Lars Krutak
Museum of International Folk Art, Asian Folk Art, Department Member
- www.larskrutak.com Dr. Krutak worked as the Alaska and Northwest Coast Repatriation Research Specialist at the Natio... morewww.larskrutak.com
Dr. Krutak worked as the Alaska and Northwest Coast Repatriation Research Specialist at the National Museum of the American Indian (1999-2002) and Alaska and Southwest Repatriation Case Officer at the National Museum of Natural History (2010-2014). Repatriation involves an array of complex social and cultural interests, but through community consultation, outreach, and other collaborative projects it moves beyond the return of objects and human remains to include the recovery, generation, and sharing of new forms of knowledge.
Dr. Krutak’s other research interests have focused on Indigenous body modification (especially tattooing) worldwide. Since 1997, he has worked to document traditional knowledge surrounding tattoo – one of the world’s oldest yet often unrecognized forms of human cultural expression – because inscribed bodies represent particularly useful vehicles from which to study the Indigenous ethos of the world and how it was constructed. That is because tattoo worked to indelibly assert and communicate cultural concepts encompassing affiliation, social status, maturity, traditional medicine, spirituality, as well as cultural pride and artistic ability.edit
The Indigenous peoples of Asia have created some of the world’s oldest and most distinctive tattoos, but their many contributions to tattoo body art and practice have been largely overlooked. Tattoo Traditions of Asia is the first single... more
The Indigenous peoples of Asia have created some of the world’s oldest and most distinctive tattoos, but their many contributions to tattoo body art and practice have been largely overlooked. Tattoo Traditions of Asia is the first single volume dedicated to the anthropological study of an ancient cultural practice and artform that spans many countries and societies, ancestral lands, and contemporary communities across the continent and its islands.
Based on tattoo anthropologist Lars Krutak’s twenty years of fieldwork including interviewing hundreds of Indigenous tattoo bearers and contemporary tattoo practitioners as well as painstaking research in obscure archives throughout the region and elsewhere, this richly illustrated survey breaks new ground on one of the least-understood mediums of Indigenous Asian expressive culture—a vital tradition to be celebrated, an inspirational story told in skin and ink.
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Lars Krutak is a research associate at the Museum of International Folk Art (Santa Fe, New Mexico) and author of Tattoo Traditions of Native North America: Ancient and Contemporary Expressions of Identity and Spiritual Skin: Magical Tattoos and Scarification, among other books focusing on Indigenous tattoo culture and practice.
Based on tattoo anthropologist Lars Krutak’s twenty years of fieldwork including interviewing hundreds of Indigenous tattoo bearers and contemporary tattoo practitioners as well as painstaking research in obscure archives throughout the region and elsewhere, this richly illustrated survey breaks new ground on one of the least-understood mediums of Indigenous Asian expressive culture—a vital tradition to be celebrated, an inspirational story told in skin and ink.
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Lars Krutak is a research associate at the Museum of International Folk Art (Santa Fe, New Mexico) and author of Tattoo Traditions of Native North America: Ancient and Contemporary Expressions of Identity and Spiritual Skin: Magical Tattoos and Scarification, among other books focusing on Indigenous tattoo culture and practice.
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The desire to alter and adorn the human body is universal. While specific forms of body decoration, and the underlying motivations, vary according to region, culture, and era, all human societies have engaged in practices designed to... more
The desire to alter and adorn the human body is universal. While specific forms of body decoration, and the underlying motivations, vary according to region, culture, and era, all human societies have engaged in practices designed to augment and enhance their natural appearance. Tattooing, the process of inserting pigment into the skin to create permanent designs and patterns, appears on human mummies by 3200 BCE and was practiced by ancient cultures throughout the world.
"Ancient Ink," the first book dedicated to the archaeological study of tattooing, presents new research from across the globe examining tattooed human remains, tattoo tools, and ancient art. It contributes to our understanding of the antiquity, durability, and significance of tattooing and human body decoration and illuminates how different societies have used their skin to construct their identities. Ancient Ink connects ancient body art traditions to modern culture through Indigenous communities and the work of contemporary tattoo artists.
The contributors are Orlando V. Abinion, Analyn Salvador-Amores, Gemma Angel, Ronald G. Beckett, Tara Nicole Clark, Colin Dale, Aaron Deter-Wolf, Renée Friedman, Louise Furey, Lars Krutak, Svetlana Pankova, Dario Piombino-Mascali, Luc Renaut, Benoît Robitaille, Dong Hoon Shin, Isaac Walters, Leonid Yablonsky, and Petar N. Zidarov.
"Ancient Ink," the first book dedicated to the archaeological study of tattooing, presents new research from across the globe examining tattooed human remains, tattoo tools, and ancient art. It contributes to our understanding of the antiquity, durability, and significance of tattooing and human body decoration and illuminates how different societies have used their skin to construct their identities. Ancient Ink connects ancient body art traditions to modern culture through Indigenous communities and the work of contemporary tattoo artists.
The contributors are Orlando V. Abinion, Analyn Salvador-Amores, Gemma Angel, Ronald G. Beckett, Tara Nicole Clark, Colin Dale, Aaron Deter-Wolf, Renée Friedman, Louise Furey, Lars Krutak, Svetlana Pankova, Dario Piombino-Mascali, Luc Renaut, Benoît Robitaille, Dong Hoon Shin, Isaac Walters, Leonid Yablonsky, and Petar N. Zidarov.
Research Interests: Native American Studies, Archaeology, The Tattoo, Ancient Art, Philippine History, and 12 moreNative American Anthropology, Ancient Egyptian Art and Archaeology, Pazyryk Culture, Tattoos, Mummies, Ancient Tattooing, Tattoo Rituals, Ancient Tattooing & Spirituality, Ancient Egyptian tattooing and scarification practices, Tattooing and body modification, Body Modification (tattoos and Body Piercings), and History of Tattoos
For thousands of years astonishingly rich and diverse forms of tattooing have been produced by the Indigenous peoples of North America. Long neglected by anthropologists and art historians, tattooing was a time-honored traditional... more
For thousands of years astonishingly rich and diverse forms of tattooing have been produced by the Indigenous peoples of North America. Long neglected by anthropologists and art historians, tattooing was a time-honored traditional practice that expressed the patterns of tribal social organization and religion, while also channeling worlds inhabited by deities, spirits, and the ancestors. TATTOO TRADITIONS OF NATIVE NORTH AMERICA explores the many facets of indelible Indigenous body marking across every cultural region of North America. As the first book on the subject, it breaks new ground on one of the least-known mediums of Amerindian expressive culture that nearly disappeared from view in the twentieth century, until it was reborn in recent decades.
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Spiritual Skin: MAGICAL TATTOOS AND SCARIFICATION is a photographic masterwork in two parts exploring the secret world of magical tattooing and scarification across the tribal world. The journey into highly sacred territory reveals how... more
Spiritual Skin: MAGICAL TATTOOS AND SCARIFICATION is a photographic masterwork in two parts exploring the secret world of magical tattooing and scarification across the tribal world. The journey into highly sacred territory reveals how people utilize ritual body modification to enhance their access to the supernatural. The first part delves into the ancient art of Thai tattooing or sak yant, and the tattooing worlds of the Amerindians, from Woodlands warriors to Amazonian shamans. The discussion of talismanic tattooing is concluded with a detailed look at the individuals who created magical tattoos and the various techniques they used. Part two is an absolute must-read-and-see for anyone seeking knowledge about the religious meanings of tribal scarification. The rituals, techniques, and spiritual iconography of scarmasters in Benin (Bétamarribé), Papua New Guinea (Kaningara), and Ethiopia (Hamar) expose a relatively undocumented world of permanent body symbolism created through painful and bloody rites of self-sacrifice and restraint.
Spiritual Skin-MAGICAL TATTOOS AND SCARIFICATION ist ein fotografisches Meisterwerk in zwei Teilen, das den verborgenen Kosmos magischer Tätowierung und Skarifizierung (Narbenkunst) der indigenen Welt erkundet. Es ist eine Reise auf geheiligtem Territorium und enthüllt die Geheimnisse, wie Menschen rituelle Körpermodfikation benutzen, um sich Zugang zu übernatürlichen Kräften zu verschaffen. Der erste Teil befasst sich mit der uralten Kunst der Thai-Tätowierung (sak yant) und den Tattoowelten Nord-und Südamerikas, von den Kriegern der Woodlands bis hin zu den Schamanen Amazoniens. Ein genauer Blick auf die Schöpfer magischer Tattoos und die von ihnen benutzten Techniken rundet den Abschnitt über glückbringende Tätowierungen ab. Der zweite Teil des Buches ist ein absolutes Muss für jeden, der mehr über die religiösen Bedeutungen indigener Skarifizierung erfahren möchte. Sensationell – das muss man gesehen haben! Die Rituale, Techniken und der spirituelle Bildkanon der Narbenmeister von Benin (Bétamarribé), Papua Neu-Guinea (Kaningara) und Äthiopien (Hamar) offenbaren eine bislang kaum bekannte Welt permanenter Körpersymbolik, geschaffen durch schmerzhafte und blutige Riten der Selbstaufopferung und Kasteiung.
Spiritual Skin-MAGICAL TATTOOS AND SCARIFICATION ist ein fotografisches Meisterwerk in zwei Teilen, das den verborgenen Kosmos magischer Tätowierung und Skarifizierung (Narbenkunst) der indigenen Welt erkundet. Es ist eine Reise auf geheiligtem Territorium und enthüllt die Geheimnisse, wie Menschen rituelle Körpermodfikation benutzen, um sich Zugang zu übernatürlichen Kräften zu verschaffen. Der erste Teil befasst sich mit der uralten Kunst der Thai-Tätowierung (sak yant) und den Tattoowelten Nord-und Südamerikas, von den Kriegern der Woodlands bis hin zu den Schamanen Amazoniens. Ein genauer Blick auf die Schöpfer magischer Tattoos und die von ihnen benutzten Techniken rundet den Abschnitt über glückbringende Tätowierungen ab. Der zweite Teil des Buches ist ein absolutes Muss für jeden, der mehr über die religiösen Bedeutungen indigener Skarifizierung erfahren möchte. Sensationell – das muss man gesehen haben! Die Rituale, Techniken und der spirituelle Bildkanon der Narbenmeister von Benin (Bétamarribé), Papua Neu-Guinea (Kaningara) und Äthiopien (Hamar) offenbaren eine bislang kaum bekannte Welt permanenter Körpersymbolik, geschaffen durch schmerzhafte und blutige Riten der Selbstaufopferung und Kasteiung.
Research Interests: Cultural Studies, Anthropology, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Cultural Heritage, and 12 moreSocial and Cultural Anthropology, Anthropology of the Body, Spirituality, Cultural Theory, Magic, Indigenous Knowledge, Body Image, Indigenous Peoples, Body Language, Body Modification, Tattoos, and Ancient Tattooing
Spiritual Skin: MAGICAL TATTOOS AND SCARIFICATION. Wisdom. Healing. Shamanic Power. Protection is a photographic masterwork in two parts exploring the secret world of magical tattooing and scarification across the tribal world. Based on... more
Spiritual Skin: MAGICAL TATTOOS AND SCARIFICATION. Wisdom. Healing. Shamanic Power. Protection is a photographic masterwork in two parts exploring the secret world of magical tattooing and scarification across the tribal world. Based on one decade of tattoo anthropologist Dr. Lars Krutak’s fieldwork among animistic and shamanic societies of Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Melanesia, Spiritual Skin: MAGICAL TATTOOS AND SCARIFICATION journeys into highly sacred territory to reveal how people utilize ritual body modification to enhance their access to the supernatural.
