BODY PAINTING AND TATTOOING BY ANDREW GIOULIS
ART IN DIVERSE CULTURES DR. JOSE RODEIRO MAY 9, 2007
1 Mehndi – the art of henna body painting – has been practiced for over five thousand years throughout all of Africa, India and the Middle East. The henna is made by crushing the leaves of the henna plant (Plate 1). The result is dye in shades of crimson, russet and brown. The henna plant is considered in these countries to bring luck, offer protection and bring material and spiritual wealth.1 It is commonly used in all rites of passage. Newborns and boys about to become circumcised, for instance, have their hands dipped in henna. In Africa, red palms mark important rites of passage in young people’s lives. It has been used in wedding ceremonies, pregnancies, times of war and funerals. In the latter case, when a man dies, his wife paints her hands and feet with henna to ensure her beloved’s happiness on the other side. Relatives will dip their hands in henna to help them deal with their grief and symbolize surrender to a higher being that took away their loved one.2 An ancient Arab proverb states, “If I don’t speak the truth, I won’t present my hand for henna.”3 Henna is believed to be a lucky charm (Plate 2) or blessing in most cultures. It is supposed to prevent supernatural forces, evil eye, black magic and harmful genies. The botanical name for henna is Lawsonia inermis. It is a member of the loosestrife family and has many medicinal properties, one of which is its ability to cool the body down. When people crossing the desert learned of this property, they crushed the leaves of the plant to make a paste and put it on their hands and feet. When the paste wore off, they noticed that their body temperatures would remain low as long as the color that had dyed their skin still remained visible. Some women objected to having their hands bright red for weeks and found that placing several dots of color on their palms had the same cooling effect because the palm of the hand
2 contains many nerve endings. That led to more artistic designs and mehndi was born.4 (Plates 3, 4 and 5) Other medicinal effects of henna include a blood coagulator for wounds, treatment of burns, skin eczema, use as an antiperspirant, reduction of halitosis and belief of its ability to heal diarrhea, leprosy, smallpox, jaundice, certain cancers and headaches. The main difference between mehndi and tattooing is that mehndi is temporary, safe, painless and generally more socially acceptable. The designs will generally last from one to three weeks, depending on the area of the body it has been applied to and how often that area is exposed to water, chemicals and rubbing. The warmer the area of skin is to which the design is being applied, the darker the color will be. 5(Plate 6) At the other end of the spectrum are tattoos – permanent in nature and having its roots in war ceremonies, not the calming, healing means of mehndi. The word “tattoo” is believed to have been coined by Captain James Cook, who traveled to the South Pacific in his ship, Endeavor, setting sail on August 16, 1768. The word is based on similar Polynesian words used by the various cultures of the South Pacific he encountered during his three year journey. 6 The oldest tattoo known belongs to the “Iceman” – a Bronze Age man found on the Tyrolean Alps and believed to have lived around 3300 B.C. He was found in a glacier bearing a band of tattooed stripes across his back, a cross behind his left knees and additional stripes across his right ankle.7 Out of all the ancient civilizations, only the Greeks seem to have avoided scarification – the practice of marking the body by tattoos, branding, piercing or other body modifications such as inserting plates into the lips of African women to make them larger or stretching the earlobes.8
3 The Mayan civilization in Mexico practiced body art for spiritual reasons as well as for beautification. Both men and women sported full body tattoos, including the face. In addition to the tattoos, the ears, nose, forehead, lips, navel, arms, legs and genitals were all pierced. Teeth were filed to sharp points and encrusted with gems. The adornment process started at birth. Balls were hung between the babies’ eyes to train them to become cross-eyed. Wooden molds were placed on their foreheads starting at the bridge of the nose to produce a sloped forehead. Having cross-eyes and a sloping forehead were considered very attractive to the Mayans and both men and women sought to not only adorn their bodies with art, but actually reshape their bodies to become art. It is believed that this was done not only to attain beauty, but to scare off warring invaders who might be frightened off by the different looking Mayans.9 Christian missionaries, trying to convert the “pagan tribes”, outlawed scarification practices as they believed it was against the Bible – “Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you.” – Leviticus 19:28. In Indonesia, most tribal tattoos are done in black ink and are often geometric. The styles and shapes are meant to compliment the body (Plate 7). They were meant to show power and/or domination. The spiral pattern often seen in tattoos (Plate 8) symbolizes the circle of life found in nature. The double spiral represents the duality of evolution and involution – commonly known as ying and yang.10 Tattoos differed from island to island and were considered “signatures” to show lineage and the person’s commitment to the tribe or group.11 The tribes in Borneo associate tattooing with headhunting for the men – a visible sign of their success. For women, it symbolizes their social status and is shown through the number of rings around her legs (Plates 9-10). Other areas
