Sunday, June 22, 2014

The Traditional Samoan Tattoo (Tatau)


During my last term break in April, I got a traditional Samoan tattoo (tatau in Samaon). A fellow PCV and I made the decision that we wanted to get our tattoos done together and thought that term break would be the best time because we’d have one week off of work, which would be beneficial for the tattoo and its beginning stages of healing.

Pre-Tattoo

I had just arrived in Apia from Namua Island, and made my way to the tattoo fale (open house) that is located in the city’s cultural center. Unfortunately, no one was at the fale. I decided that I’d return the following day; if no one were there, then getting a tattoo at that time wasn’t meant to me. The next morning I went back. It turns out there were people there! I approached the group of men who were playing cards. One turned to me, so I asked, “Malo, o ai lou igoa?” (Hi, what’s your name?). “Sulu’ape,” was his response. Perfect! Sulu’ape was just who I was looking for. I told him how a friend and I wanted to get a traditional tattoo and asked if he was available that day. He told me to come back the next morning.

So the following morning my friend and I got up early, ate a big breakfast, “Our last meal before we get murdered,” as we put it, then made our way to the fale. Sulu’ape got there right on time, which surprised me because I’m used to island time, which means that Samoans usually don’t arrive to appointments on time. If they show up, it’s often late… hours late. My friend and I explained what we wanted done. I quickly drew a kindergarten type drawing on a scrap piece of paper, which depicted two V like shapes, and told him where I wanted the tattoo placed.

Because my friend lives on the island of Savai’i, we agreed that she would go first because she would have to leave a few hours later to catch the bus to the wharf, to get on the last boat of the day, whereas I live on the main island of Upolu so could leave at anytime because I was taking a taxi back to my village. Frequent readers of this blog may recount posts where I’ve mentioned how uncomfortable buses are here, so getting a tattoo, then sitting on someone’s lap for two hours, while being bumped and touched, gave me a fright. At that moment I didn’t mind paying the $70 tala taxi fare (which is a lot of money here), compared to the $6 tala bus fare.

As I’ve mentioned above, I was planning on getting the tattoo done second, and wasn’t mentally prepared to go for at least 3 hours, after I saw my friend get her tattoo, and knew what I was up against. Then… Sulu’ape looked at me and said “sau” (come). He had me sit in front of him, and began drawing lines on my back. My heart was beating out of my chest, thump, thump, thump. I was visibly shaking and all I could think was, “Oh f!*@, this is really happening,” thump, thump, thump. Sulu’ape saw me shaking and said, “Relax, I haven’t started yet!” My friend Madi was awesome and sat in front of me, instructing breathing practices to calm me down. 

Madi calming me


You may be wondering why I ended up getting the tattoo done first. The reason is because my friend’s tattoo is a lot more complex and curvy, so the outline needed to be done with a tattoo gun. At that moment, the gun was being used on a tourist guy who was getting a half-sleeve tattoo, which was taking a long time to complete. I must add: I felt like a bad ass getting a traditional tattoo, while the male next to me, who is double my size, was getting a tattoo done by a gun. Ha!

The Tattoo

There were several pillows on the floor. I was told to lay stomach down. I could see the bowl of tools ready to tattoo me. The traditional tool is a wooden handle with a stainless steel comb at the end. The stainless steel comb is the part of the tool that tattoos, along with the help of another wooden tool that is used to tap the tool with the comb. This creates a horrid tap, tap, tap sound.

This is a photo I took during my friend's tattoo. Nevertheless, the bowl and tools I've described above are similar. Also, their ink is manufactured.
Sulu’ape dipped a tool in ink and outlined a section of my back by placing ink dots in a row. I could feel the hands of two men stretching my skin. Tap, tap, tap. The tattoo has started. Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap. This went on for 2.5-hours. Throughout the tattoo I counted each tapping session; some last 5 seconds, while others lasted 10 seconds or longer. I was always relieved after each tapping session ended because I experienced a short internal of a few seconds before the tapping started again. Also, these intervals enabled the men who were stretching my skin to wipe off excess ink and blood from my back. The most painful parts of the tattoo were on my spine and my ribs. I could feel the tools sticking to those bones, and was told that my ribs bled the most. Interesting enough, when my ribs were getting tattooed, I was laying on my side. While the ribs were one of the two most painful parts, I actually felt most at peace during this time. Perhaps it was because I was lying on my side, which is a comforting position.

The beginning stages of my tattoo
When the left side of the tattoo was finished, I sat up, and my friend Michelle snapped a photo. I didn’t want to see it until it was all finished. I actually like how the tattoo looks with just bands on one side, so if I’d seen the photo at this point, I would’ve probably told Sulu’ape to stop the tattoo. I’ve mentioned this to some friends who have said that they think my tattoo looks better and complete with bands on each side. 