Research Interests: Cultural History, Cultural Studies, Visual Studies, Indigenous Studies, Cultural Heritage, and 15 moreSocial and Cultural Anthropology, Anthropology of the Body, Indigenous Knowledge, Phenomenology of the body, Indigenous Peoples, Cultural Anthropology, Visual Arts, Traditional Knowledge, Body Language, Tradition, Body Modification, Tattoos, Ancient Tattooing, Kalinga, and Social Change & Tattooing
KALINGA TATTOO: ANCIENT AND MODERN EXPRESSIONS OF THE TRIBAL is a photographic masterwork that explores the vanishing art of Kalinga tribal tattooing in the remote mountains of the northern Philippines. Combining the visionary talents of... more
KALINGA TATTOO: ANCIENT AND MODERN EXPRESSIONS OF THE TRIBAL is a photographic masterwork that explores the vanishing art of Kalinga tribal tattooing in the remote mountains of the northern Philippines. Combining the visionary talents of numerous international photographers and the words and stories of nearly fifty Kalinga elders, Kalinga Tattoo is the first book to tell the story of this incredibly rich tradition of indigenous body art that is believed to be 1,000 years old.
State policy makers in Mexico believe that increasing tourism may help stimulate the struggling economy of the Copper Canyon region where the indigenous Rarámuri live, while also preparing them for subsequent integration into the... more
State policy makers in Mexico believe that increasing tourism may help stimulate the struggling economy of the Copper Canyon region where the indigenous Rarámuri live, while also preparing them for subsequent integration into the monetized capitalist economy. Yet as the Rarámuri are adapting themselves to the homogenizing forces of the tourism industry, many are also attempting to maintain their distinctive local subsistence economy and culture.
This research examines these contradictions by investigating how Rarámuri handicrafts producers—who are largely female-living in four villages with differential access to tourism markets are responding to tourism in the context of Mexico's 'Master Plan' of tourism development in the state of Chihuahua. The general goals of this dissertation are to determine: (1) how Rarámuri artisanal production is affecting the total net income of households selected for study; (2) if increasing artisanal production is diverting time and labor from the traditional subsistence economy of the Rarámuri and endangering the local environment; and (3) if increasing handicrafts production among women is transforming gender and social relations within the household.
Documenting how Rarámuri handicrafts vendors interact with the tourism marketplace reveals that some households have abandoned their agricultural practices in favor of full-time artisanal production. In other locations economic shifts were less dramatic whereby the traditional subsistence base was enhanced by movements towards mixed production, although increased pressures on natural resources used in basketry have degraded local landscapes. The majority of married women surveyed were found to be in control of the family's finances whereas some younger female vendors have postponed marriage or have decided to not marry at all because of their earning potential. These new findings, among many others discussed in this study, indicate that traditional elements of Rarámuri culture have been transformed or discarded depending on individual or collective preferences, and will be particularly useful to those involved in tourism policy-making, development, and research within and outside of Latin America.
This research examines these contradictions by investigating how Rarámuri handicrafts producers—who are largely female-living in four villages with differential access to tourism markets are responding to tourism in the context of Mexico's 'Master Plan' of tourism development in the state of Chihuahua. The general goals of this dissertation are to determine: (1) how Rarámuri artisanal production is affecting the total net income of households selected for study; (2) if increasing artisanal production is diverting time and labor from the traditional subsistence economy of the Rarámuri and endangering the local environment; and (3) if increasing handicrafts production among women is transforming gender and social relations within the household.
Documenting how Rarámuri handicrafts vendors interact with the tourism marketplace reveals that some households have abandoned their agricultural practices in favor of full-time artisanal production. In other locations economic shifts were less dramatic whereby the traditional subsistence base was enhanced by movements towards mixed production, although increased pressures on natural resources used in basketry have degraded local landscapes. The majority of married women surveyed were found to be in control of the family's finances whereas some younger female vendors have postponed marriage or have decided to not marry at all because of their earning potential. These new findings, among many others discussed in this study, indicate that traditional elements of Rarámuri culture have been transformed or discarded depending on individual or collective preferences, and will be particularly useful to those involved in tourism policy-making, development, and research within and outside of Latin America.
This account of the vanishing art of women's tribal tattooing is the record of tattoo anthropologist's Lars Krutak's ten-year research with indigenous peoples around the globe. Spanning five continents and with more than 250 images, the... more
This account of the vanishing art of women's tribal tattooing is the record of tattoo anthropologist's Lars Krutak's ten-year research with indigenous peoples around the globe. Spanning five continents and with more than 250 images, the book not only examines the history and significance of tattooing through a comparative study of tattoo patterns and techniques, but also through interviews with the indigenous people who created them. The result is a comprehensive overview that established new ways of seeing and reading the messages encoded in ancient and more contemporary forms of tattooing.
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(2002) Faces of Alaska: Recovered Photographs from the "Old Years" in the Bering Strait-North Sound Area. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of the American Indian: National Museum of Natural History. 127pp. With Igor Krupnik, Lars Krutak, Stephen Loring, Vera Metcalf, Donna Rose, and Willis Walunga.more
Research Interests: Anthropology, Indigenous Studies, Photography, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Alaska Native Studies, and 8 moreDocumentary Photography, Indigenous Peoples, Photography (Visual Studies), Visual and Cultural Studies, Native Alaska Ethnology and Ethnohistory, Visual Anthropolgy, Indigenous Writings, and Alaskan Native
2003 American Book Award in Literature
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Anthropological knowledge of indigenous tattoo practices in the Bering Sea of the Arctic is limited. Archaeological and paleopathological evidence suggests that tattooing has been utilized in the area for more than one thousand years.... more
Anthropological knowledge of indigenous tattoo practices in the Bering Sea of the Arctic is limited. Archaeological and paleopathological evidence suggests that tattooing has been utilized in the area for more than one thousand years.
This thesis is a preliminary exploration of tattoo significance among the Yupiget of St. Lawrence Island, Alaska. Furthermore, it will suggest that tattoo is a new line of evidence linking St. Lawrence Island with Asia. My primary intent is to elucidate the relationship between tattoos - in the domains of religious, medicinal, and cultural praxis - and their articulation as symbols inscribing implicit ideologies of society.
This thesis is a preliminary exploration of tattoo significance among the Yupiget of St. Lawrence Island, Alaska. Furthermore, it will suggest that tattoo is a new line of evidence linking St. Lawrence Island with Asia. My primary intent is to elucidate the relationship between tattoos - in the domains of religious, medicinal, and cultural praxis - and their articulation as symbols inscribing implicit ideologies of society.
Research Interests: Anthropology, Medical Anthropology, Indigenous Studies, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Shamanism, and 10 moreIndigenous Knowledge, Visual Communication, Alaska Native Studies, American Indian & Alaska Native, Ancient Tattooing, Native Alaska Ethnology and Ethnohistory, Tattooing, Social Change & Tattooing, Ancient and Indigenous Spiritual Traditions, and Indigenous Spirituality
This essay describes the potential for using ethnographic evidence and mummified tattooed skin to reflect on past therapeutic tattoo practice in the Arctic. It also considers the ways in which circumpolar concepts of disease emerged in... more
This essay describes the potential for using ethnographic evidence and mummified tattooed skin to reflect on past therapeutic tattoo practice in the Arctic. It also considers the ways in which circumpolar concepts of disease emerged in relation to the agency of nonhuman entities. I argue that specific forms of curative tattooing offer interpretive models for the paleopathological and bioarchaeological study of care through an ontological framework of analysis.
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Research Interests: Cultural History, Visual Studies, Cultural Heritage, Anthropology of Pilgrimage, Pilgrimage, and 13 moreSpirituality, The Tattoo, Coptic Studies, Visual Communication, Pilgrimage and travel to the Holy Land, Jerusalem, Tradition, Coptic art, Body Modification, Holy Land Studies, Tattoos, Ancient Tattooing, and History of Jerusalem
This is a preview of the article published in the winter 2016/2017 issue of First American Art Magazine, pp. 30-37.
Research Interests: Native American Studies, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, The Tattoo, Indigenous Knowledge, and 7 more'Decolonization' and the politics of settler state/Indigenous relations, Indigenous Communication Theory, Native American Anthropology, Native North American Ethnography, Decolonization, Tattoos, and Native American Art
This is a preview of the article published in the 2016/2017 Collector's Edition of Asian Geographic Passport Magazine, pp. 62-71. For centuries, indigenous tattooists working across Asia have marked human skin with powerful designs and... more
This is a preview of the article published in the 2016/2017 Collector's Edition of Asian Geographic Passport Magazine, pp. 62-71.
For centuries, indigenous tattooists working across Asia have marked human skin with powerful designs and symbols in their quest to signal ethnic identity and render the body sacred. Carried through life and onwards into
death, these marks of humanity testify to an ancestral legacy that is in danger of gradually fading away...
For centuries, indigenous tattooists working across Asia have marked human skin with powerful designs and symbols in their quest to signal ethnic identity and render the body sacred. Carried through life and onwards into
death, these marks of humanity testify to an ancestral legacy that is in danger of gradually fading away...
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(2016) Authentic American Treasures: Native American Arts & Crafts. pp. 82-83.
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Le privilège de la noblesse Les dernières représentantes encore en vie ne sont plus qu'une trentaine. Toutes octogénaires, ces VuVu (« grand-mère » en langue paiwan) portent sur leurs mains les traces de ce rituel initiatique visant à... more
Le privilège de la noblesse Les dernières représentantes encore en vie ne sont plus qu'une trentaine. Toutes octogénaires, ces VuVu (« grand-mère » en langue paiwan) portent sur leurs mains les traces de ce rituel initiatique visant à marquer leur statut social, invoquer la protection divine et ouvrir les portes de l'après-vie. Si traditionnelle-ment, les hommes Paiwan étaient eux aussi marqués (les chefs portaient sur leurs poitrines des motifs spécifiques et complexes traduisant la puissance de leur statut social), leurs traces ont elles déjà disparu, avec le décès notamment de la dernière génération dans les années 1990. La coutume connaît son premier déclin durant l'occupation de l'île par le Japon de 1895 à 1945. Interdite, elle devient secrète, les femmes allant se faire tatouer dans les montagnes à l'abri du pouvoir. À la fin de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, l'île entre dans le giron de la République de Chine, qui elle aussi désavouera cette pratique. « La passation du pouvoir pris deux ans néan-moins, se souvient Ho Yu-mei, une femme âgée vivant à Laiyi Township, ville montagnarde indigène situé au sud de l'île. Durant cette période, mes grands-parents nous ont encouragé à nous faire tatouer. Mais ensuite, la pratique s'est arrêtée ». Un rite initiatique soumis à des règles rigoureuses La société paiwan reposant sur le principe de classe sociale héréditaire, les tatoueurs (chaque village en avait au moins un) étaient soit noble, soit shaman, soit un homme, soit une femme. Les parents de la jeune fille en passe d'être tatouée devaient offrir au chef du village une boisson cérémonielle à base de vin de céréales. Ce dernier décidait alors de la date à laquelle le tatouage serait réalisé, et choisissait parmi cinq classes possi-Ljalep Qamuljilj, née en 1927, est une noble paiwan. Elle a été tatouée par une femme : « Quand la séance s'est terminée, une cérémonie pour calmer la température des mains était obligatoire. Nous avons aussi prié pour que cela ne s'infecte pas, et que le motif soit clair et brillant » raconte-t-elle.