4 of importance for female tattoos are the fingers, hands, lower arms, thighs, calves and feet. The darker the color of the tattoo, the more significance it has.12 The men of the Muruts tribe who have fought or undertaken risky expeditions such as headhunting, will be tattooed from their shoulders to their waist and on their arms will be three parallel stripes.13 The Rundum Muruts tribe will tattoo stars on the front of the shoulders above the chest, each star indicating that a head has been taken. Once three stars were achieved, another star was put on the throat and the forearms and thighs were also tattooed, in no particular pattern.14 Dusun chiefs would tie up slaves and spear them through the throat, holding them in place while the tribesmen would make cuts in the dying body, causing the slave to slowly bleed to death. Those who participated in this ritual earned the right to tattoo himself.15 When a man in the Kayan tribe is present as an enemy is killed, he is allowed to tattoo one finger only. All of his fingers and hands may be tattooed if it is he who has taken the enemy’s head. However, the chiefs of Kayan will often tattoo their whole hands simply for participating in a war effort.16 Tattoos in the Kayan tribe are done by the women – a position passed down from mother to daughter.17 Beruwa or souls of the Dayak tribe, left their host and went on many travels until they reached heaven. One of these was the River of Death. Only headhunters with hand tattoos and women who provided generously for their families and were tattooed as a reward were able to cross the log bridge that went across this river. Even though the afterworld was dark, the tattoos were believed to burn brightly, leading the soul to its final resting place in heaven among its ancestors.18
5 Before beginning the tattoo, the artist would kill a chicken or other fowl, spill its blood and offer it as a sacrifice to the ancestor spirits. The artist would then chant and begin his work, which could take anywhere from six to eight hours, up to a period of several weeks. The Dayaks also had rite of passage tattoos, in which the men of the village would dress in bark-cloth from the mulberry tree while the tattoo was being done.19 In Central Borneo, lives the At Long Nawang tribe. Women are only permitted to be tattooed every 6 years, because of the effect it has on the men. The chiefs must consent to the tattooing, although some women disobey and travel to the Ma Kulit tribe to have them done. A celebration is held after the permitted tattooing, which is believed to counteract the effects on the men.20 Only the men are permitted to apply tattoos in the Iban tribe, the largest and most feared indigenous tribe in Borneo. The tattoos were blue or black, made from charcoal or soot and consisted of animal images, believed to ward off evil spirits. Sometimes, the piece of an animal bone will be included in the tattoo to make it more powerful.21 Women of the Iban tribe would be recognized for their weaving, singing or dancing skills and rewarded with tattoos. Girls reaching puberty would receive tattoos to show their new status, help attract men and protect them from evil spirits.22 Tattoos, whether temporary or permanent, will always continue to have a meaning behind the mark. The reasons may differ, whether it’s a tribesman getting marked to illustrate the number of men he’s killed in battle or a girl getting a tattoo in memory of her deceased mother, the end result is that a story still gets told.
6
Plate 1. The henna plant (Lawsonia inermis) has small rounded green leaves and tiny berry-like seeds. Sumita Batra, The Art of Mehndi (New York: Penguin Putnam, 1999), 28.
7
Plate 2. An image of Kali, the Divine Mother, has been placed on this woman’s back to bring her luck. Carine Fabius, Mendi: The Art of Henna Body Painting (New York: Three Rivers Press, 1998), 23.
8
9
Plates 3 – 5. A henna design on the palms and fingers. The meaning of symbols used in Mehndi. Carine Fabius, Mendi: The Art of Henna Body Painting (New York: Three Rivers Press, 1998), 91-92.
10
Plate 6. A floral pattern on the palms of an African woman – the palms have a higher body temperature and thicker skin, allowing for darker color. Note that while the patterns match, the two palms are never painted identically. Sumita Batra, The Art of Mehndi (New York: Penguin Putnam, 1999), 24.
11
Plate 7. Indonesian tribal inspired designs. The photo in the upper left shows Maori-style embellishments. James Wagenvoord, Miami Ink (Des Moines: Meredith Corporation, 2006), 29.
12
Plate 8. “Indonesian Spiral” – based on the traditional spiral designs used by the Dayak tribe of Borneo. Erick Aveline and Joyce Chargueraud, Temporary Tattoos (New York: Firefly Books, 2001), 26.