Halfway finished
At one point, I started talking, telling Sulu’ape the designs I wanted. He told me, “Stop talking, I’ll tell you what the designs mean once I’m finished.” He is such a sassy man. I found his personality quite amusing. I had an idea of the designs I wanted, but as a friend mentioned beforehand: “If you go into a traditional tattoo with a list of expectations, you’ll end up disappointed. It is best to go in and let the tattoo artist do their thing; after all it is an interpretation of their style and work.” So once Sulu’ape practically shut me up, I remembered what my friend said. The designs Sulu’ape put on me mean unity, family, youth, and beauty. How lovely! I couldn’t be any happier with these meanings.

On several occasions Sulu’ape had to tell me to stop moving and stop laughing. That’s right, I was laughing at times because the pain was so unreal; I didn’t know what else to do but laugh. Yes, I laughed but I didn’t cry—I think my body was in such shock, it couldn’t register the torture it was experiencing. The only comparison I can think of: A traditional Samoan tattoo feels like nails getting hammered into your bones.

During one of the intervals, I put my head up remembering that I hadn’t taken the ibuprofen my Peace Corps nurse gave me. I was supposed to take it before the tattoo started but as I’ve explained above, it began so suddenly that the ibuprofen slipped my mind. So I took the tablets about mid-way through. I’m not sure if it helped with the pain; I don’t think anything could’ve helped relieve that terrible pain.

It was quite an experience. Women were fanning me because it was so hot (and to keep the flies away), Sulu’ape and his staff smoked throughout my tattoo (I didn’t know this until I saw photos on my camera. Luckily the ashes didn’t burn me!), and there were drums and other instruments playing traditional Samoan beats in the background. It was a cultural and authentic experience, indeed. The only other thing I remember thinking (besides what my friend said, mentioned above): “This is the most painful experience of my life and I don’t think childbirth could be any worse.” At one point I felt like I needed to vomit and cursed myself for eating such a large breakfast. Also, at times Sulu’ape needed to sit on my legs, which was uncomfortable… and painful. 


Smoking like trains while tattooing me. This by far is my favourite photo taken during my tattoo!
Madi was awesome, lending me her hands and feet to squeeze! Thanks! And thanks to Michelle who rubbed my legs.
Michelle, Becca, and Madi watching my tattoo process. They're members in my group.
 When the tattoo was finished, many of the Samoans who were sitting nearby said “Malo!” (an expression of praise, celebration, etc.).



As I was getting ready to leave, I asked Sulu’ape the price. He jokingly said, “$6,000 tala.” It wasn’t anywhere near that price, but was still a bit expensive. Special thanks to my family in America who helped me pay for it; it was my birthday gift. How kind and awesome of them! Samoans are always curious when they see my tattoo and the first question I usually get asked is: “E fia?” (How much?). Even strangers ask this question. Of course I don’t tell them, saying that my family in America paid for it over the phone with their credit card. Well, this is partially true. While I don’t like lying, if I didn’t tell this white lie, people would think that I have a lot of money (Samoans think all white people are wealthy), and I don’t want to be portrayed like that.

Post-Tattoo

I was in a taxi, on my way home. I was in so much pain. I felt sick to my stomach. The ink stuck to my shirt. I just wanted to get home and go to sleep. Once home, I showered, ate dinner, and then went to bed. Since my tattoo is on my back and ribs, which happens to be the areas of my body I lay on, I had no choice but to sleep on my stomach—a position I find so uncomfortable and painful to my back. But this is how I slept for about two weeks. School started the following week. Teaching attire for women consists of a puletasi, which is a long dress-like outfit. Puletasis are extremely uncomfortable and so hot, so I’m usually covered in sweat by the end of the day. I believe puletasis and sweat are the reasons why my tattoo got infected. Yes, that is right. My tattoo was infected in two areas. I couldn’t understand how this happened because I washed it twice a day everyday, and applied an appropriate treatment to it. After doing some thinking, it had to be the sweat that caused the infections. And the sweat is caused by puletasis and the humidity. Luckily my Peace Corps nurse and a medical student friend of mine said that the infection isn’t as bad as I made it out to be, and my tattoo wouldn’t be permanently damaged. They were right. After applying antibiotic ointment for several days, the infections were healed and the tattoo is fine. The tattoo took about two weeks to heal.