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Published in Summer 2016 issue of El Palacio Magazine, pp. 64-73. (Photo caption: This Theravada Buddhist monk of Wat Bang Phra in Thailand has a sacred Mongkut Phra Puttha Chao yantra tattooed on his head, believed to impart prosperity,... more
Published in Summer 2016 issue of El Palacio Magazine, pp. 64-73. (Photo caption: This Theravada Buddhist monk of Wat Bang Phra in Thailand has a sacred Mongkut Phra Puttha Chao yantra tattooed on his head, believed to impart prosperity, protection, and luck. Photograph by Lars Krutak.)
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The practice of tattooing has been documented in cultures across the globe and throughout recorded history. While there are several lines of archaeological evidence through which to study ancient tattooing, the marks identified on... more
The practice of tattooing has been documented in cultures across the globe and throughout recorded history. While there are several lines of archaeological evidence through which to study ancient tattooing, the marks identified on naturally and deliberately preserved human skin provide the only direct evidence of tattooing in antiquity. Until recently there was a discrepancy regarding the identity of the oldest tattooed human remains, with popular and scholarly sources alternately awarding the honor to the Tyrolean Iceman known as Ötzi, or to an unidentified South American Chinchorro mummy. Through a reexamination of the identity of the South
American specimen and the associated radiocarbon data, we are able to identify the source of this confusion, and confirm that Ötzi presents the world’s oldest preserved tattoos.
American specimen and the associated radiocarbon data, we are able to identify the source of this confusion, and confirm that Ötzi presents the world’s oldest preserved tattoos.
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Research Interests: Cultural Studies, Art History, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Southeast Asian Studies, Cultural Heritage, and 13 moreSocial and Cultural Anthropology, Anthropology of the Body, Taiwan Studies, Body Image, History of Taiwan, Visual Arts, Traditional Knowledge, Tradition, Body Modification, Tattoos, Ancient Tattooing, Body Modification (tattoos and Body Piercings), and Anthropology of Religion
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For millennia, peoples around the world have tattooed human skin to communicate various ontological, psychosocial, and sociocultural concepts encompassing beauty, cultural identity, status and position, medicine, and supernatural... more
For millennia, peoples around the world have tattooed human skin to communicate various ontological, psychosocial, and sociocultural concepts encompassing beauty, cultural identity, status and position, medicine, and supernatural protection. As a system of knowledge transmission, tattooing has been and continues to be a visual language of the skin whereby culture is inscribed, experienced, and preserved in a myriad of specific ways. If we are to fully comprehend the meanings that tattoos have carried across human history and into the present, then it would be useful to explore some of the ways tattoos, as instruments that transmit culture, have been deployed cross-culturally through time. © 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel.
From patterns etched into the skin of an ancient mummy to the colorful designs that adorn people today, tattoos are not just skin deep; they tell us about individuals and their cultures—and offer insights into what it is to be human.
Article focusing on the Naga tattoo revival in India and tattoo artist Mo Naga (Uipo Naga).
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Long perceived as a form of exotic self-expression in some social fringe groups, tattoos have left their maverick image behind and become mainstream, particularly for young people. Historically, tattoo-related health and safety... more
Long perceived as a form of exotic self-expression in some social fringe groups, tattoos have left their maverick
image behind and become mainstream, particularly for young people. Historically, tattoo-related health and safety
regulations have focused on rules of hygiene and prevention of infections. Meanwhile, the increasing popularity
of tattooing has led to the development of many new colours, allowing tattoos to be more spectacular than ever
before. However, little is known about the toxicological risks of the ingredients used. For risk assessment, safe
intradermal application of these pigments needs data for toxicity and biokinetics and increased knowledge about
the removal of tattoos. Other concerns are the potential for phototoxicity, substance migration, and the possible
metabolic conversion of tattoo ink ingredients into toxic substances. Similar considerations apply to cleavage
products that are formed during laser-assisted tattoo removal. In this Review, we summarise the issues of concern, putting them into context, and provide perspectives for the assessment of the acute and chronic health effects
associated with tattooing.
image behind and become mainstream, particularly for young people. Historically, tattoo-related health and safety
regulations have focused on rules of hygiene and prevention of infections. Meanwhile, the increasing popularity
of tattooing has led to the development of many new colours, allowing tattoos to be more spectacular than ever
before. However, little is known about the toxicological risks of the ingredients used. For risk assessment, safe
intradermal application of these pigments needs data for toxicity and biokinetics and increased knowledge about
the removal of tattoos. Other concerns are the potential for phototoxicity, substance migration, and the possible
metabolic conversion of tattoo ink ingredients into toxic substances. Similar considerations apply to cleavage
products that are formed during laser-assisted tattoo removal. In this Review, we summarise the issues of concern, putting them into context, and provide perspectives for the assessment of the acute and chronic health effects
associated with tattooing.
At once a marker of beauty, identity, status, religious belief and artistic achievement, tattooing has been an indelible part of humanity’s cultural heritage for at least 7000 years. Indigenous tattooing traditions worldwide are revealed... more
At once a marker of beauty, identity, status, religious belief and artistic achievement, tattooing has been an indelible part of humanity’s cultural heritage for at least 7000 years. Indigenous tattooing traditions worldwide are revealed through an anthropologist’s guide.
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Das Jerusalemkreuz mit der Jahreszahl der Pilgerreise gehört auch bei Wassim Razzouk zu den beliebtesten Motiven. Wie die Abbildung zeigt, hat sich an der Machart in den letzten 400 Jahren nichts geändert.
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Antonin Artaud was one of the first internationally recognized writers to introduce the indigenous Tarahumara (Rarámuri) of Northwest Mexico to the world. In a series of publications based on his experiences with the tribe in 1936, Artaud... more
Antonin Artaud was one of the first internationally recognized writers to introduce the indigenous Tarahumara (Rarámuri) of Northwest Mexico to the world. In a series of publications based on his experiences with the tribe in 1936, Artaud left a vast visual legacy that positioned the Tarahumara within a powerful regime of representation, one that framed them within a mixed landscape of exoticism, primitivism, and peyote-inspired mysticism. This paper focuses on these literary works and interrogates the veracity of Artaud’s experiences and observations among the “pure race.” Drawing on the ethnographic record of the twentieth century and anthropological field research, it is my intention to reveal Artaud’s ability to fabricate, exaggerate, and embellish “the truth” which he so desperately desired to understand.
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Research Interests: Cultural History, Cultural Studies, Visual Anthropology, Nordic Studies, Cultural Heritage, and 14 moreNordic History, Visual Culture, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Anthropology of the Body, The Body, Scandinavian history, Scandinavian Studies, Visual Arts, Viking Age Scandinavia, Tattoos, Ancient Tattooing, Tattooing and body modification, Runes, and Old Nordic/Germanic Religions
For thousands of years, peoples around the world have practiced tattooing because of its perceived efficacy as a medicinal therapy. As a form of medical treatment, tattoo thus exposed specific body locations where preventive, curative,... more
For thousands of years, peoples around the world have practiced tattooing because of its perceived efficacy as a medicinal therapy. As a form of medical treatment, tattoo thus exposed specific body locations where preventive, curative,
and spiritualistic medicine was practiced. Drawing on the palaeopathological record of tattooed mummies and ethnographic research, this paper will explore the indelible legacy of therapeutic corporeal marking to reveal the complex
system of tools, techniques, and beliefs by which ancient and more recent cultures attempted to control their bodies,
lives, and experiences. Keywords: Tattooing, Medicinal Praxis, Indigenous Peoples, Mummies, Corporeality
and spiritualistic medicine was practiced. Drawing on the palaeopathological record of tattooed mummies and ethnographic research, this paper will explore the indelible legacy of therapeutic corporeal marking to reveal the complex
system of tools, techniques, and beliefs by which ancient and more recent cultures attempted to control their bodies,
lives, and experiences. Keywords: Tattooing, Medicinal Praxis, Indigenous Peoples, Mummies, Corporeality
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Research Interests: Indigenous Studies, Social Sciences, Cultural Heritage, Anthropology of the Body, The Tattoo, and 11 moreIndigenous Knowledge, Body Modification Studies, Phenomenology of the body, Indigenous Peoples, Papua New Guinea, Traditional Knowledge, Rites of Passage, Tattoos, Ancient Tattooing, Papua, and Anthropology of Religion
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Research Interests: Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Anthropology of the Body, The Tattoo, Australia, and 10 moreIndigenous Knowledge, Indigenous Peoples, Cultural Anthropology, Aboriginal History in Australia, Body Modification, Tattoos, Aboriginal Studies, Tattooing, Revival, and Social Change & Tattooing
In his travels around the world, anthropologist Lars Krutak has seen many tribal tattoos, including some applied to relieve specific ailments...Visit:
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/can-tattoos-be-medicinal-156450609/
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/can-tattoos-be-medicinal-156450609/
Research Interests: Indigenous Studies, Cultural Heritage, Spirituality, Magic, The Tattoo, and 13 moreIndigenous Knowledge, Intangible cultural heritage, Body Modification Studies, Indigenous Peoples, Intangible Cultural Heritage (Culture), Magic and the Occult (Anthropology Of Religion), Spirituality & Psychology, Ancient magic, Body Modification, Tattoos, Ancient Tattooing, Social Change & Tattooing, and Religious and Magical Practices
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Research Interests: Indigenous Studies, Cultural Heritage, Heritage Studies, Anthropology of the Body, Brazilian History, and 11 moreThe Tattoo, Indigenous Knowledge, Brazil, Amazonia, Indigenous Peoples, Traditional Knowledge, Body Modification, Amazonian Ethnology, Tattoos, Ancient Tattooing, and Xingu Indigenous Park
Research Interests: Cultural History, Indigenous Studies, Cultural Heritage, Japanese Religions, Anthropology of the Body, and 11 moreJapanese History, The Tattoo, The Body, Indigenous Knowledge, Japan, Indigenous Peoples, Ainu, Tattoos, Ancient Tattooing, Ainu studies, and Body Modification (tattoos and Body Piercings)
Research Interests: Indigenous Studies, Cultural Heritage, The Tattoo, Indigenous Knowledge, Intangible cultural heritage, and 10 moreParaguay, Argentina, Indigenous Peoples, Intangible Cultural Heritage (Culture), Traditional Knowledge, Indigenous Communication Theory, Rites of Passage, Tattoos, Ancient Tattooing, and Gran Chaco
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An overview of Unangan (Aleut) body modification practices based on historical imagery and literature.
