Here at Tattoo Fashion our Maori tattoos are extremely popular; especially with rugby teams and stag trip organisers. The strong and striking designs are often synonymous with strength and masculinity – images that are fervently conveyed up by the New Zealand rugby team. The majority of the All Blacks proudly display Maori designs as a nod to their cultural significance back home, and although they’re a little intimidating in full flow, we love all of their tats!

We also love stitching up our mates up on stag do’s, and more often than not, Maori tattoos help us look the part during the big weekend! But our boisterous pranks aside, traditional Maori tattoos play a huge part in New Zealand’s proud and longstanding heritage.

To celebrate this strong and fascinating culture, we thought we’d take a closer look at Maori Tattoos to see how and why they’re so popular over here (particularly with slightly dubious stag do enthusiasts, like ourselves) as they are in NZ, where by contrast they are seen as a cornerstone of society rather than just amusing displays of bravado.

Originally a person’s first tattoo in a tribe, carried out at an adolescent age, a Maori tattoo was administered as part of a series of ceremonies and rituals to mark the transition from childhood to adulthood. A person without any tattoos in Maori culture was commonly seen as having little status or significance.

Tattoos were often used to mark important events throughout life and were regularly carried out as part of a big occasion with music, chanting and even fasting.

Traditionally men are tattooed on the face, buttocks and legs, whereas women usually have Maori designs on the lips, neck and back. Since the 1990s, Maori tattoos have seen a huge surge in popularity across the globe. Today there are many professional tattoo artists who use traditional Maori tattoo equipment such as small chisels with needles, rather than modern electric tattoo guns.

There are a whole host of celebrities that sport Maori style tats, including Robbie Williams and Mike Tyson. So if you think you’re as tough Robbie or Mike (probably more the latter) check out our temporary Maori tattoo designs and get practicing that Haka!

Tags: Maori culture, Maori tattoos, New Zealand, rugby, stag weekends

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 19th, 2010 at 3:07 pm and is filed under TF Comments. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.