was drawn by an artist of Fatu Hiva as a former unit there 
 (PI. XVI, K). On the other hand, the usual body kea (PI. xxii, B, b 
 center) may very well be a simple conventionalization of one of the 
 carved tortoise-shell plaques of the packea or crown — a carved product 
 of Hiva Oa — the motive having been borrowed from shell rather than from 
 wood carving. There is a motive found today in tattooing on Ua Pou (PI. 
 XX, A, e; xxi, D, b) and depicted also as an early Fatu Hiva unit (PI. ix, 
 A, b) which resembles the e honu, tortoise, drawn by Langsdorff, and 
 this, which has disappeared from Hiva Oa tattooing, may perhaps be said 
 
20 
 
 Bernice P. Bishop Museum — Bulletin 
 
 to be the only conventional derivative of a naturalistic portrayal of the 
 tortoise and probably the only pure body motive among the variants called 
 kea. The southeastern carving motive is the kca which prevails today. 
 
 Another usual conventional motive appearing both in carving and 
 tattooing, the mata hoata, or brilliant eye (PI. xxvi, A. e), would appear 
 to have originated in neither, being, in its simplest form, a copy of the eyes, 
 ears and nostrils of a tiki or image face. Only on wood is this simple copy 
 found today, and on wood we find all the transition stages of its develop- 
 ment to the highly conventionalized unit common in tattooing today ; 
 whence it would appear that the mata hoata originated in sculpture, was 
 copied upon wood, and transferred to the body, where it gradually was 
 elaborated and more highly conventionalized. (For development see PI. 
 XXX, b, which is found only on wood today; xi, A, c; xviii, b; xxxiv, b; 
 XXXIII, c ; XXIII, B, f, a; xxiii. A, a, center.) 
 
 Of conventional motives the ka'ake is perhaps the most widely used. 
 Dordillon gives kakekake as one of the words used to designate tattooing 
 which is entirely finished. He spells the word “kake,” but it seems better 
 to adopt the spelling ‘‘ka’ake” for the following reasons : The distinguish- 
 ing feature of the motive is its never varying curve which seems to cor- 
 respond to the line of the under-arm curve or arm-pit for which the 
 native term is ka’ake. The assumption that this curve of the body origi- 
 nally gave the name to the motive is borne out by several lines of rea- 
 soning. In the first place, Langsdorff assigns the placing of this motive 
 originally to the inside arm and ribs (lo, p. xv) ; in the second place, 
 we have described for us this simple under-arm curve as its earliest 
 form (PI. XXIX, h; xxx, i) ; and in the third place, the elaborations of 
 this curve, as the motive grew in complexity, are representations of the 
 enata or man with upraised arms (PI. vi, B, center bottom), and of the 
 poka’a (PI. IX, B at base of fingers) or curved wooden object placed on 
 the shoulders on which to rest a pole in carrying a heavy load. The associa- 
 tion of ideas seems obvious and we find them associated today as minor deco- 
 rations in the under-arm pattern (PI. xiii, B, a, b; xiii, C, c and d ; 
 XIV, A). This combination is especially marked in the simpler forms of 
 the ka’ake as found on Ua Pou (PI. xx, B, b) and Nuka Hiva (PI. xv, a). 
 Although this unit appears upon wood, it seems reasonable to suggest that 
 it was originally a body pattern. 
 
 There are certain body motives which seem never or rarely to have 
 been used upon wood, such as the huctai (PI. xxxiv, c) and the po’i’i 
 (PI. XXXIII, e; XXVI, A, d, center), which are associated with early Nuku 
 Hiva, not Hiva Oa, art; and there are some which are just beginning 
 to be transferred to wood at the present time, as the ipu’oto, another unit 
 
Handy — Tattooing in the Marquesas 
 
 21 
 
 found in early Nuku Hiva design (PI. xiii) ; but it seems impossible 
 definitely to assign particular conventional motives to the one medium or 
 the other. However, it may perhaps be stated that geometric elements 
 did originate on wood, and that the influence of geometric adzing and 
 carving appears in tattooing both in certain transferred elements and in 
 a general conventionalization of the primitive naturalistic motives. Inas- 
 much as Fatu Hiva is known to be the carving center, we may further 
 define the geometric influence as springing directly from wood-carvers 
 of the southeastern group. 
 
 The use of solid patches may be traced with interest, as here again 
 we find a different treatment in the two groups. Some modern infor- 
 mants describe the men of Xuku Hiva as formerly having half of the body 
 entirely black (PI. xii, B) ; one remembers seeing a man with solid- 
 black legs ; several testify that when a man was completely tattooed in 
 design, if he could bear it, the spaces were gone over and filled in until 
 all pattern was obliterated and he was completely black. In corroborat- 
 ing this custom in Xuku Hiva, Langsdorff says that he saw some old men 
 who were punctured over and over to such a degree that the outlines of 
 each separate figure were scarcely to be distinguished and the body had 
 an almost negro-like appearance. (See also 14. p. 78; 8. p. 155; 17, p. 
 306; I, p. 106.) There are no accounts of such a practice in the south- 
 eastern islands, and this seems to point to an aesthetic sense there, which 
 was lacking in the northwest, for certainly people with sufficient artistic 
 sense to originate these beautiful patterns would not have covered them 
 afterwards and considered the results the “height of perfection in orna- 
 ment,’’ as did the tuhiina of Xuku Hiva, according to Langsdorff and the 
 other early voyagers. 
 