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Research Interests: Indigenous Studies, Cultural Heritage, Arctic Social Science, Indigenous Knowledge, Intangible cultural heritage, and 14 moreBody Modification Studies, Traditional Crafts, Indigenous Peoples, Intangible Cultural Heritage (Culture), Arctic Anthropology, Traditional Knowledge, Arctic, Body Modification, Siberian Studies, Tattoos, Ancient Tattooing, Eskimo-Aleut (Siberian Yupik Eskimo), Chukotka, and Social Change & Tattooing
Research Interests: Cultural History, Indigenous Studies, Cultural Heritage, The Tattoo, Taiwan Studies, and 10 moreIndigenous Knowledge, Body Modification Studies, Indigenous Peoples, Anthropology of Taiwan, Body Modification, Taiwan, Tattoos, Ancient Tattooing, Tattooing and body modification, and Social Change & Tattooing
Research Interests: Indigenous Studies, Cultural Heritage, The Tattoo, Indigenous Knowledge, Intangible cultural heritage, and 11 moreIndigenous Peoples, Intangible Cultural Heritage (Culture), Rites of Passage, Women and Gender Studies, History of weaving, Body Modification, Weaving, Tattoos, Ancient Tattooing, Borneo, and Tattooing and body modification
Research Interests: Gender Studies, Indigenous Studies, Women's Studies, Cultural Heritage, Spirituality, and 15 moreMagic, The Tattoo, Indigenous Knowledge, Intangible cultural heritage, Spirituality & Mysticism, Body Modification Studies, Indigenous Peoples, Intangible Cultural Heritage (Culture), Warfare, Rites of Passage, Body Modification, Tattoos, Ancient Tattooing, Borneo, and Kayan Culture
Research Interests: Indigenous Studies, Cultural Heritage, Oral Traditions, Indigenous Knowledge, Indigenous Peoples, and 9 moreIntangible Cultural Heritage (Culture), Indigenous Communication Theory, Northwest Coast, Pacific Northwest Coast archaeology, Body Modification, Tattoos, Ancient Tattooing, Haida Gwaii, and Body Modification (tattoos and Body Piercings)
Research Interests: Indigenous Studies, Cultural Heritage, The Tattoo, Philippines, Body Modification Studies, and 10 moreIndigenous Peoples, Philippine Studies, Philippine Cordillera, Traditional Knowledge, Tradition, Body Modification, Tattoos, Ancient Tattooing, Tattooing and body modification, and Indigneous Studies
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Research Interests: Indigenous Studies, Cultural Heritage, The Tattoo, Polynesian Studies, Indigenous Knowledge, and 12 moreIndigenous Peoples, Oceania (Anthropology), Intangible Cultural Heritage (Culture), Traditional Knowledge, Rites of Passage, Body Modification, Tattoos, Ancient Tattooing, Rapa Nui, Polynesian Archaeology, Tattoo Rituals, and Social Change & Tattooing
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On St. Lawrence Island, Alaska, tattooing was utilized in medicinal and spiritual practices. Joints served as the vehicular 'highways' which evil entities traveled to enter the human body and harm it. Thus, the body's surfaces, and more... more
On St. Lawrence Island, Alaska, tattooing was utilized in medicinal and spiritual practices. Joints served as the vehicular 'highways' which evil entities traveled to enter the human body and harm it. Thus, the body's surfaces, and more specifically, its joints, performed as symbolic stages on which the anxiety-ridden dramas associated with death were enacted. Recent research suggests that these folk beliefs may not be unique to the form of 'preventive' spiritualistic medicine. Rather, joint-tattooing shows striking parallels with concepts of ancient Chinese or independently produced forms of acupuncture. As a preliminary study of tattoo significance among the Yupiget, this paper will consider these parallels, suggesting them as a new line of evidence linking St. Lawrence Island with Asia.
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(1998) “Tatuirovka ostrova Sv. Lavrentia duhovnye, medisinskie funktsii I mezh-kontinentalnoe shodstvo” [St. Lawrence Island Joint-Tattooing: Spiritual/Medicinal Functions and Inter-Continental Similarities]. Pp. 144-161 in... more
(1998) “Tatuirovka ostrova Sv. Lavrentia duhovnye, medisinskie funktsii I mezh-kontinentalnoe shodstvo” [St. Lawrence Island Joint-Tattooing: Spiritual/Medicinal Functions and Inter-Continental Similarities]. Pp. 144-161 in Istoriko-Kulturnye Sviazi Mezhdu Korennym Naseleniem Tihookeanskogo Poberezhia Severo-Zapadnoi Ameriki I Severo-Vostotchnoi Azii. K 100-Letiu Jezupovski Severo-Okeanskoi Exspeditsii Materialy Mezhdunarod-Noi Nauchnoi Konferenstii (Vladivostok, 1-5 Aprelia 1998g.). Vladivostok: Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnography of the Far East Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
The style, once dismissed for being culturally appropriative and meathead-y, is back.
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The thousand-year-old practice of batok will live on, in Buscalan and around the world, thanks to the descendants who Apo Whang-Od has been training and inspiring...
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Lars Krutak is a Research Associate at the Museum of International Folk Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico, and a worldwide renowned expert for the history of traditional tattooing all around the globe. His work helps to preserve and to better... more
Lars Krutak is a Research Associate at the Museum of International Folk Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico, and a worldwide renowned expert for the history of traditional tattooing all around the globe. His work helps to preserve and to better understand the tattoo culture of indigenous people from the Philippines to Canada, from India to South America and from Borneo to Siberia.
Clicking on the link above shows you a selection of just some of his publications; Lars Krutak is in the top 1% of all researchers on academia.edu.
However, Lars is not the kind of scientist who just works for creating heaps of scientific literature to which only few educated have access; he is the kind of guy who wants to share and explain the results of his researches to a wide audience. So we were happy that in between his travels, lectures and book projects he found some time to speak about his work and his conclusions.
Clicking on the link above shows you a selection of just some of his publications; Lars Krutak is in the top 1% of all researchers on academia.edu.
However, Lars is not the kind of scientist who just works for creating heaps of scientific literature to which only few educated have access; he is the kind of guy who wants to share and explain the results of his researches to a wide audience. So we were happy that in between his travels, lectures and book projects he found some time to speak about his work and his conclusions.
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A 10-Year-Old Got a Tattoo. His Mother Was Arrested. In New York State, you must be at least 18 to get a tattoo. Elsewhere, the rules are different-and perceptions are changing...
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BUSCALAN, Philippines-She wakes up every morning at dawn and mixes an ink out of pine soot and water. She threads a thorn from a bitter citrus tree into a reed, crouches on a three-inch-high stool and, folded up like a cricket, hand-taps... more
BUSCALAN, Philippines-She wakes up every morning at dawn and mixes an ink out of pine soot and water. She threads a thorn from a bitter citrus tree into a reed, crouches on a three-inch-high stool and, folded up like a cricket, hand-taps tattoos onto the backs, wrists and chests of people who come to see her from as far away as Mexico and Slovenia. The woman, Maria Fang-od Oggay, will finish 14 tattoos before lunch-not a bad day's work for someone said to be 100 years old...
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ANTHONY BOURDAIN / PARTS UNKNOWN series...
https://explorepartsunknown.com/borneo/using-ink-to-channel-heritage/
https://explorepartsunknown.com/borneo/using-ink-to-channel-heritage/
Extended interview in Spanish by Aníbal Bueno, published in the new issue of RGB Magazine (7): 128-137, Spain. RGB is a travel and photography magazine. The entire issue can be viewed here: https://en.calameo.com/read/004419563728a26d36b9b
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Anthropologist Lars Krutak has documented the tattoo traditions of Indigenous people all over the world, from the Amazon to the high Arctic.
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See attached Pdf for article.
See attached Pdf for article.
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See attached Pdf for article.
See attached PDF for article.
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Research Interests: Indigenous Studies, Cultural Heritage, Indigenous Knowledge, Body Modification Studies, Indigenous Peoples, and 8 moreTraditional Knowledge, Indigenous Communication Theory, Tradition, Body Modification, Tattoos, Ancient Tattooing, Indigenous Cosmologies, and Body Modification (tattoos and Body Piercings)
See attached PDF for article.
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See attached PDF for article.
See PDF for article.
See attached PDF for story.
Published in Tattoo Revolution Magazine
See attached PDF
See PDF for article
See attached PDF for article.
Newspaper interview on tattooing history and revivals in Alaska.
For millennia tattooing practices, or the embodied process of inserting indelible pigments beneath the skin, have documented the history of Indigenous peoples one painful mark at a time. These enduring cultural expressions were invented... more
For millennia tattooing practices, or the embodied process of inserting indelible pigments beneath the skin, have documented the history of Indigenous peoples one painful mark at a time. These enduring cultural expressions were invented to communicate where Indigenous peoples came from, what territory they belonged to, and who their ancestors were (see Trimble 2018). As a visual system of knowledge transmission, tattooing also conveyed personal and ontological information regarding social status, achievement, medicine, and relationships with non-human beings. This chapter offers a primer on Indigenous tattooing practices through a review of their significance and meanings.
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Lars Krutak is a research associate at the Museum of International Folk Art (Santa Fe, New Mexico) and author of Tattoo Traditions of Native North America: Ancient and Contemporary Expressions of Identity and Spiritual Skin: Magical Tattoos and Scarification, among other books focusing on Indigenous tattoo culture and practice. In 2024, his new book Tattoo Traditions of Asia, the first single volume on the subject, will be published by the University of Hawai'i Press.
References Cited
Trimble, Nakkita. 2018. “The Wahlingigat: The Ancient Nisga’a Ancestors.” In Body Language: Reawakening Cultural Tattooing of the Northwest, edited by B. Carter and D. Kaszas, 37–46. Vancouver, BC: Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art.
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Lars Krutak is a research associate at the Museum of International Folk Art (Santa Fe, New Mexico) and author of Tattoo Traditions of Native North America: Ancient and Contemporary Expressions of Identity and Spiritual Skin: Magical Tattoos and Scarification, among other books focusing on Indigenous tattoo culture and practice. In 2024, his new book Tattoo Traditions of Asia, the first single volume on the subject, will be published by the University of Hawai'i Press.
References Cited
Trimble, Nakkita. 2018. “The Wahlingigat: The Ancient Nisga’a Ancestors.” In Body Language: Reawakening Cultural Tattooing of the Northwest, edited by B. Carter and D. Kaszas, 37–46. Vancouver, BC: Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art.
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What does it mean to say that Indigenous tattoos are texts or even a language of the skin? At is most basic level, the tattoo, like writing, operates through a system of intercommunication based on the use of conventional visible marks... more
What does it mean to say that Indigenous tattoos are texts or even a language of the skin? At is most basic level, the tattoo, like writing, operates through a system of intercommunication based on the use of conventional visible marks produced on durable surfaces. Like books, paintings, photographs, and contemporary magazines, Indigenous tattoos convey stories, because like texts they are composed of signs that relate to an awareness of things (identity, status, achievement, medicine) and ontological relations (ancestors, spirits, animals) Other than themselves. Although the meanings of particular designs may not always be decipherable or easily interpretable, Indigenous tattoos are analogous to a visual language comprised of conventional iconography, design, and social relations that are deployed to (re)produce and organize world views. For “what defines language is not precisely the use of words, or even conventional signs; it is the use of any sign whatsoever as involving the knowledge of awareness of the relation of signification,” which serves to make ourselves and our worlds understood (Maritain 1986 [1957]:54).
Drawing on anthropological research among the Chen and Konyak Naga of India (2010, 2018, 2019) and theoretical work in semiotics, this chapter explores the textual and ontological status of an Indigenous tradition of bodily inscription in South Asia.
Photo: Tolei Angh of Chenwetnyu village, Nagaland, 2010. Tolei Angh is one of only three men living today bearing a tiger-spirit tattoo on his back. © Lars Krutak
Drawing on anthropological research among the Chen and Konyak Naga of India (2010, 2018, 2019) and theoretical work in semiotics, this chapter explores the textual and ontological status of an Indigenous tradition of bodily inscription in South Asia.