Plates 9 – 10. Rings around the legs of the women in Borneo mark their social status H.F. Tillema, “A Journey Among the Peoples of Central Borneo in Word and Picture,” Oxford: Oxford University Press, (1989):
13
NOTES
1. Carine Fabius, Mendi: The Art of Henna Body Painting (New York: Three Rivers Press, 1998), 15. 2. Ibid., 17-22, 3. Sumita Batra, The Art of Mehndi (New York: Penguin Putnam, 1999), 24. 4. Fabius, The Art of Henna Body Painting, 29. 5. Ibid., 32-33. 6. Jean-Chris Miller, The Body Art Book (New York: Penguin Putnam, 1997), 10. 7. Ibid., 7. 8. Ibid., 8. 9. Ibid., 9. 10. Erick Aveline and Joyce Chargueraud, Temporary Tattoos (New York: Firefly Books, 2001), 26. 11. James Wagenvoord, Miami Ink (Des Moines: Meredith Corporation, 2006), 28-29. 12. H.F. Tillema, “A Journey Among the Peoples of Central Borneo in Word and Picture,” Oxford: Oxford University Press, (1989): 13. F. Hatton, “Diary of Frank Hatton Esq., During a Mineral Exploration Journey up the Labuk River and Overland to Kudat,” (1882) 14. O. Rutter, The Pagans of North Borneo (London: Hutchison & Co., 1929).
14 15. J.H. Alman. “Notes on Tatooing in North Borneo,” Journal of the Sabah Society 4 (1963): 78-88. 16. C. Hose,“The Natives of Borneo,” Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 23 (1894): 156-172. 17. Sharon Guynup, “Painted Past: Borneo's Traditional Tattoos,” National Geographic News, June 2004, http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/06/0618_040618_tvtattoo _2.html (accessed April 17, 2007). 18. Vince Hemingson, “Tattoo History in Borneo,” Vanishing Tattoo, 2007, http://www.vanishingtattoo.com/borneo_tattoos.htm (accessed April 17, 2007). 19. Sharon Guynup, “Painted Past: Borneo's Traditional Tattoos,” National Geographic News, June 2004, http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/06/0618_040618_tvtattoo _2.html (accessed April 17, 2007). 20. Vince Hemingson, “Tattoo History in Borneo,” Vanishing Tattoo, 2007, http://www.vanishingtattoo.com/borneo_tattoos.htm (accessed April 17, 2007). 21. Sharon Guynup, “Painted Past: Borneo's Traditional Tattoos,” National Geographic News, June 2004, http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/06/0618_040618_tvtattoo _2.html (accessed April 17, 2007). 23. Ibid.
15
BIBLIOGRAPHY Alman, J.H. 1963. “Notes on Tatooing in North Borneo.” Journal of the Sabah Society 4: 78-88.
Aveline, Erick and Chargueraud, Joyce. Temporary Tattoos. New York: Firefly Books, 2001. Batra, Sumita. The Art of Mehndi. New York: Penguin Putnam, 1999. Fabius, Carine. Mendi: The Art of Henna Body Painting. New York: Three Rivers Press, 1998. Hatton, F. [1882]. Diary of Frank Hatton Esq., During a Mineral Exploration Journey up the Labuk River and Overland to Kudat. Hose, C. 1894. “The Natives of Borneo.” Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great
Britain and Ireland 23: 156-172.
Miller, Jean-Chris. The Body Art Book. New York: Penguin Putnam, 1997. Rutter, O. The Pagans of North Borneo. London: Hutchison & Co., 1929. Tillema, H.F. A Journey Among the Peoples of Central Borneo in Word and Picture. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989. Vlach, John Michael. The Afro-American Tradition in Decorative Arts. Athens, GA: The University of Georgia Press, 1990. Wagenvoord, James. Miami Ink. Des Moines: Meredith Corporation, 2006. Weinberg, Norma Pasekoff. Henna: From Head to Toe! Pownal, VT: Storey Books, 1999
16
Weiss, Stefanie Iris. Everything You Need to Know About Mehndi, Temporary Tattoos and Other Temporary Body Art. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, 2000.
17
ELECTRONIC SOURCES
Painted Past: Borneo's Traditional Tattoos. Sharon Guynup. June 2004. National Geographic. 17 April 2007. Tatto History in Borneo. Vince Hemingson. 2007. Vanishing Tattoo. 17 April 2007.
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