 Desgraz, who was in Xuku Hiva at approximately the same time as 
 Melville, when Hiva Oa tattooing was the vogue, describes the use there 
 of black bands containing delicate figures. These are today the funda- 
 mentally distinguishing feature of the Hiva Oa type of body design as 
 well as of the face pattern. On the other hand, both from descriptions 
 of natives today and from examination of the tattooing of the only old 
 man and old woman to be found, whose patterns were put on by Xuku 
 Hiva tiihuna, the basic principle of the Xuku Hiva type seems to have been 
 solid patches. Leg patterns for women found today fall into three dis- 
 tinct types: that of Xuku Hiva (Pis. xvii-xix), L’a Pou (Pis. xx-xxi), and 
 Hiva Oa (Pis. xxii-xxviii). The first is distinguished by triangular patches 
 of different sizes fitted together with half inch spaces between them, the 
 only regularity of arrangement being their placing so as to form a straight 
 line down the center front of the leg. Flamelike edges, inset teeth, and 
 

 Bernice P. Bishop Museum — Bulletin 
 
 geometric linings, with here and there a naturalistic unit, break up the heavy 
 patches and add to their irregular and fancy appearance. Examination of 
 the leg motives of this very tapu> Nuku Hiva chief ess, who must have em- 
 ployed the best artist obtainable, provokes the suggestion that these insets 
 were crude and inartistic attempts at a style from the southeast which had 
 perhaps just been introduced into Nuku Hiva and with which the Nuku Hiva 
 iiihuna was not acquainted or perhaps to which he was not equal. The 
 second type, that of Ua Pou, is put on below the knee only, in horizontal 
 bands of delicately lined patterns, the motives on either side of the center, 
 front and back, being exactly alike. The whole may be conceived of in front 
 and back longitudinal sections of symmetrical halves, which meet in the 
 middle of either side of the leg. Naturalistic, geometric and conventional 
 treatments are all present. The third type, that of Hiva Oa, which was 
 the prevalent style at the time of the discontinuance of the art, is similar 
 in arrangement to that of Ua Pou, extending however high up onto the 
 thigh, and presents a mean between the two former in heaviness of 
 treatment, the fine lines swelling into black curves. The mode is almost 
 purely conventional. The two latter may be characterized as curvilinear; 
 the former, as angular in design. 
 
 The leg patterns to be seen on living men fall into two types, a single 
 example representing that of Nuku Hiva (PI. xxxi), all the rest being 
 of the Hiva Oa type (Pis. xxxii-xxxvin) . The former is characterized 
 by unadorned heavy patches, triangular and oblong in shape, fitted together 
 obliquely with no plan of arrangement save the formation of a straight 
 intersection down the front of the leg. Teeth are the only insets. The 
 Hiva Oa examples show the style to be of horizontal bands extending 
 around three quarters of the leg, the inside front quarter being filled 
 with triangles in the Nuku Hiva style (PI. xxxiv, e-j), indicating, per- 
 haps, a borrowing from the heavy black patches of that group. The thigh 
 band and the underknee band are always composed either of four triangles 
 or of triangles and parallelograms with insets of teeth ; but beyond this, 
 this style is totally different from the Nuku Hiva example, variations of 
 the same fine line motives used in Hiva Oa for women being set into 
 pahito so that the heavy bands become merely a framework for them. 
 The Nuku Hiva pattern drawn from life stands quite apart from that 
 pictured by early navigators (lo, pp. 117, 119; 16, PI. 132) and described 
 by a modern informant on Fatu Hiva (See PI. xxix). It is a pity that no 
 other living example of the work of a Nuku Hiva artist could be found, 
 as it is unsafe to make any general statement about it. 
 
 At the present time, there is but one type of back decoration for men 
 (PI. XIV, C) : eight heavy rectangular patches arranged in pairs along the 
 
Handy — Tattooing in the Marquesas 
 
 23 
 
 back bone with fine line insets and a girdle. These are called peka tua, 
 back cross, by an informant of Nuku Hiva and may be an outgrowth of 
 the cross on the back described by Langsdorff (10, p. 123), though the 
 present mode bears no resemblance to a cross, being rather another 
 example of band construction. 
 
 ^^dth the band construction of the present day, then, are associated 
 exact technique, perfect symmetr)-, an evident understanding of anatomy 
 and fitting of design to the body, and motives which are akin in name 
 and formation to those carved on bowls, paddles, canoes, and similar 
 objects. The distinguishing features accompanying the oblique patch type 
 are irregularity, no sense of the design as a whole, no fitting of the 
 motives to the body, naturalistic units, fussy, elaborate, non-aesthetic, fine- 
 line insets. 
 
 A survey of these two types of body decoration leads naturally to the 
 suggestion that there was a fundamental difference of concept between the 
 two groups regarding the reason for its use. Plainly, there was an 
 emphasis upon endurance and fortitude in the mind of the northwesterner 
 when he braved the pain of a completely perforated skin ; while the south- 
 easterner looked upon the art as more purely decorative. Dordillon gives 
 the word ne'one’o as meaning “what inspires horror (in speaking of a 
 wound),” and “to cry a long time;” and this word with the addition of 
 the phra.se, “i te tiki” means “completely covered with tattooing.” It is 
 the pain of which the people of the Marquesas speak today when dis- 
 playing their decorations, and it must be admitted that this is as true in 
 the one group as in the other. 
 
 The only practical reason for tattooing that was suggested by living 
 informants came from a man of Nuku Hiva, who, in describing an old 
 mode of the northwestern group of tattooing half of the entire body solid 
 black, accounts for this style by saying that such a one turned his black 
 side towards the enemy during a battle, so that he could not be dis- 
 tinguished or recognized. 
 
 Inquiry into the naming of motives may throw some light upon their 
 significance in the native mind. Appreciation of the anatomy of the 
 body is often of such paramount importance as to give the name of the 
 body part to the motive which is fitted to it, the fatina (joint) or knee 
 jointure pattern (PI. xxxiv, f) being a case in point. The same sense of 
 body form is approached from a slightly different angle, as in the naming 
 of the buttock pattern, tifa (cover) (PI. xxxv, c), the convex of the 
 body part resembling the cover of a calabash. Motives are sometimes 
 referred to in purely technical terms of form: such as paka (PI. xxxv, h) 
 a splinter; kopito (PI. xxiii. A, d, left and right) zigzag; or in terms of 
 
24 
 
 Bernice P. Bishop Museum — Bulletin 
 
 the parts they play in the pattern as a whole, such as the ka’ava (PI. x, B, 
 I, g) ; beam supporting the timbers of a house, which performs just this 
 function in the hand pattern; or the iti’Ui’i (PI. xxvi, B, h) which encircles 
 the leg, binding together the side motives. 
 
