Pasifika Festival

On March 10^th, a few friends and I trekked over to Western Springs Park for Auckland’s annual Pasifika Festival. This year was the 20^th year celebration of the event that celebrates all of Auckland’s different Pacific cultures.

While there we enjoyed lots of exposure to different cultural food and dances. However, probably the craziest thing I saw all day, that will forever stick out like a sore thumb in my mind, was a big Samoan man getting a tattoo in the TRADITIONAL way.

Now, while you out there reading this may or may not know (and this is something that I’ve recently found out from being here too), for many of the indigenous people of the different Pacific Islands getting tattoos are a very big and important aspect of their culture. The tattoos they get aren’t of material things, but rather patterns that have some tribal and cultural significance. For example, a tattoo on the mouth and chin for a Maori woman means that she is fertile, and it is considered very offensive for someone to get this without knowing its meaning just because they think it looks cool.

So anyways, you might be thinking that when I say “traditional way” what exactly do I mean? Well, allow me to explain.

There are two main tools used for applying the ink. First you have a stick with a blade attached to the end; on this blade is where you have the ink. Next you have another stick which is used to beat the inked up blade into the skin. Voila! There you have it, sounds simple right? Well, let me tell you it certainly did not look so simple. That thin blade only applied the smallest little line, and this had to be done over and over again. Surrounding the guy, who was getting a tattoo applied to the back of his legs, were four men. Three of them were there to hold him down and stretch his skin flat so that the other could apply the tattoo. In between the tattoo applier reapplying ink to his blade, the other three would take cloths to wipe all the blood from his legs; I mean after all he was getting sliced by a blade for each and every stroke. I’ve never seen anyone get a modern day tattoo with a needle and I’ve heard that’s quite painful, and yet this way looked even more painful and here this guy was just chilling out while it was being applied. I’ve heard that these kinds of tattoos, and the ways in which you apply them, can take days. Now to me that sounds like someone has to endure a whole lot of pain spread out over a long time. My final words to that guy: Respect man, Respect.