Photo: Tolei Angh of Chenwetnyu village, Nagaland, 2010. Tolei Angh is one of only three men living today bearing a tiger-spirit tattoo on his back. © Lars Krutak
Research Interests: Semiotics, Anthropology, Ontology, Art History, Indigenous Studies, and 15 moreSouth Asian Studies, Spirituality, Cultural Semiotics, Visual Semiotics, South Asia, Nagaland, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Communication Theory, India, Myanmar, Lycanthropy, Tattoos, Ancient Tattooing, Social Change & Tattooing, and Nagas
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Tattoos have been reported from human remains representing a wide range of cultures and time periods. While the practice of tattooing can be studied using a variety of types of historical evidence, antiquity leaves only naturally and... more
Tattoos have been reported from human remains representing a wide range of cultures and time periods. While the practice of tattooing can be studied using a variety of types of historical evidence, antiquity leaves only naturally and deliberately preserved human skin as a direct source. Today, scholarly research recognizes the Tyrolean Iceman known as Ötzi, dating from 5300 years ago, as the mummy with the oldest tattoos. A complete mapping of this mummy’s tattoos was recently reported. This work has demonstrated the presence of 61 tattoos divided into 19 groups located on different parts of the body. The examination of these tattoos and their locations on the mummy’s body are especially useful for helping researchers to better understand the function of tattooing in prehistoric times. The existing perception regarding tattooing in the past is that the practice evolved as a medicinal therapy. By mapping these tattoos, specific body regions targeted for preventive, curative, and spiritualistic medicine can be elucidated. Using ethnographic data and the bioarchaeological record of tattooed mummies, this chapter explores the development of corporeal markings that were significant from a medical viewpoint. This chapter also discusses the complex system of tools, techniques, and beliefs by which ancient people attempted to control their health, pain and status in society.
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This chapter examines the cultural history of Naga tattoo through the voices of Naga elders, a contemporary Naga tattoo artist, Naga writers, among others. One hundred years ago, tattoo was considered everyday wear with a precise and... more
This chapter examines the cultural history of Naga tattoo through the voices of Naga elders, a contemporary Naga tattoo artist, Naga writers, among others. One hundred years ago, tattoo was considered everyday wear with a precise and detailed system of codes and socio- religious meanings attached to it. Post-missionization the Naga tattoo was demonized, condemned, and gradually abandoned until the last decade with the re-emergence of an ethnic fashion and cultural revival movement that includes the neo-Naga tattoo. I argue here that Naga artists and writers are actively reshaping the future of the Naga tattoo through art, design, and innovative publications. They give new expression to an inerasable and unquestionable mark of ethnic identity, and in the process may revive the Naga tattoo from the brink of extinction.
Research Interests: Cultural Studies, Anthropology, Ontology, Art History, Indigenous Studies, and 15 moreIndigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Spirituality, Phenomenology of the body, Nagaland, Indigenous Communication Theory, India, Myanmar, Body Modification, Tattoos, Ancient Tattooing, Indigenous Cultural Revitalization, Revival, Revitalization, Social Change & Tattooing, and Nagas
See our Chapter entitled "Therapeutic Tattoos and Ancient Mummies: The Case of the Iceman," Pp. 119-136 in Purposeful Pain.
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Tattoos have been reported from human remains representing a wide range of cultures and time periods. While the practice of tattooing can be studied using a variety of types of historical evidence, antiquity leaves only naturally and... more
Tattoos have been reported from human remains representing a wide range of cultures and time periods. While the practice of tattooing can be studied using a variety of types of historical evidence, antiquity leaves only naturally and deliberately preserved human skin as a direct source. Today, scholarly research recognizes the Tyrolean Iceman, dating from 5300 years ago, as the mummy with the oldest tattoos. A complete mapping of this mummy's tattoos was recently reported. This work has demonstrated the presence of 61 tattoos divided into 19 groups located on different parts of the body. The examination of these tattoos and their locations on the mummy's body are especially useful for helping researchers to better understand the function of tattooing in prehistoric times. The existing perception regarding tattooing in the past is that the practice evolved as a medicinal therapy. By mapping these tattoos, specific body regions targeted for preventive, curative, and spiritualistic medicine can be elucidated. Using ethnographic data and the bioarchaeological record of tattooed mummies, this chapter will explore the development of corporeal markings that were significant from a medical viewpoint.
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This chapter will examine the cultural history of Naga tattoo in Northeast India through the voices of Naga elders, a contemporary Naga tattoo artist, Naga writers, among others. One hundred years ago, tattoo was considered everyday wear... more
This chapter will examine the cultural history of Naga tattoo in Northeast India through the voices of Naga elders, a contemporary Naga tattoo artist, Naga writers, among others. One hundred years ago, tattoo was considered everyday wear with a precise and detailed system of codes and socio-religious meanings attached to it. Post-missionisation tattoo was demonized, condemned, and gradually abandoned until the last decade with the re-emergence of an ethnic fashion and cultural revival movement that includes the neo-Naga tattoo. I will argue today that Naga artists and writers are actively reshaping the future of Naga tattoo through art, design, and innovative publications. They give new expression to an inerasable and unquestionable mark of ethnic identity, and in the process may revive the Naga tattoo from the brink of extinction.
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Inks of various colors have been used for at least 5,000 years to communicate historical, philosophical, economic, and religious information on paper, ostraca, the human body, and other media. The portability, utility, and lasting... more
Inks of various colors have been used for at least 5,000 years to communicate historical, philosophical, economic, and religious information on paper, ostraca, the human body, and other media. The portability, utility, and lasting permanence of this liquid substance has had a powerful and enduring impact on human civilization and local, regional, and global interconnectivity. Contemporary scientific studies of ancient ink are revealing profound insights into the technological and socio-historical contexts concerning its production and usage. New research also demonstrates how ancient ink and pigment can be used in modern telecommunications, biomedical applications, and manuscript conservation best practices. [corrected proof]
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More often than not, mainstream media perspectives on tattoos and ageing are negative. What will you do about your tattoos when you’re 80? Won't you regret those tattoos when you’re older? These narratives typically focus on the process... more
More often than not, mainstream media perspectives on tattoos and ageing are negative. What will you do about your tattoos when you’re 80? Won't you regret those tattoos when you’re older? These narratives typically focus on the process of decline, the deterioration of the human canvas (i.e. sagging skin), and the loss of definition and colour of one’s tattoos over a lifetime. But rather than seeing tattooing and tattoos as an age related impairment doomed by the natural processes of the ageing body, I think a more positive perspective is warranted – and that is the focus of this contribution. After all, tattooed skin is a personal record documenting memories of our lives and our life stories. Tattoos are marks of accomplishment and commitment, and as we age they continue to distinguish who we are as individuals. Our tattoos belong to us and no one else. Tattoos are a personal possession that cannot be taken away. In short, we come to know ourselves, our bodies, and our worlds through the tattoos we wear, and they are defining for who we are as human beings no matter how old we may be. [*This chapter is excerpted from the exhibition catalogue "GREY IS THE NEW PINK - Moments of Ageing," running 10.26.2018-01.09.2019 at the Weltkulturen Museum, Frankfurt, Germany.]
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Afterword for the 2018 exhibition catalog "Body Language: Reawakening Cultural Tattooing in the Northwest " at the Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art.
Research Interests: Indigenous Studies, Anthropology of the Body, Indigenous Knowledge, Indigenous Peoples, Northwest Coast, and 10 moreDecolonial Thought, Decolonization, Body Modification, Exhibitions, Tattoos, Ancient Tattooing, Revival, Tattooing and body modification, Modernity/coloniality/decoloniality, and Social Change & Tattooing
Inks of various colors have been used for at least 5,000 years to communicate historical, philosophical, economic, and religious information on paper, ostraca, the human body, and other media. The portability, utility, and lasting... more
Inks of various colors have been used for at least 5,000 years to
communicate historical, philosophical, economic, and religious information on paper, ostraca, the human body, and other media. The portability, utility, and lasting permanence of this liquid substance has had a powerful and enduring impact on human civilization and local, regional, and global interconnectivity. Contemporary scientific studies of ancient ink are revealing profound insights into the technological and socio-historical contexts concerning its production and usage. New research also demonstrates how ancient ink and pigment can be used in modern telecommunications, biomedical applications, and manuscript conservation best practices.
communicate historical, philosophical, economic, and religious information on paper, ostraca, the human body, and other media. The portability, utility, and lasting permanence of this liquid substance has had a powerful and enduring impact on human civilization and local, regional, and global interconnectivity. Contemporary scientific studies of ancient ink are revealing profound insights into the technological and socio-historical contexts concerning its production and usage. New research also demonstrates how ancient ink and pigment can be used in modern telecommunications, biomedical applications, and manuscript conservation best practices.
Research Interests: Native American Studies, Archaeology, Egyptology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Indigenous Studies, and 15 moreEgyptian Archaeology, Anthropology Of Art, Indigenous Knowledge, Arctic Archaeology, Indigenous Peoples, Oceania (Anthropology), Papua New Guinea, Philippine Studies, Balkan prehistory, Paleolithic Europe, Native American Anthropology, Sarmatians, Siberian Studies, Tattoos, and Ancient Tattooing
Beginning in the late nineteenth century around the Bering Strait, ornate pieces of carved fossil ivory bearing decorations unlike anything previously known from the Eskimo region began appearing in museum collections. These small, deeply... more
Beginning in the late nineteenth century around the Bering Strait, ornate pieces of carved fossil ivory bearing decorations unlike anything previously known from the Eskimo region began appearing in museum collections. These small, deeply patinated artifacts, which originated from ancient village sites across the region and passed from the pockets of Indigenous collectors to American whalers, teachers, traders, and museum curators, were evidence of a distinctive and scarcely known prehistoric maritime culture of northwestern Alaska and neighboring Siberia. Beautifully incised harpoon heads and socket pieces, animated zoomorphic drum and box handles, anthropomorphic figures inscribed with tattoos and body ornaments, and other objects of “unknown use” largely comprised the “high fossil ivory culture” of a society that appeared to have been centered on St. Lawrence Island,
parts of the adjacent Asiatic coast, the Diomede Islands, and portions of the Seward Peninsula of Alaska (Hrdlička 1930:174).
By the mid-1920s anthropological interest in the origins of these Paleo-Eskimo peoples peaked (Collins 1937:iii), resulting in a series of archaeological expeditions to the Bering Strait that continues to the present day. On St. Lawrence Island and the neighboring Chukotka Peninsula of Russia, excavations revealed a succession of closely
related and partially overlapping cultures—Okvik/Old Bering Sea (~50 to 800 CE) and Punuk (800 to 1200 CE)—whose settlements and cemeteries exhibited some of the finest art ever produced by a hunting society.1 Lured to the Bering Strait by vast herds of ivory-bearing sea mammals like walruses and large whales, these maritime peoples from Asia were led by shamans, whaling captains, and notable warriors. Both men and women of these peoples tattooed their bodies and crafted human figurines, or “dolls,” that often displayed ornate and naturalistic personal adornments, including amulet straps, beaded headbands, and permanent body markings that have counterparts in recent history and practice.
parts of the adjacent Asiatic coast, the Diomede Islands, and portions of the Seward Peninsula of Alaska (Hrdlička 1930:174).