 Many of the design names * then, are names given by artists in terms 
 of their particular medium; but motives are also named for objects in 
 nature or in the material culture, of which they were probably originally 
 naturalistic copies. Prominent among these are the enata (PI. xxiii, B, h) 
 or man; the nihoniho pcata (PI. iii, 6, c) or shark’s teeth; the hikuhiku 
 atii (PI. xxxiv, k) or bonito tails; the pakiei (PI. xx, B, f) or crab; the 
 fa’amana (PI. xvi, h) or pandanus branches; the makamaka (PI. xx. A, c), 
 branches; the kaka’a (PI. xx, B, c), lizard; the poka’a (PI. ix, B at base 
 of fingers) or shoulder rest for a carrying pole, which is sometimes repre- 
 sented with the carrying pole in the socket as in the finger motives of 
 PI. IX, C, I. 
 
 A third department of names seems to relate to legends and beliefs ; 
 such being the vai o Kena (PI. xxvi. A, g, center) water of Kena; the 
 •vai ta keetu (PI. xvi, c), sacred bathing place of chiefs; the vai me’anut 
 (PI. XX, A, d), water moon ; the Pohu (PI. xxii, B, g, center), a legendary 
 hero; the peke’oumei and the fanaua (PI. xv, c), or evil spirits. 
 
 Whether these and the naturalistic motives had magical significance is 
 not known today, though there is reason to believe that the fanaua were 
 put upon the back of this one w'oman to protect her from these evil 
 spirits. The only positive statement regarding the significance of tattooing 
 design in the Marquesas that can be made upon the basis of the data 
 available today is that it was considered purely decorative at the time of 
 the cessation of the practice of the art. And it is as pure design that it 
 should be studied and appreciated. 
 
 * In the explanation of the plates the names of the motives are those given by the 
 persons on whose bodies they are found. It is impossible to secure accurate transla- 
 tions of the majority of design names from natives today, since these have become 
 simply names to them. The names given here are only those which a knowledge of 
 the language and information from natives and from Dordillon seem to make reliable. 
 
Handy — Tattooing in the Marquesas 
 
 25 
 
 TRANSLATIONS OF DESIGN NAMES 
 
 aa fanaua 
 
 akaaka fa’a 
 enata 
 fa’a mana 
 fanaua 
 fatina 
 
 hei ta’avaha 
 hei po’i’i 
 
 hikuhiku atu 
 
 honu 
 hue ao 
 hue epo 
 hue tai 
 ihu epo 
 ikeike 
 ipu ani 
 ipu ao 
 ipu oto 
 iti’iti’i 
 ka’ake 
 ka’ava 
 kaka’a 
 kea 
 
 kikipu 
 
 kikomata 
 
 kikutu 
 
 kohe ta 
 
 kohe tua 
 
 kopiko 
 
 koua’ehi 
 
 makamaka 
 
 mata 
 
 mata hoata 
 niho or nihoniho 
 nihoniho peata 
 nutu kaha 
 omuo puaina 
 
 pahito 
 
 paka 
 
 row of evil spirits 
 (of a certain 
 kind) 
 
 pandanus roots 
 man 
 
 pandanus branches 
 a kind of evil spirit 
 jointure 
 
 a diadem of cock’s 
 plumes 
 
 shellfish (of a cer- 
 tain circular 
 kind) wreath 
 tails of the bonito 
 fish 
 
 tortoise 
 
 calabash bottom 
 dirty calabash 
 compass 
 dirty nose 
 a kind of shrub 
 sky bowl 
 bowl bottom 
 inside the bowl 
 binding 
 armpit 
 ridge pole 
 lizard 
 
 woodlouse, or tor- 
 toise or a 
 carved 
 plaque of 
 tortoise shell 
 
 lips 
 
 eyes 
 
 lips 
 
 sword 
 
 back knife 
 
 zigzag 
 
 coconut leaves 
 
 branches 
 
 eyes 
 
 brilliant eye 
 teeth 
 
 shark’s teeth 
 mouth or muzzle 
 a kind of carved 
 bone earring 
 ancient patch 
 splinter 
 
 paka oto 
 
 pakiei 
 
 pana’o 
 
 papua 
 
 papua au ti 
 
 papua enata 
 peata 
 peka tua 
 peke ou mei 
 pia’o tiu 
 
 Pohu 
 
 po’i’i 
 
 poka’a 
 
 pu 
 
 puaina, puainga 
 pua hitu 
 
 pua hue 
 puha puaka 
 puto’o 
 tamau 
 tapu vae 
 ti’ati’a pu 
 
 tifa 
 
 tiki 
 
 tiki ae 
 tou pae 
 
 tumu ima 
 vahana ae 
 vai me’ama 
 vai o Kena 
 
 vai ta keetu 
 
 veo 
 
 vi’i po’i’i 
 
 inside places 
 crab 
 
 cut in small slices, 
 traced 
 
 enclosure or gar- 
 den 
 
 enclosure of ti 
 leaves 
 
 native enclosure 
 shark 
 back cross 
 a kind of evil spirit 
 to fold or make 
 
 into bundles 
 a legendary char- 
 acter 
 
 a kind of coiled 
 shell fish 
 
 a shaped wooden 
 shoulder 
 rest for a 
 carrying pole 
 conch shell 
 ear 
 
 flower of olden 
 times 
 
 flower calabash 
 pig’s thigh 
 buttocks 
 ring 
 
 sacred foot 
 to encircle several 
 times 
 
 cover 
 
 image 
 
 forehead image 
 three head orna- 
 ments 
 hand tree 
 half a forehead 
 water moon 
 water of Kena, a 
 legendary 
 hero 
 
 sacred bathing 
 place of 
 chiefs 
 tail 
 
 to turn the shell 
 fish 
 
26 
 
 Bernice P. Bishop Museum — Bulletin 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 1. Berchon, Le tatouage aux lies Marquises: Bull. Soc. d’Anthr., vol. i, pp. 99-117, 
 
 Paris, i860. 
 
 2. Chaui.et, Pierre, Manuscript in possession of the Catholic Mission in the Mar- 
 
 quesas. 
 
 3. Dordileon, I. R., Grammaire et dictionnaire de la langue des lies Marquises, 
 
 Paris, 1904. 
 