The Tattoo Addition

After doing some thinking, I wasn’t 100% happy with the tattoo. When I explained what I wanted to Sulu’ape, I was so nervous. I said that I wanted V’s so I got V’s. He gave me what I asked for and did a beautiful job, but in reality, I wanted V’s that looked like wings. The endings of each band were so blunt. I wanted them to be curvy, so about two months after my traditional tattoo I contacted Sulu’ape and made an appointment for an addition. He told me to arrive at 9 am. I got to the tattoo fale on time and waited and waited and waited. At about 10:30 am I called him. No answer. I kept waiting. I wanted to get it done. I knew the pain that was to come, and had prepared myself for it; I didn’t want to leave with the tattoo unfinished. At 11:30 am I called him again. He answered. He told me that he would be there at 1:00 pm. Talk about island time! I told him that I couldn’t wait that long because I’d miss the bus (yes, I was riding the bus this time!), so I had no problem getting the addition done by the gun. I had already experienced the hell of a traditional Samoan tattoo; I had no problem getting the addition with a gun so I could compare the pain. He said that his son was at the fale and would do the addition. I found the son and explained what I wanted done. The addition took two-hours! That’s right, two-hours of pure pain, done entirely on my ribs. I don’t know if the gun hurt more (at the time I thought it did), but it was horrible; it was a different kind of pain than the traditional tapping. It felt like a nail got hammered into my skin, and was moving up and down, digging deeper and deeper. At times my entire rib cage shook. 


He was very cheeky the entire time, but he's so darn cute, so I found it amusing.
The tattoos on his legs are the traditional men's pe'a. The pe'a starts from the mid-stomach, and goes down to the knees, front and back.



Why a Tattoo?
This tattoo was my first tattoo. Samoa, and Polynesia in general, has a huge tattoo culture. Most Samoans are tattooed with the traditional men’s pe’a, the traditional women’s malu, or just tattooed, which I find so beautiful. I’ve seen many tattoos in my lifetime, and I’d say that the best tattoos are Samoan. So Samoa was the place for me to get my first tattoo. Plus, it is Peace Corps Samoa tradition to get a traditional tattoo.

While my tattoo is representative of wings and my life (see explanation below), it also serves as a reminder: If I could join the Peace Corps, live two years in a foreign and undeveloped country, experience some of the hardest things I’ve ever encountered, sit (well lay) through a traditional tattoo, and survive it all, then I can do anything! The possibilities in my life are endless. I’m happy to have a permanent reminder of this.

Will I ever get another tattoo? Unless my sisters want to get a sister tattoo (my friend Madi gave me this idea), and I don’t think they will, then the answer is NO! Don’t get me wrong, I think tattoos are beautiful and I love how they look on other people, but they’re not for me. That’s why I chose the location of mine: It can be easily hidden and only visible when I want it to be. While it is large, it is discreet. If I got another tattoo, I wouldn’t know where to put it. I’d like a tattoo to be placed somewhere in the center of a body part or be symmetric. Well I took care of the symmetric tattoo. The only other one would be a center tattoo, and that would have to be on the back of my neck or spine (I find tattoos placed here to be beautiful, by the way), but then those placements go against my reasoning of wanting a discreet tattoo. I always think of formal events: I don’t want a tattoo to be visible when I’m wearing a nice dress or while I’m at work, so therefore, no more tattoos for me. Plus, the tattoo I have is HUGE as it is. There’s no need for another one.

Why Wings?

For the past 3-years, wings have been representative of my life and my experiences. I’ve pushed myself to face my fears and do things I’ve always wanted to do: hot air-ballooning, skydiving, traveling, walking a famous pilgrimage, volunteering in foreign countries, attending music festivals, and joining the Peace Corps. The list can go on and on. I’ve spread my wings and will continue to do so for the rest of my life. 




Why Sulu’ape?

The Sulu’ape’s are the only tattooists Peace Corps Samoa approves. Why? Well, because they practice hygienic tattooing, not to mention they’re world famous tattooists. Plus, the Sulu’ape’s are one of the two families who started traditional Samoan tattoos centuries years ago. How awesome is that? The Sulu’ape who did my traditional tattoo is named Petelo, who is the father. When I tell people that he was the one who did my traditional tattoo, they always respond, “Ah, the old man.” That is how he is known. It was an honor to get tattooed by him. 

Here I am with the man who traditionally tattooed me, Petelo Sulu'ape, also known as "The Old Man."
You can read more about the Sulu’ape family and traditional Samoan tattoos here:

The Birthday Gift

I ordered a poster that describes the meanings behind the Samoan designs. As a border I placed photos from my tattoo and my friend’s tattoo. Since she is one of my closest friends here, I wanted to do something special for her birthday. She loved the gift! Once I’m in America, I’ll make a replica for myself. 


Final Thoughts

I’m very happy with my tattoo, what it represents in my life, and the Samoan meanings behind it. I was the first member in my group to get a tattoo, and since then two others have got one. By the time our service is finished in December, 7 of us will have a traditional tattoo and one will get a tattoo done by gun. Not bad for a small group of just 11 people! Once everyone has his or her tattoo, I’ll post a group photo displaying our artwork!

You can read more about Peace Corps and tattooing in Samoa here (on page 38):

Below you’ll find a video of my traditional tattoo. It isn't available on mobile devices due to copyright issues with the song. If the video happens to get deleted/flagged, then I'll upload again without the song. Anyway, enjoy!   

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