By the mid-1920s anthropological interest in the origins of these Paleo-Eskimo peoples peaked (Collins 1937:iii), resulting in a series of archaeological expeditions to the Bering Strait that continues to the present day. On St. Lawrence Island and the neighboring Chukotka Peninsula of Russia, excavations revealed a succession of closely
related and partially overlapping cultures—Okvik/Old Bering Sea (~50 to 800 CE) and Punuk (800 to 1200 CE)—whose settlements and cemeteries exhibited some of the finest art ever produced by a hunting society.1 Lured to the Bering Strait by vast herds of ivory-bearing sea mammals like walruses and large whales, these maritime peoples from Asia were led by shamans, whaling captains, and notable warriors. Both men and women of these peoples tattooed their bodies and crafted human figurines, or “dolls,” that often displayed ornate and naturalistic personal adornments, including amulet straps, beaded headbands, and permanent body markings that have counterparts in recent history and practice.
Research Interests: Indigenous Studies, Material Culture Studies, Arctic Social Science, The Tattoo, Indigenous Knowledge, and 13 moreArctic Archaeology, Indigenous Peoples, Hunter-Gatherers (Anthropology), Hunter-Gatherer Archaeology, Body Modification, Tattoos, Ancient Tattooing, Inuit Art, Ivory Carving, Tattooing and body modification, Inuit archaeology/anthropology, Antler, bone, horn & ivory artefacts, and Inuit Studies
Research Interests: Anthropology, Art History, Indigenous Studies, Art Theory, Cultural Heritage, and 15 moreArctic Social Science, The Tattoo, Bone and Antler, History of Art, Indigenous Peoples, Cultural Anthropology, Visual Arts, Hunter-Gatherers (Anthropology), Hunter-Gatherer Archaeology, Prehistoric Figurines, Anthropomorphic Figurines, Inuit, Tattoos, Ancient Tattooing, and Ivory Carving
Across the Arctic, the practice of tattooing has been invariably performed by female technicians for over 3,000 years (Krutak 2014a). Typically, expert tattooers were respected women. Their extensive training as skin seamstresses (of... more
Across the Arctic, the practice of tattooing has been invariably performed by female technicians for over 3,000 years (Krutak 2014a). Typically, expert tattooers were respected women. Their extensive training as skin seamstresses (of parkas, pants, boots, hide boat-covers, etc.) facilitated the need for precision when stitching or pricking human skin for tattoos.
Skin-stitching was the predominant method of tattooing among the Inuit of the Canadian Arctic. However, hand-poking has been documented for St. Lawrence Island, Alaska (Geist 1927−1934c:n.p.), and the Central Inuit region of Canada (Birket-Smith 1945:46, fig. 16; Mathiassen 1928:201, fig. 159). A few historic tattooing instruments from the Central Inuit region of Canada as well as from East Greenland (e.g., the Ammassalik) exist today in museum collections (e.g., American Museum of Natural History, 60/4891 A; Musée du Quai Branly, 71.1930.12.38; Neuchâtel Museum of Ethnography, VI.60). Interestingly, the ethnographic record is strangely silent concerning occurrences of hand-poke tattooing along northern Alaska shores, although the Athabaskan Indian people of Alaska’s interior utilized skin-puncturing awls to create tattoos (Osgood 1940:71−73). Despite the paucity of historic evidence for Inuit (Eskimo) hand-poking in Alaska, a prehistoric tattooing-like implement was uncovered in summer 2016 at a Birnirk/early Thule culture house at Cape Espenberg, Alaska (Owen Mason, personal communication, September 14, 2016) (fig. 19.1). This tool, dated to approximately 1100 CE (calibrated), closely resembles historic, in-line hand-poking tattoo tools from East Greenland and the Central Inuit region. The Thule culture is directly ancestral to the contemporary Iñupiat of northwestern Alaska and the Inuit of Northern Canada (Alix et al. 2015) as well as the Ammassalimniut1 of East Greenland.
With the arrival of missionaries and government agents in the Northland in the late nineteenth century, Inuit tattooing practices began to fade from view. Traditional religious beliefs and cultural practices were suppressed and children were forcibly removed from their communities to federally operated residential boarding schools in an attempt to assimilate them into the “modern” world. By the turn of the twenty-first
century, only a handful of traditionally tattooed elders—all women—remained. Tattooing had not been practiced in some eighty years.
Skin-stitching was the predominant method of tattooing among the Inuit of the Canadian Arctic. However, hand-poking has been documented for St. Lawrence Island, Alaska (Geist 1927−1934c:n.p.), and the Central Inuit region of Canada (Birket-Smith 1945:46, fig. 16; Mathiassen 1928:201, fig. 159). A few historic tattooing instruments from the Central Inuit region of Canada as well as from East Greenland (e.g., the Ammassalik) exist today in museum collections (e.g., American Museum of Natural History, 60/4891 A; Musée du Quai Branly, 71.1930.12.38; Neuchâtel Museum of Ethnography, VI.60). Interestingly, the ethnographic record is strangely silent concerning occurrences of hand-poke tattooing along northern Alaska shores, although the Athabaskan Indian people of Alaska’s interior utilized skin-puncturing awls to create tattoos (Osgood 1940:71−73). Despite the paucity of historic evidence for Inuit (Eskimo) hand-poking in Alaska, a prehistoric tattooing-like implement was uncovered in summer 2016 at a Birnirk/early Thule culture house at Cape Espenberg, Alaska (Owen Mason, personal communication, September 14, 2016) (fig. 19.1). This tool, dated to approximately 1100 CE (calibrated), closely resembles historic, in-line hand-poking tattoo tools from East Greenland and the Central Inuit region. The Thule culture is directly ancestral to the contemporary Iñupiat of northwestern Alaska and the Inuit of Northern Canada (Alix et al. 2015) as well as the Ammassalimniut1 of East Greenland.
With the arrival of missionaries and government agents in the Northland in the late nineteenth century, Inuit tattooing practices began to fade from view. Traditional religious beliefs and cultural practices were suppressed and children were forcibly removed from their communities to federally operated residential boarding schools in an attempt to assimilate them into the “modern” world. By the turn of the twenty-first
century, only a handful of traditionally tattooed elders—all women—remained. Tattooing had not been practiced in some eighty years.
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Even though their lands, cultures, and identities have been fractured, diminished, and transformed by centuries of colonialism and forced acculturation, today tattoos are helping to heal those wounds inflicted upon Native North American... more
Even though their lands, cultures, and identities have been fractured, diminished, and transformed by centuries of colonialism and forced acculturation, today tattoos are helping to heal those wounds inflicted upon Native North American communities.
“Tattooing was practiced by almost every Indigenous nation across Canada and the United States,” says Nlaka’pamux tattoo artist Dion Kaszas. “And the revival of cultural tattooing has become a medium of reclaiming our Indigenous identities and even our bodies from the colonial machinery which sought to divide us, control us, and wipe
us out.”
Historically, Native North American tattoos functioned to initiate individuals into adulthood, cure bodily complaints, reflect social status, document martial achievement, and to channel and direct supernatural forces (Krutak 2014a). But tattoos also communicated lineage and group affiliation as well as cultural pride and ancestral heritage.
Michael Galban (Washoe/Mono Lake Paiute), a Public Historian and Curator at the Ganondagan Seneca Art and Culture Center near Rochester, New York, says it is important to reconstruct this cultural practice. “I certainly think it is a recapturing of a tradition, a way to tie yourself to the past. It also reminds yourself of your place in [Indigenous] culture and is a vehicle to outwardly project that sense to the world.
Decolonization is a very complicated process—and tattooing [can] be a part of that process if it is informed with the truth.”
“Tattooing was practiced by almost every Indigenous nation across Canada and the United States,” says Nlaka’pamux tattoo artist Dion Kaszas. “And the revival of cultural tattooing has become a medium of reclaiming our Indigenous identities and even our bodies from the colonial machinery which sought to divide us, control us, and wipe
us out.”
Historically, Native North American tattoos functioned to initiate individuals into adulthood, cure bodily complaints, reflect social status, document martial achievement, and to channel and direct supernatural forces (Krutak 2014a). But tattoos also communicated lineage and group affiliation as well as cultural pride and ancestral heritage.
Michael Galban (Washoe/Mono Lake Paiute), a Public Historian and Curator at the Ganondagan Seneca Art and Culture Center near Rochester, New York, says it is important to reconstruct this cultural practice. “I certainly think it is a recapturing of a tradition, a way to tie yourself to the past. It also reminds yourself of your place in [Indigenous] culture and is a vehicle to outwardly project that sense to the world.
Decolonization is a very complicated process—and tattooing [can] be a part of that process if it is informed with the truth.”
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Papua New Guinea is the second largest island in the world. Roughly the size of California, it is one of the most rural countries on the globe, with only 18 percent of its six million inhabitants living in urban areas. Incredibly, over... more
Papua New Guinea is the second largest island in the world. Roughly the size of California, it is one of the most rural countries on the globe, with only 18 percent of its six million inhabitants living in urban areas. Incredibly, over eight hundred Indigenous languages are spoken in PNG, accounting for 20 percent of the world’s total.
Just as Papua New Guinea (PNG) is linguistically diverse, it possesses numerous tribal tattooing cultures. And as far back as elders can remember, tattooing has been a local tradition of nearly every coastal people. Here, among the Motu, Waima, Aroma, Hula, Mekeo, and others, women were heavily tattooed from head to toe,1 resulting in some of the most complete body coverage in the Indigenous world.
In the early to mid-nineteenth century, however, tattooing largely disappeared in PNG for a variety of reasons: tribal warfare ceased, missionaries discouraged initiation ceremonies, and tattoos associated with highly ritualized Motu trading voyages (hiri) became obsolete as these seafaring traditions were gradually abandoned (Ryan 1970).
Just as Papua New Guinea (PNG) is linguistically diverse, it possesses numerous tribal tattooing cultures. And as far back as elders can remember, tattooing has been a local tradition of nearly every coastal people. Here, among the Motu, Waima, Aroma, Hula, Mekeo, and others, women were heavily tattooed from head to toe,1 resulting in some of the most complete body coverage in the Indigenous world.
In the early to mid-nineteenth century, however, tattooing largely disappeared in PNG for a variety of reasons: tribal warfare ceased, missionaries discouraged initiation ceremonies, and tattoos associated with highly ritualized Motu trading voyages (hiri) became obsolete as these seafaring traditions were gradually abandoned (Ryan 1970).
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When Spanish conquistadors landed in the Philippines in 1521, they encountered heavily tattooed local peoples they called “Pintados” or the Painted Ones. Five hundred years later, traditional tattooing across the Philippines is nearly... more
When Spanish conquistadors landed in the Philippines in 1521, they encountered heavily tattooed local peoples they called “Pintados” or the Painted Ones. Five hundred years later, traditional tattooing across the Philippines is nearly extinct. Today, it survives only in remote regions of Mindanao and the Cordillera Region of Luzon (Krutak 2014b).
One of the last remaining tribal tattoo practitioners in the Philippines is ninety eight-year-old Whang-Od (fig. 3.1), a respected Kalinga elder from the village of Buscalan, who has been tattooing clients for more than eighty years (Krutak 2010). Utilizing the timeworn technique of hand-tapping, she hammers her pomelo thorn tool into the quivering flesh of domestic and international tourists who are in search of a lasting souvenir, as well as local Kalinga villagers who seek to reassert their Indigenous roots in an increasingly globalized world.
Like the tattoos of the Ibaloy (see chapter 2, this volume), Kalinga tattoo motifs were derived from nature: rice bundles, centipedes, python scales, and eagle wings. Generally speaking, women’s tattoos were symbols of adulthood, while men’s tattoos demonstrated accomplishments on the battlefield (Krutak 2010).