 4. Forster, G., A Voyage round the World: vol. 2, London, 1777. 
 
 5. Forster, J. R., Observations made during a voyage round the World, London, 
 
 1778. 
 
 6. Garcia [Gracia?], Mathias, Le P., Letters sur les lies Marquises: Paris, 1843. 
 
 7. Jardin, Edelestant, Essai sur I’histoire naturelle de I’archipel des Marquises, Paris 
 
 et Cherbourg, 1862. 
 
 8. Krusenstern, a. J. von. Voyage round the world in the years 1803, 1804. 1805, 
 
 and 1806, vol. i, translated from the original German by Richard Belgrave 
 Hoppner, London, 1813. 
 
 9. LacassagnE, a., Les Tatouages, etude anthropologique et medico-legale : Paris 
 
 1881. 
 
 10. Langsdorff, G. H. von. Voyages and travels in various parts of the world during 
 
 the years 1803, 1804, 1805, 1806, and 1807, London, 1813. 
 
 11. Marchand, Etienne, Voyage autour du Monde pendant les annees 1790, 1791 
 
 et 1792, vol. I, Paris an vi-viii [6th to 8th years of the Republic — 1797- 
 1800]. 
 
 12. Melville, Herman, Omoo, a narrative of adventure in the South Seas : New 
 
 York, 1863. 
 
 13. Melville, Herman, Typee, A peep at Polynesian life during a four months’ 
 
 residence in a valley of the Marquesas, New York, 1876. 
 
 14. Porter, David, A voyage in the South Seas, London, 1823. 
 
 15. Quiros, Pedro Fernandez de. The Voyages of Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, 1595 
 
 to 1606: Hakluyt Soc-, 2nd ser., vols. 14, 15, translated and edited by Sir 
 Clements Markhamj^ London, 1904. 
 
 16. Rienzi, M. G. L. Domeny de, Oceanie ou cinquieme partie du Monde, vol. 2, 
 
 Paris, 1863. 
 
 17. Stewart, C. S., A visit to the South Seas in the U. S. Ship Vincennes during 
 
 the years 1829 and 1830, vol. i. New York, 1831. 
 
 18. Vincendon-Dumoulin and Desgraz, C., lies Marquises ou Nouka-Hiva, histoire, 
 
 geographie, moeurs, Paris, 1843. 
 
27 
 
 Handy — Tattooing in the Marquesas 
 
 EXPLANATION OF PLATES 
 
 (From drawings by the author except where otherwise indicated.) 
 
 Plate I. — Photographs of a tattooed man of the Marquesas. 
 
 The patterns on half the body of Eotafa of Ta’a Oa, Hiva Oa — the most fully 
 tattooed man seen in the Marquesas by the author — the motives being brought out 
 by painting them with black paint. Identical patterns on the unpainted half of the 
 man’s body do not appear in the photograph. 
 
 Plate II. — Photographs of a tattooed woman of the Marquesas. 
 
 Typical modern patterns for women, on the body of Tuuakena at Atu Ona, 
 Hiva Oa : A. Front and side view of face, showing lip and ear patterns. B-E. Front 
 and rear views of legs showing patterns on the painted portions. 
 
 Plate III. — Face patterns for men. 
 
 Examples of the Hiva Oa style of three horizontal face bands, ti’a ti’a pit: i. An 
 
 unfinished example from Pua Ma’u, Hiva Oa. — 2. From Haka Hetau, Ua Pou, show- 
 ing eiiata motive (a). — ,3. From Haka Hetau, Ua Pou, showing a half band on the 
 forehead. — 4. From Hokatu, Ua Huka, showing the motives tiki ac (a), kikomata (b) , 
 tiki pu (c), and parilio (inset in c). — 5. From Pua Ma’u, Hiva Oa, showing a band 
 over one eye, niata (a), and a mouth band, nutu kaha (b). — 6. From Vai Paee, Ua 
 Huka, showing the motives valtana ae (a), mata (b), nihonilio peata (c left), name 
 unknown (c, right), detail of c right (e), and the kikutu (d). — 7. from Vai Paee, 
 Ua Huka. — 8. From Hane, Ua Huka. 
 
 Plate IV. — Face patterns for men. 
 
 Examples of the Hiva Oa style of three horizontal face bands, ti’ati’a pu: 
 I. From Omoa, Fatu Hiva. — 2. From Hanavava, Fatu Hiva, showing on inter-band 
 the nihonilio peata motive. — 3. From Hatiheu, Nuku Hiva (after a sketch by 
 E. S. Handy). — 4. From A’akapa, Nuku Hiva (after a sketch by E. S. Handy). — 
 5. From Hana Vave, Fatu Hiva, showing detail of a chainlike design (a). — 6. From 
 Hana Vave, Fatu Hiva, the three bands here called as a whole ton pae. — 7. From Haka 
 Hetau, Ua Pou, showing mata (a), veo (b), kiki pu (c), cnata {d), detail of b (e), 
 detail of d (f). — 8. From Hooumi, Nuku Hiva (after a sketch by E. S. Handy). — 
 9. From Haapa, Nuku Hiva (after a sketch by E. S. Handy). — 10 and ii. From 
 Haka Hau, Ua Pou. 
 
 Plate V. — Face and head p,\tterns for men. 
 
 Examples of various styles of different periods; i. From Hana lapa, Hiva Oa, 
 showing an unusually shaped eye band and an unfinished mouth band. — 2. From 
 Atu Ona, Hiva Oa, showing shoulder and chest patterns mounting the neck to join 
 the face bands. — 3. From Haka Hau, Ua Pou ; an unfinished pattern, showing the 
 probable sequence of execution — one eye being allowed to Leal while half of the 
 mouth was done, and so 011.-4 From Ha’a Kuti, Ua Pou (after a sketch by 
 E. S. Handy). — 5. From Tai o Hae, Nuku Hiva, one of two extant examples show- 
 ing the Nuku Hiva style of an oblique band (pa heke) crossing the face. — 6. A former 
 Hiva Oa pattern (after a description by an Atuona informant). — 7. An old pattern 
 for warriors of all the islands (after a description by an informant of Fatu Hiva. — 
 8. A variant of the ti’ati’a pu, with nostrils covered, belonging to Fatu Hiva and 
 called ihu epo (after a sketch by E. S. Handy). — 9. A pattern formerly used on the 
 crown of the head (after a painting on a sculptured figure which once served as a 
 house post in Ta’a Oa, Hiva Oa, and is now in possession of M. Chadourne of 
 Papeete, Tahiti. — 10. The hue epo pattern, an example of a former style of the people 
 of Tai o Hae, Nuku Hiva (after a description by a Nuku Hiva informant). — ii. An 
 old Nuku Hiva pattern (after a description by an informant of Fatu Hiva). 
 
