Looking for Modern Day Tribal Tattoos?

Before we reveal anything pertaining to the tribal tattoo, we must be made aware of the term TATTOO, and what it really is. A tattoo is described as a marking made on your body by inserting dark and indelible ink into the dermis layer of your skin, which changes the skin pigments for decorative or other reasons. On humans this is called decorative body modification whilst on animals; it is used for marking and branding.

The history of these designs goes way back to the year 1900 and there are many reasons why this has been done since that time. Social status and family identification are but two reasons why tribes used tattoos. They also seem to believe that these tattoos have spiritual and magical powers attached to them. They also believed in being tattooed for aesthetic purposes.

Some of the well known variations of the tribal tattoos come from tribes of Borneo, the Polynesian Island, the Maori, Native Americans and Celtic tribes. The tattoos of Japanese and Chinese characters have also become well-used by Westerners. The use of black ink and bold designs is said to have been commonly used in modern as well as in traditional tattooing. These days the modern tattooing equipment makes the finest and most detailed tattoo design possible, whereas the traditional tribal tattoo artist simply had no such equipment available. Tribal tattoos have their roots in ritual, symbolism and spirituality. All their tattoos have meanings attached to it.

The colors of these tattoos are always black and bold with interweaving lines popping against the skin. This way there is very little chance that the tattoo may fade and it has an overall prominent long life. Some popular places for this type of tattoos is your upper arms, back, legs and arms which looks very appealing. Different colors may be added and mixed with the black ink in the this design, but within certain limits. The best way for a good design is to outline the design with a dark red, green and purple color. Another modern way of spicing up your modern tribal tattoo is to mix tribal artwork with traditional images. Flowers and vines can easily be combined with these tattoos for a more up to date look.

THE TRIBAL TATTOO ART:

These originate from the older tribes like the Celtics, the Maori, the Borneo and the Marquesan tribes.

1) Celtic Tattoo Art: This tattoo art originates in Ireland. The Celtic Knot tattoos are some of the most popular and most common designs found here. Their features consist of loops without ends which symbolize a never ending cycle of death and rebirth. Also available amongst the Celtic Knot tattoos are the Celtic Cross and the Celtic Animal tattoo designs.

2) Maori Tribal Tattoo Art: The Maoris are the original inhabitants of New Zealand. They call their designs Moko and the Maori art is incredible. At its highest level, Moko designs proclaimed the sacredness of chieftainship.

3) Marqueson Tribal Tattoo Art: The Marquises Islands were colonized by the Polynesians from Semoa in 300AD. They were warring Tribes who sometimes cannibalized their enemies. This is a very uncommon tattoo art and very rarely seen. Most of these designs are done with only one specific object with a small variation in size.

4) Borneo Tribal Tattoo Art: This is the third largest Island in the world. It is the Dayak people who resided here for centuries and believe that spirits are in everything around them. They believe that tattooing an object, they can draw energy from these spirits.

Estelle Petersen is a body art enthusiast who specializes in tattoos and other arts and crafts. To find more tattoo designs please visit:

http://find-a-tattoodesign.blogspot.com