One decade ago, however, the future of Kalinga tattooing was certainly in doubt. Tattoos were no longer being given, and with the passing of successive generations of tattooed elders the custom was rapidly vanishing. But this trend would change around 2006, when Whang-Od began apprenticing her great-niece Grace Palicas to take over....
One of the last remaining tribal tattoo practitioners in the Philippines is ninety eight-year-old Whang-Od (fig. 3.1), a respected Kalinga elder from the village of Buscalan, who has been tattooing clients for more than eighty years (Krutak 2010). Utilizing the timeworn technique of hand-tapping, she hammers her pomelo thorn tool into the quivering flesh of domestic and international tourists who are in search of a lasting souvenir, as well as local Kalinga villagers who seek to reassert their Indigenous roots in an increasingly globalized world.
Like the tattoos of the Ibaloy (see chapter 2, this volume), Kalinga tattoo motifs were derived from nature: rice bundles, centipedes, python scales, and eagle wings. Generally speaking, women’s tattoos were symbols of adulthood, while men’s tattoos demonstrated accomplishments on the battlefield (Krutak 2010).
One decade ago, however, the future of Kalinga tattooing was certainly in doubt. Tattoos were no longer being given, and with the passing of successive generations of tattooed elders the custom was rapidly vanishing. But this trend would change around 2006, when Whang-Od began apprenticing her great-niece Grace Palicas to take over....
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The rapid proliferation of tattooing in Western culture over the past two decades has accompanied widespread acknowledgment of the personal significance that tattoos hold for their bearers, as well as recognition of the artistic value of... more
The rapid proliferation of tattooing in Western culture over the past two decades has accompanied widespread acknowledgment of the personal significance that tattoos hold for their bearers, as well as recognition of the artistic value of the tattoos themselves. As a result of these shifting views, the collection and preservation of tattooed skin from deceased individuals has emerged from the shadows of morbid curiosity and is poised to become part of the global consumer economy. Toward this end, two organizations have recently been launched that will work with tattooed individuals who want to have their tattoos preserved after their death.
More Info: (http://www.washington.edu/uwpress/search/books/KRUMAR.html)
More Info: (http://www.washington.edu/uwpress/search/books/KRUMAR.html)
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Research Interests:
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For millennia, peoples around the world tattooed human skin to communicate various ontological, psychosocial, and sociocultural concepts encompassing beauty, cultural identity, status and position, medicine, and supernatural protection.... more
For millennia, peoples around the world tattooed human skin to communicate various ontological, psychosocial, and sociocultural concepts encompassing beauty, cultural identity, status and position, medicine, and supernatural protection. As a system of knowledge transmission tattooing has been and continues to be a visual language of the skin whereby culture is inscribed, experienced, and preserved in a myriad of culturally specific ways. If we are to fully comprehend the meanings tattoos have carried across human history and into the present, then it would be useful to explore some of the ways tattoos, as instruments that transmit culture, have been deployed cross-culturally through time.
Research Interests: Native American Studies, Indigenous Studies, Anthropology of the Body, Spirituality, Indigenous Knowledge, and 10 moreAmerican Indian & Alaska Native, Indigenous Peoples, Great Plains Studies, Native American Anthropology, Arctic, Tattoos, Ancient Tattooing, Exhibition Catalogue, Body Modification (tattoos and Body Piercings), and Sacred Bundles
(Abridged) Perhaps the oldest archaeological evidence for tattooing in North America is a 3,500-year-old Palaeo-Eskimo maskette from Devon Island, Nunavut. This naturalistically carved face displays numerous linear tattoos that are... more
(Abridged) Perhaps the oldest archaeological evidence for tattooing in North America is a 3,500-year-old Palaeo-Eskimo maskette from Devon Island, Nunavut. This naturalistically carved face displays numerous linear tattoos that are remarkably similar to those worn recently by Inuit women and 2,000-year-old ivory figurines and “doll heads” from Bering Strait that possess tattoos related to medicinal therapy, hunting tallies, spiritual protection, and other cultural information. Facial tattooing was an exceedingly popular form of body ornamentation across Native North America. This is so because the human face is a vehicle for perception and self-image, and it is usually the first place we look to before making our first impressions of the people we interact with. Facial tattooing, then, functioned as a kind of interface where many kinds of information could be communicated, including concepts that embodied beauty, strength, fear, affiliation, mystery, and religious belief.
For thousands of years, astonishingly rich and diverse forms of tattoo art have been produced by the indigenous people of Indonesia. United by a common Austronesian linguistic heritage and concepts of the cosmos encompassing religion... more
For thousands of years, astonishingly rich and diverse forms of tattoo art have been produced by the indigenous people of Indonesia. United by a common Austronesian linguistic heritage and concepts of the cosmos encompassing religion (animism), myth, visual imagery, and customary law (adat), tribal peoples of Indonesia expressed these and other cosmological relationships by integrating them into the visual sphere through tattooing; an art form providing individuals with personal power to ensure the perpetuation of life in an always uncertain world.
Research Interests: Indigenous Studies, Spirituality, Indigenous Knowledge, Indonesia, Indigenous Peoples, and 12 moreAncestors (Anthropology Of Religion), Tattoos, Ancient Tattooing, Ancestors, Borneo, Sarawak, Tattooing, Timor, Body Modification (tattoos and Body Piercings), Kayan Culture, Ancestor Veneration, and West Kalimantan
The Republic of the Philippines is located southeast of mainland China and is comprised of over 7,000 islands stretching from Luzon in the north to Tawi-Tawi in the south. Generally speaking, the primary indigenous tattooing regions of... more
The Republic of the Philippines is located southeast of mainland China and is comprised of over 7,000 islands stretching from Luzon in the north to Tawi-Tawi in the south. Generally speaking, the primary indigenous tattooing regions of the country can be divided into three main groups of islands: Luzon in the north; Visayas in the central area; and Mindanao in the south.
Research Interests: Indigenous Studies, Anthropology of the Body, Spirituality, Indigenous Knowledge, Philippines, and 12 moreIndigenous Peoples, Philippine Cordillera, Ancestors (Anthropology Of Religion), Body Modification, Tattoos, Ancient Tattooing, Ancestor Worship, Revival, Kalinga, Bontoc, Kalinga culture, and Social Change & Tattooing
When Lewis Henry Morgan published his classic account of Iroquois culture in 1851, tattooing had ceased amongst the people he so vividly described. Although the cultural tradition of body marking was once quite widespread across Iroquoia... more
When Lewis Henry Morgan published his classic account of Iroquois culture in 1851, tattooing had ceased amongst the people he so vividly described. Although the cultural tradition of body marking was once quite widespread across Iroquoia and the Northern Woodlands, missionization, the cessation of warfare, and the adoption of European dress and less permanent forms of ornament all contributed to the decline of this important custom among the Iroquois, as well their Algonquian neighbors—and sometimes enemies—the Delaware, Illinois, and other groups inhabiting the Great Lakes region.
Traditionally speaking, tattooing embodied several functions. First, as a graphic art form it spoke about the ability and achievements of Woodlands tattoo artists who plied the epidermis with lasting designs long before the arrival of Europeans. Second, among the Iroquois and others, tattooing was employed as a form of medicine and worked to assert and inscribe tribal affiliation, maturity, and social status. Finally, tattoos signified military achievement by warriors who engaged their enemies in hand-to-hand combat on the field of battle. Unfortunately, our knowledge of the complete range of information embodied in these kinds of martial symbols is limited by the paucity of evidence contained in the ethnographic record and by the fact that these historical sources have not yet been properly interpreted.
The purpose of this chapter, then, is to review these extant sources, as well as related early historical portraiture from the Southeastern Woodlands and prehistoric Mississippian imagery, to suggest new interpretations of Northern Woodlands warrior tattoo pictography. My intention is to identify and analyze these highly symbolic and magical expressions by outlining the indigenous patterns of thought that were inextricably bound to the personal imagery of the warrior body.
Traditionally speaking, tattooing embodied several functions. First, as a graphic art form it spoke about the ability and achievements of Woodlands tattoo artists who plied the epidermis with lasting designs long before the arrival of Europeans. Second, among the Iroquois and others, tattooing was employed as a form of medicine and worked to assert and inscribe tribal affiliation, maturity, and social status. Finally, tattoos signified military achievement by warriors who engaged their enemies in hand-to-hand combat on the field of battle. Unfortunately, our knowledge of the complete range of information embodied in these kinds of martial symbols is limited by the paucity of evidence contained in the ethnographic record and by the fact that these historical sources have not yet been properly interpreted.
The purpose of this chapter, then, is to review these extant sources, as well as related early historical portraiture from the Southeastern Woodlands and prehistoric Mississippian imagery, to suggest new interpretations of Northern Woodlands warrior tattoo pictography. My intention is to identify and analyze these highly symbolic and magical expressions by outlining the indigenous patterns of thought that were inextricably bound to the personal imagery of the warrior body.
Research Interests: Native American Studies, Native American Anthropology, Algonquian studies, Eastern Woodlands, Tattoos, and 10 moreIndigenous Warfare, Tattoo Rituals, Iroquoian Studies, Tattooing, Eastern Woodlands material culture, Eastern Woodlands religion and symbolism, Iroquoian Warfare, Pictographs, Body Modification (tattoos and Body Piercings), and Iroquoian
(Abridged) Tattooing across the Great Plains provided a ritual means by which to enhance one’s status and access to supernatural power. This spiritual energy was embodied in specific forms of corporeal iconography, the human bodies that... more
(Abridged) Tattooing across the Great Plains provided a ritual means by which to enhance one’s status and access to supernatural power. This spiritual energy was embodied in specific forms of corporeal iconography, the human bodies
that absorbed it, and especially the tattooing bundles from which such designs were created. Because these ancestral toolkits served as the primary repository for the transfer of sacred power, this chapter will examine the properties, significance, and use of tattooing bundles with specific reference to traditional Eastern Plains religion and society through an exploratory narrative based on studies of associative material culture and ethnographic sources. My focus on this geographical region of the plains is guided by
necessity, since it is here that we find the most detailed records of tattooing preserved in long-neglected published and unpublished sources. Through describing this largely understudied world of material and visual culture, I seek to expand not only our knowledge of traditional tattooing instruments from the plains but also indigenous body art and the belief systems that inspired it.
that absorbed it, and especially the tattooing bundles from which such designs were created. Because these ancestral toolkits served as the primary repository for the transfer of sacred power, this chapter will examine the properties, significance, and use of tattooing bundles with specific reference to traditional Eastern Plains religion and society through an exploratory narrative based on studies of associative material culture and ethnographic sources. My focus on this geographical region of the plains is guided by
necessity, since it is here that we find the most detailed records of tattooing preserved in long-neglected published and unpublished sources. Through describing this largely understudied world of material and visual culture, I seek to expand not only our knowledge of traditional tattooing instruments from the plains but also indigenous body art and the belief systems that inspired it.