28 
 
 Bernice P. Bishop Museum — Bulletin 
 
 Plate VI. — Head and shoulder patterns for women. 
 
 A. Typical face patterns for women ; lip marks, koniho, and an ear pattern, 
 omua puaina. 
 
 B. A band across the arm just below the fall of the shoulder, on a woman of 
 Tai-pi Vai, Nuku Hiva (after a sketch by E. S. Handy). 
 
 C. Ear patterns : i. On a woman of Hakaui, Nuku Hiva. — 2. Of Atu Ona, Hiva 
 
 Oa, showing the omuo puaina design around the lobe and the kea design at 
 the back of the ear. — 3. Of Tai-pi Vai, showing the puainga design (after a 
 sketch by E. S. Handy). — 4. Of Pua Ma’u, Hiva Oa, showing around the 
 lobe the aniatiu (anihaupeka, Dordillon) motive and back of the ear the 
 po’opito ua puaina. — 5. Of Hiva Oa. — 6. A woman’s pattern on a man of Pua 
 Ma’u, Hiva Oa — a rare occurrence. 
 
 Plate VII. — Hand patterns. Motives from Fatu Hiva and Tahu Ata. 
 
 A. On a woman of Fatu Hiva ; i. The back of the hand. — 2. The palm, show- 
 ing the pariho motive on the underwrist around the palm, the mata (a), the 
 tamau (b), and the pariho (c). 
 
 B. On a woman of Tahu Ata: i. The back, showing the poka’a motive at the 
 base of the middle finger, the pihau (tumu ima, Langsdorff) (a) and the 
 mata (b). — 2. The underwrist 
 
 Plate VIII. — Hand patterns. Motives from Nuku Hiva and Hiva Oa. 
 
 A. On a man of Nuku Hiva. 
 
 B. On a woman of Hiva Oa, showing the taina vau motive between the thumb 
 and index finger, e tua poou (a), ti’i kao (b) , and the paa niho (c) around 
 the palm. 
 
 Plate IX. — Hand patterns. Motives from Fatu Hiva and Tahu Ata. 
 
 A. An old pattern of Fatu Hiva called kohi’u (after a drawing made by an old 
 tuhana of Fatu Hiva), showing finger motives, mata va’u; finger and upper 
 hand units inclusive, nutu kaha; po’i’i (a); kea po’i’i (b) ; hei po’i’i (c) ,"\ 
 and hei ta'avaha (d) around the palm. 
 
 B. On the left hand of a woman of Tahu Ata (for the design on her right 
 hand see Plate X, A), showing the poka’a motive at the base of the fingers; 
 the po’i’i (a), Pohu (b), and the eia va’u (c). 
 
 C. On a woman of Hiva Oa, done by a tuhuna of Fatu Hiva: i. The back of 
 
 the hand showing the central oval, the po’i’i motive ; the poka’a at the base 
 
 of the fingers and the thumb; matua hee moa (a), ama opea between the 
 thumb and index finger; and the fanaua (b, c.). — 2. The palm showing the 
 fanaua motive around the palm, the po’i’i (a), and the piaotiu (b). 
 
 Plate X. — Hand patterns. Motives from Tahu Ata. 
 
 A. On a woman of Tahu Ata: i. The back of the hand, showing the ka’ava 
 
 motive at the base of the middle finger to the wrist, kou’u (a), poka’a (b), 
 
 mohovaha (c), and the mata (d). — 2. The underwrist, koua’ehi fa). 
 
 B. On a woman of Tahu Ata. (The tattooing was done by the same tuhuna 
 whose work is shown in Plates X, A and IX, B.) i. The back, showing the 
 motives papua (a), e tua poou (b), paka (c), ka’ava (center), fanaua (e), Pohu 
 (f), and ka’ake fg). — 2 Underwrist, showing the motives paa niho around the 
 palm; papua au ti (b), and the vai 0 Kena (c). 
 
 Plate XI. — Hand patterns. Variant motives. 
 
 A. Principal units on the hand of a woman of Nuku Hiva, showing the motives 
 mata putona (a), kea (b), and the mata io (c). (After a sketch by E. S. Handy.) 
 
 B. A representation of a bird on the underwrist of a woman of Nuku Hiva. 
 
Handy — Tattooing in the Marquesas 
 
 29 
 
 C. Pattern on two men of Ua Pou. 
 
 D. On a man of Hiva Oa, tattooing done by a tuhuna of Fatu Hiva (after a 
 sketch by E. S. Handy). 
 
 B. On the underwrist of a woman of Hiva Oa, an unusual kea motive. 
 
 Plate XII. — Arm and breast patterns for men. Evolutionary types. 
 
 A. An old style of Fatu Hiva (after a drawing by a tuhuna of Fatu Hiva) show- 
 ing breast stripes, ti’i heke. 
 
 B. An old style of Nuku Hiva (after a sketch by E. S. Handy from the description 
 of an artist of Fatu Hiva). 
 
 C. Detailed drawing of A, showing the motives kea (a), the etua pooi (b), the 
 poka’a or pahito (c), fa’amana (d), ipu ao (e), and the vi’i po’i'i (d and e). 
 
 D. The present style: under-arm, ipu oto; shoulder disk, puha puaka; chest, 
 ka mo’ehu. 
 
 E. Detailed drawings of B showing the motives nihoniho (a), po’i’i (b, c). 
 
 Plate XIII. — Arm patterns for men. Typical modern motives, ipu oto. 
 
 A. On a man of Ua Huka. 
 
 B. On three men of Ua Pou showing a variant of the armpit motive, the poka’a (a), 
 and the enata (b). Three pairs of squarish ovals, similar to those in A com- 
 plete this arm pattern. 
 
 C. On a man of Fatu Hiva showing the motives puaina (a); ti’i o’oka (b) ; 
 the three pairs of ovals, ipu oto; the arm-pit unit, ipu ao; poka’a (c) ; and 
 enata (d). 
 
 Plate XIV. — Body patterns for men. Old and new types. 
 
 A. An unfinished example from Nuku Hiva, typical of all islands at the present 
 time, showing the arm-pit design, ipu katu and chest, teeva. 
 
 B. An old style in back and side patterns from Fatu Hiva (after a drawing by 
 a tuhuna of Fatu Hiva) showing back patches, pahito; ipu oto (a); pahito 
 (b); niata (c); mata (d) ; kohe tua (e), a. girdle and leg stripe. 
 
 C. An unfinished back pattern, peka tua, from Nuku Hiva but common to all 
 the Marquesas islands. On Ua Pou this pattern is called moho. 
 
 Plate XV. — A back pattern for women. 
 
 A girdle on a chiefess of Nuku Hiva, showing the motives ka’ake (a), mata (b), 
 and fanaua (c). 
 
 Plate XVI. — Leg motives for women. 
 
 Motives formerly used in Fatu Hiva: koniho (a), mata hoata (b), vai ta keetu 
 (c), pana’o (d), ikeike (e), hei po’i’i (f), akaaka fa’a (g), fa’a mana (h) worn on the 
 inner ankle, mata omo’e (i) worn on the inside of the knee, like the present pahito, 
 puha tahi (j) worn below the knee on the inside of the leg, eia va’u (k) worn on the 
 inside of the calf, tiutu kaha (1), tava (m) worn on the inside of the leg above the 
 ankle (after drawings by a tuhuna of Fatu Hiva). 
 
 Plate XVII. — A leg p.attern for women. 
 
 The only surviving example, so far as known, of an old style of Nuku Hiva. 
 
 A. Front and side views of the left leg. 
 
 B. Back and side views of the right leg. 
 
 Plate XVIII. — A leg pattern for women. 
 
 Detail of the motives shown in Plate XVII, A. 
 
30 
 
 Bernice P. Bishop Museum — Bulletin 
 
 Plate XIX. — Detailed studies of a leg pattern for women. 
 
 A. Of motives in Plate XVII, B. 
 
 B. Back thigh units of both legs of patterns in Plate XVII. 
 
 C. Ankle motives of the right leg of pattern in Plate XVII, the rest of the ankle 
 and foot pattern being identical with those of the left. 
 
 Plate XX. — A leg pattern for women. 
 
 Detail of the right leg motives of an old style of Ua Pou, the only surviving 
 
 example to be found today. 
 
 A. Front: paka (a), mata io (b), makamaka (c), vai me’ama (d), honu (e). 
 
 B. Back: po’i'i (a), ka’ake (b), kaka’a (c), mata io (d), vai me’ama (e), pakiei (f), 
 pu (gJ- 
 
 Plate XXL — A leg pattern for women. 
 
 Detail of the left leg motives of the preceding example : 
 
 A. Front, knee to ankle: mata (a), ka’ake (b), pakiei (c), vai me’ama (d). 
 
 B. Back, knee to ankle: ka’ake (a), mata io (b), vai me’ama (c). 
 
 C. General view of the left leg. 
 
 D. Ankle band. 
 
 E. General view of the right leg, of which detail is shown in Plate XX. 
 
 Plate XXII. — A leg pattern for women. The modern type. 
 
 Typical motives indicating the color of the tattooing as it appears on the skin. 
 
 A. Back pattern: vai pahu (a, left), ka’ake (a, center), mata hoata (b), ka’ake (c), 
 mata hoata (d), ipu ani (e), vai o Kena (f), mata hoata (g), ka’ake (h) and (}), 
 Pohu (i), ipu ani (k, center), ka’ake (k, left and right). 
 
 B. Front pattern: mata hoata (a), po’okohe (b, left and right), kea (b, center), 
 ka’ake (c, left and right), pahito (d, left and right), ipu ani (d, center), 
 mata mei nei (e), ka’ake (f, left and right), vai o Kena, sometimes called 
 potia hue or peke ou mei (f, center), Pohu (g, center), mata hoata (h), 
 pahito (i and j, left and right), ka’ake (i and j, center), ipu ani (k), mata 
 hoata (1), etua poou, sometimes Pohu (m). 
 
 Plate XXIII. — A leg pattern for women. A variant arrangement on 
 A woman of Pua Ma'u, Hiva Oa. 
 
 A. Front pattern: ka’ake (a, left and right), mata hoata (a, center), aniatiu (b, 
 left and right), ka’ake (b, center), kopiko (d, left and right), po’i’i (d, center), 
 ka’ake (e, left and right), mata hoata (f, center), ka’ake (g), etua poou (h), 
 mata hoata (i), pahito (j, left and right), pahito (k, left and right), ka’ake (j 
 and k, center), po’i’i (1), mata hoata (m). 
 
 B. Back pattern: mata hoata (a), ka’ake (b), mata hoata (c), po’i’i (d), ka’ake 
 (e), mata hoata (f), ka’ake (g), paa niho (h, around the foot). 
 
 Plate XXIV. — Leg motives for women. 
 
 A and C. Detail of upper thigh motives omitted from the leg but burned instead 
 upon bamboo. 
 
 B. A general view showing how the motives in Plate XXIII are arranged on 
 the leg. 
 
 Plate XXV. — A leg pattern for women. 
 
 Front and rear views of an elaborate leg pattern from Pau Ma’u, showing a com- 
 bination of the fine motives and heavy patches usually worn by men. 
 
 Plate XXVI. — A leg pattern for women. 
 
 A. Detailed study of the motives in the front pattern of Plate XXV : nutu kaha 
 (a-c inclusive), kea (a, center), ka’ake (b), kea (c, center), pahito (d, left 
 
Handy — Tattooing in the Marquesas 
 
 31 
 
 and right), po’i’i (d, center), mata hoata (e), tu’u po’o, sometimes vai 0 Kena 
 on Fatu Hiva (f), vai 0 Kena (g, center), ka’ake (g, left and right), mata hoata 
 (h), pahito (i and j, left and right), ka’ake and peke ou mei (i and j, center), 
 po’i’i (k), mata hoata ( 1 ), tu’u po’o (m). 
 
 B. Back pattern: oniho (a), paka (b), pahito (c), papua (d), pahito (e), mata 
 hoata (f), po’i’i (g), iti’iti’i (h), mata hoata (i), ka’ake (j and 1 ) , peke ou mei 
 (k), ka’ake (m, left and right), po’i’i (m, center). 
 
 Plate XXVII. — Leg motives for women. Variants. 
 
 A, B, and C. Nutu kaha, variations of the thigh pattern. 
 
 D. A band encircling the ankle of a woman of Nuku Hiva. 
 
 E. A band encircling the ankle of a woman of Tahu Ata. 
 
 F. Oniho, a band outlining the sole of the foot of a woman of Ua Huka. 
 
 Plate XXVIII. — Leg motives for women. Other variations. 
 
 A. An elaborate po’i’i on the knee of a woman of Tahu Ata. 
 
 B. A front shin pattern of unusual arrangement and combination. 
 
 [Note the use of the vai 0 Kena on its side (a, center), and the combination of 
 mata and vai 0 Kena (b).) 
 
 C. A variant of the aniatiu of Plate XXIII, A: left and right (b and c). 
 
 D. Crude representations of the pa’a’oa (fish) found on the knees of a woman of 
 Tahu Ata. 
 
 E. An upper thigh motive, puhi, on a woman of Tahu Ata. 
 
 F. An unusual extension of the ka’ake (a), a variant of Plate XXIII, A, h, found 
 on a woman of Ua Huna ; a binding motive (b) from Ua Huka, a variant of 
 the iti’iti’i of Plate XXVI, B, h. 
 
 Plate XXIX. — Leg motives for men. 
 
 Motives formerly used in Nuku Hiva : the kohe ta, or sword motive, consisting 
 of a girdle across the back and a stripe down the side of the leg (a, b), hiktihiku atu (b), 
 pua hitu (c), pahito (d), huetai (e), po’i’i (f), mata hoata (g), and the ka’ake (h). 
 (After drawings by an artist of Fatu Hiva). 
 
 Plate XXX. — Leg motives for men. 
 
 Motives formerly used in Fatu Hiva (after drawings by a tuhuna of Fatu Hiva) : 
 aa fanaua, worn on tbe upper front thigh (a); mata hoata (b) ; pahito (c), vai 0 Kena 
 (b and c), worn on the back of the leg below the bend of the knee; papua enata (d), 
 worn on the inside calf just above the ankle; mata hoata (e), worn on the upper thigh 
 alongside the aa fanaua; ti’i hoehoe (f), worn on the bend of the knee; paka’ a (g), 
 worn on the back of the calf; nihoniho (h), worn on the inside calf; ka’ake (i), pua 
 hue and ikeike (j); pia’o tiu (k), worn around the ankle; ti’i kakao ( 1 ), worn on the 
 foot. 
 
 Plate XXXI. — A leg pattern for men. 
 
 The Nuku Hiva style of leg pattern, done by a tuhuna of Nuku Hiva and found 
 on only one man : ornamental band on the thigh, puhi puha; the heavy patches, pai- 
 pai to. 
 
 Plate XXXII. — Leg p.atterns for men. 
 
 The Hiva Oa style, in vogue on all the islands at the time of the discontinuance 
 of the art: 
 
 A. Side view of a leg with motives from Ua Huka. The buttock and inside front 
 quarter of the leg pattern are lacking, as is usual in modern examples. 
 
 B. Front and side views of a leg with motives from Fatu Hiva, the inside front 
 quarter of the leg pattern, below the knee, being present. 
 
32 
 
 Bernice P. Bishop Museum — Bulletin 
 
 C. Back view of a leg with motives from Ua Pou, the buttock pattern being 
 present. 
 
 Plate XXXIII. — A leg pattern for men. 
 
 Detailed study of Plate XXXII, A: kohe ta (a, b, and c), kea (b), mata io (c), 
 puto’o (d), kautupa (e), fatiua (f), pahito with po’i’i inset (g), hikuhiku atu (h), pahito 
 (i and j), auhoi (k), tapu vae (k and 1). 
 
 Plate XXXIV. — A leg pattern for men. 
 
 Detailed study of motives on Plate XXXII, B; kohe ta (a and b) ; puto’o (c); 
 pahito with mata hoata, ka’ake, and tiki insets (d); mata vaho, the half oval; pua hue 
 (e); fatina (f) ; pahito with po’i’i and ka’ake insets (g); paka oto (h, i, j); hikuhiku 
 atu (k); pahito, with mata and ka’ake insets (1), tapu vae (m). 
 
 Plate XXXV. — A leg pattern for men. 
 
 A detailed study of the motives of Plate XXXII, C: kohe ta (a and b) ; tifa (c), 
 containing a mata hoata, enata, and a kea in the center at the bottom; puto’o (d); 
 pahito (e) ; fatina with elaborate double rows of cross-barred teeth inset (f); pahito 
 (g) i paka (h), in place of the usual hikuhiku atu; pahito (i) ; tapu vae (j); auhoi (k). 
 
 Plate XXXVI. — A leg pattern for men. 
 
 An elaborated pattern of the Hiva Oa style found at Ua Huka: kohe tine (a-c), 
 complicated by two meta io (b and c), puto’o, lightened by a mata io inset (d), pahito 
 broken by a ka’ake and a po’i’i inset (f). 
 
 Plate XXXVII. — A leg pattern for men. 
 
 A more complicated pattern from Hiva Oa, rendered almost as lacelike as those 
 for women by the numerous fine-line insets in the heavy patches: puto’o (a, b, c,) with 
 insets of cross-barred teeth, double rows of tiki, and a vai o Kena; pahito with mata 
 hoata, ka’ake, and po’i’i insets (d); fatina with mata inset (e); pahito with po’i’i and 
 ka’ake insets (f); hikuhiku atu (g) with flourishes at the points; pahito (h), whose 
 simple lines are almost lost in the elaborate insets of vai o Kena and mata. 
 
 Plate XXXVIII. — Leg motives for men. 
 
 A. Kohe ta from Fatu Hiva. 
 
 B. A thigh pattern from Nuku Hiva (after a sketch by E. S. Handy) : mata (a), 
 hue ao (b). 
 
 C. Two bands for the foot : pia’otiu and kakao. 
 
 D. An inside knee motive, mata vaho, from Fatu Hiva. 
 
 E. and F. Ankle bone decorations, auhoi. 
 
 G. An ankle band from Fatu Hiva: Tapu vae (a); hikuhiku atu (b) ; pahito with 
 ka’ake, mata io, and tiki insets (c). 
 
 H. An elaborated pahito from Fatu Hiva with ka’ake, enata, and mata io insets. 
 
Hernice I’. Hishop Museum 
 
 TATTOO DESIGNS IN THE MARQUESAS 
 
Bernice P. Bishop Museum 
 
 Bulletin i, Plate I 
 
 TATTOO DESIGNS IN THE MARQUESAS 
 
Bulletin i, Plate III 
 
 TATTOO DESIGNS IN THE MARQUESAS 
 
Bernice P. Bishop Museum Bulletin i, Plate IV 
 
 TATTOO DKSIONS IN T 1 1 1') MAUQUKSAS 
 
1!i:bsick 1’. Misiioi- Muskum 
 
 > 
 
 TATTOO DESIGNS IN THE MARQUESAS 
 
Bernice P. Bishop Museum 
 
 Bulletin i, Plate VI 
 
 A 
 
 TATTOO DESIGNS IN TllE MARQUESAS 
 
I 
 
 Bernice P. Bishop Museum 
 
 Bulletin i, Plate VII 
 
 TATTOO DESIGNS IN THE MARQUESAS 
 
Bernice P. Bishop Museum Bulletin i, Plate VIII 
 
 TATTOO DKSIGNS IN TllK MARQUKSAS 
 
Bernice P. Bishop Museum 
 
 Bulletin i, Plate IX 
 
 TATTOO DESIGNS IN THE MARQUESAS 
 
Bernice P. Bishop Museum 
 
 Bulletin i, Plate X 
 
 TATTOO DESIGNS IN THE MARQUESAS 
 
Hehnice P. liisiioi" Museum 
 
 TATTOO DESIGNS IN Tlllj MARQUESAS 
 
Bernice P. P.isuop Museum 
 
 TATTOO nKSIGNS IN TllK MAUQURSAS 
 
liKRNicE P. I!. SHOP Museum Bulletin i, Plate XIII 
 
 TATTOO DESIGNS IN TllE MARQUESAS 
 
Bernice P. Bishop Museum 
 
 
 TATTOO DESIGNS IN THE MARQUESAS 
 
liEKNiCK P. Hisnop Museu 
 
 tattoo designs in The MARQUESAS 
 
Bulletin i, Plate XVI 
 
li.UUI.ETIN I, PUATE XVII 
 
 TATTOO DESIGNS IN THE MARQUESAS 
 
ISernmce P. Bisiior Museum 
 
 liuLLETiN I, Plate X\1I1 
 
 TATTOO DESIGNS IN TIIE MAUQUESAS 
 
Bernice P. Bishop Museum 
 
 Bulletin i, Plate XIX 
 
 B 
 
 C 
 
 TATTOO DESIGNS IN THE MARQUESAS 
 
Bernice P. Bishop Museum 
 
 Bulletin i, Plate X> 
 
 TATTOO DKSIGNS IX THE MARQUESAS 
 
Bernice P. Bishop Mtseum 
 
 TATTOO DESIGNS IN THE MARQUESAS 
 
Bernice P. Bishop Museum 
 
 Bulletin i, Plate XXII 
 
 TATTOO DKSIGNS IN TllK MARQUESAS 
 
Bernice P. Bishop Museum 
 
 Bulletin i, Plate XXIIl 
 
 TATTOO DESIGNS IN THE MARQUESAS 
 
Bernice P. Bishop Museum Bulletin i, Plate XXIV 
 
 TATTOO OKSIONS IN Tlllv MAUOUKSAS 
 
Bernice P. Bishop Museum 
 
 Bulletin i, Plate XXV 
 
 TATTOO DESIGNS IN THE MARQUESAS 
 
Bernice P. Bishop Museum 
 
 Bulletin i, Plate XXVI 
 
 TATTOO DESIGNS IN THE MARQUESAS 
 
 I a'4 
 
liKRNicR P. Pisiior Museum Bulletin i, Plate XXVIl 
 
 I 
 
 TATTOO DESIGNS IN THE MARQUESAS 
 
Bulletin i, Plate XX 
 
Hkrnice P. PiSHOP Museum 
 
 TATTOO DESIGNS IN THE MARQUESAS 
 
Hkrnice P. I!isiioi> Museum 
 
Hernice 1’. Bishop Museum Bulletin i, Plate XXXI 
 
 0 
 
 TATTOO DESIGNS IN THE MARQUESAS 
 
Bernice P. Bishop Museum Buleetin i, Peate XXXII 
 
 TATTOO DKSICNS IN TIIE MARQUESAS 
 
Bernice P. Bishop Museum 
 
 Bulletin i, Plate XXXIII 
 
 TATTOO DESIGNS IN THE MARQUESAS 
 
Bernice P. Bishop Museum 
 
 Bulletin i, Plate XXIV 
 
 TATTOO DESIGNS IN THE MARQUESAS 
 
Bernice P. Bishop Museum 
 
 Bulletin i, Plate XXXV 
 
 TATTOO DESIGNS IN THE MARQUESAS 
 
Bernice P. Bishop Museum 
 
 Bulletin i, Plate XXXVI 
 
 TATTOO DESIGNS IX THE MARQUESAS 
 
Bernice P. Bishop Museum 
 
 Bulletin i, Plate XXXVII 
 
 TATTOO DESIGNS IN THE MARQUESAS 
 
r.i'RNiCE P. Bishop JIuseum 
 
 TATTOO nKSTONS IN Tlllv MAUQUKSAS