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Research Interests:
Research Interests: Cultural History, Cultural Studies, Visual Studies, Indigenous Studies, Women's Studies, and 15 moreWomen's History, Cultural Heritage, Visual Culture, Social and Cultural Anthropology, The Tattoo, Indigenous Knowledge, Body Modification Studies, Indigenous Peoples, Visual Arts, Traditional Knowledge, Women and Gender Studies, Tradition, Body Modification, Tattoos, and Ancient Tattooing
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Research Interests:
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(Abridged) This essay focuses upon a comparative analysis of tattooing practices among the St. Lawrence Island Yupiget, the Inuit peoples of Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and tattooed mummies from Europe and Asia. While often dismissed as a... more
(Abridged) This essay focuses upon a comparative analysis of tattooing practices among the St. Lawrence Island Yupiget, the Inuit peoples of Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and tattooed mummies from Europe and Asia. While often dismissed as a somewhat "mystical" and "incomprehensible" aesthetic, Arctic tattoo was a lived symbol of common participation in the cyclical and subsistence culture of the arctic hunter-gatherer. Tattoo recorded the "biographies" of personhood, reflecting individual and social experience through an array of significant relationships that oscillated between the poles of masculine and feminine, human and animal, sickness and health, the living and the dead. Arguably, tattoos provided a nexus between the individual and communally defined forces that shaped Inuit and Yupiget perceptions of existence.
For thousands of years, Indigenous peoples across the globe have practiced various forms of tattooing to please or seek protection from particular spirits or ancestors who inhabited their worlds. In this virtual lecture, I explore the... more
For thousands of years, Indigenous peoples across the globe have practiced various forms of tattooing to please or seek protection from particular spirits or ancestors who inhabited their worlds. In this virtual lecture, I explore the cross-cultural use of amuletic, “guardian,” yantra, and other magical tattoos as religious and practical tools that were utilized to enhance human well-being and access to supernatural power. Based on ethnographic data and fieldwork among numerous tattooing societies, I will discuss how this complex of personal power and belief allowed individuals to transcend their human, natural, and otherworldly realms of everyday existence.
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For thousands of years the Indigenous peoples of the Arctic have produced astonishingly rich and diverse forms of tattooing. Long neglected by anthropologists and art historians, tattooing here was a time-honored practice that expressed... more
For thousands of years the Indigenous peoples of the Arctic have produced astonishingly rich and diverse forms of tattooing. Long neglected by anthropologists and art historians, tattooing here was a time-honored practice that expressed the patterns of tribal social organization, therapeutic medicine, and religion, while also channeling worlds inhabited by deities, spirits, and the ancestors. This lecture explores the many facets of this ancient indelible practice with special reference to prehistoric ivory figurines.
NOTE: To register for this free May 1, 2021, online lecture hosted by the Amsterdam Tribal Art Fair, please visit:
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_i0XuFkw1Sa6eIqzfelM8Lg
NOTE: To register for this free May 1, 2021, online lecture hosted by the Amsterdam Tribal Art Fair, please visit:
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_i0XuFkw1Sa6eIqzfelM8Lg
Research Interests: Indigenous Studies, Phenomenology of the body, Alaska Native Studies, Afterlife studies, Indigenous Peoples, and 15 moreAncestors (Anthropology Of Religion), Spirits, Arctic, Anthropomorphic Figurines, Inuit, Tattoos, Ancient Tattooing, Ancestors, Northern Studies: Circumpolar North, Tattooing and body modification, Circumpolar Inuit Cultures, Inuit Studies, Alaska Native Art and Material Culture, Yupik people, and Bodymodification
One hundred years ago, Naga tattoo in Northeast India was considered everyday wear with a precise and detailed system of codes and socio-religious meanings attached to it. With the arrival of missionaries in the late 19th century,... more
One hundred years ago, Naga tattoo in Northeast India was considered everyday wear with a precise and detailed system of codes and socio-religious meanings attached to it. With the arrival of missionaries in the late 19th century, however, the Naga tattoo was demonized, condemned, and gradually abandoned until the last decade with the reemergence of an ethnic fashion and cultural revival movement that includes the neo-Naga tattoo. In this talk, I explore Naga tattooing in relation to the boundaries and passages of the body (i.e., concepts of the afterlife), the reclamation of Indigenous Naga identity, and Naga self-determination across physical and imaginary borders. I argue that contemporary Naga artists and writers are actively reshaping the future of Naga tattoo through art, design, and innovative publications. They give new expression to an unerasable and unquestionable mark of ethnic identity, and in the process may revive the Naga tattoo from the brink of extinction.
This paper will examine the cultural history of Naga tattoo through the voices of Naga elders, a contemporary Naga tattoo artist, Naga writers, among others. One hundred years ago, tattoo was considered everyday wear with a precise and... more
This paper will examine the cultural history of Naga tattoo through the voices of Naga elders, a contemporary Naga tattoo artist, Naga writers, among others. One hundred years ago, tattoo was considered everyday wear with a precise and detailed system of codes and socio-religious meanings attached to it. Post-missionisation tattoo was demonized, condemned, and gradually abandoned until the last decade with the re-emergence of an ethnic fashion and cultural revival movement that includes the neo-Naga tattoo. I will argue today that Naga artists and writers are actively reshaping the future of Naga tattoo through art, design, and innovative publications. They give new expression to an inerasable and unquestionable mark of ethnic identity, and in the process may revive the Naga tattoo from the brink of extinction.
For millennia, Indigenous peoples around the world have tattooed human skin to communicate various ontological, psychosocial, and sociocultural concepts encompassing beauty, cultural identity, religion, status and position, medicine, and... more
For millennia, Indigenous peoples around the world have tattooed human skin to communicate various ontological, psychosocial, and sociocultural concepts encompassing beauty, cultural identity, religion, status and position, medicine, and supernatural protection. As a system of knowledge transmission, tattooing has been and continues to be a visual language of the skin whereby culture is inscribed, experienced, and preserved in a myriad of culturally specific ways. If we are to fully comprehend the meanings tattoos have carried across human history and into the present, then it would be useful to explore some of the ways tattoos, as instruments that transmit culture, have been deployed cross-culturally through time. This is the focus of my paper today.
Since time immemorial, astonishingly diverse forms of tattooing have been produced by the Indigenous peoples of the world. Some employed tattoos for therapeutic or cosmetic purposes, to mark special life achievements, or to assert tribal... more
Since time immemorial, astonishingly diverse forms of tattooing have been produced by the Indigenous peoples of the world. Some employed tattoos for therapeutic or cosmetic purposes, to mark special life achievements, or to assert tribal identity. Others marked the body with more magical symbols that were understood to promote fertility, attract prey animals, or protect the body from malevolent spirits.
Lars Krutak’s lecture explores these ancient traditions, revealing how tattooing exposed individual desires and fears as well as cultural and religious values that were written on the body in ink. He will also speak about tattoo revivals across Native North America. As a visual language of the skin, Krutak demonstrates that tattoos have much to say about being human.
Lars Krutak’s lecture explores these ancient traditions, revealing how tattooing exposed individual desires and fears as well as cultural and religious values that were written on the body in ink. He will also speak about tattoo revivals across Native North America. As a visual language of the skin, Krutak demonstrates that tattoos have much to say about being human.
Since time immemorial, astonishingly diverse forms of tattooing were produced by the Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains and Northwest Coast of North America. Among the prairie-dwelling Dhegiha Sioux (Omaha, Ponca, Kansa, and Osage)... more
Since time immemorial, astonishingly diverse forms of tattooing were produced by the Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains and Northwest Coast of North America. Among the prairie-dwelling Dhegiha Sioux (Omaha, Ponca, Kansa, and Osage) and insular Haida and Tlingit, however, tattooing was never described as an artistic endeavor because there was no term for "art" or "artist" in their languages. Instead, the ritual of tattooing was integrated into the social fabric of community life and sustained by religious and tribal leaders who applied sacred patterns animated by primordial beings.
For the Dhegiha Sioux, Haida, and Tlingit, tattooing was a sophisticated social and genealogical system. Because it was governed by a cultural complex of specific rules, rights, and roles, tattooing worked as a conduit through which ceremonial prerogatives, pedigrees, obligations, and esoteric knowledge were exchanged across moieties, clans, families, and individuals. Tattooing also illustrated and declared tribal, clan, and lineage origins, because the dermal application of spiritually embodied patterns with sacred tools enabled communities and individuals to trace their ancestry back to the Creator and various ancestral spirits from which all life proceeded, and upon which all life depended. Seen from this light, tattoos were alive and literally pregnant with meaning. And as enchanted symbols applied to human flesh, tattoos allowed individuals to capture, condense, and then transmit supernatural and "life-giving" power back into the world as a sacred blessing to the people.
Focusing on the ritual agency of tattooists, tattooing implements, and sacred tattoo iconography, this paper explores the Indigenous ontologies embodied within Dhegiha Sioux, Haida, and Tlingit body marking. My intent is to uncover the transcendent, cosmological order of power that was enmeshed in the indelible practice and exemplified by peoples inhabiting two culture regions of Native North America.
For the Dhegiha Sioux, Haida, and Tlingit, tattooing was a sophisticated social and genealogical system. Because it was governed by a cultural complex of specific rules, rights, and roles, tattooing worked as a conduit through which ceremonial prerogatives, pedigrees, obligations, and esoteric knowledge were exchanged across moieties, clans, families, and individuals. Tattooing also illustrated and declared tribal, clan, and lineage origins, because the dermal application of spiritually embodied patterns with sacred tools enabled communities and individuals to trace their ancestry back to the Creator and various ancestral spirits from which all life proceeded, and upon which all life depended. Seen from this light, tattoos were alive and literally pregnant with meaning. And as enchanted symbols applied to human flesh, tattoos allowed individuals to capture, condense, and then transmit supernatural and "life-giving" power back into the world as a sacred blessing to the people.
Focusing on the ritual agency of tattooists, tattooing implements, and sacred tattoo iconography, this paper explores the Indigenous ontologies embodied within Dhegiha Sioux, Haida, and Tlingit body marking. My intent is to uncover the transcendent, cosmological order of power that was enmeshed in the indelible practice and exemplified by peoples inhabiting two culture regions of Native North America.
For hundreds if not thousands of years, astonishingly rich and diverse forms of tattooing have been produced by the Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains. Long neglected by anthropologists, archaeologists, and art historians, tattooing... more
For hundreds if not thousands of years, astonishingly rich and diverse forms of tattooing have been produced by the Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains. Long neglected by anthropologists, archaeologists, and art historians, tattooing was a time-tested traditional practice that expressed the patterns of tribal social organization, warfare, and religion, while also channeling worlds inhabited by deities, spirits, and the ancestors.
Tattooing embodied a Native belief system that helped validate individual, family, clan, and tribally-defined cultural values. As a symbolic language of the skin, tattoo also expressed the many ways by which Plains peoples attempted to control and empower their lives through a visual regime of knowledge transmission derived from primordial sources.
Focusing on the ritual agency of tattoo bundle priests, tattoo bundles, tattoo iconography, and tattoo recipients, this paper explores the messages encoded in Plains warrior body marking. My intent is to uncover the transcendent, cosmological order of power that was enmeshed in the indelible practice and exemplified by the tattooed "man of honor."
Tattooing embodied a Native belief system that helped validate individual, family, clan, and tribally-defined cultural values. As a symbolic language of the skin, tattoo also expressed the many ways by which Plains peoples attempted to control and empower their lives through a visual regime of knowledge transmission derived from primordial sources.
Focusing on the ritual agency of tattoo bundle priests, tattoo bundles, tattoo iconography, and tattoo recipients, this paper explores the messages encoded in Plains warrior body marking. My intent is to uncover the transcendent, cosmological order of power that was enmeshed in the indelible practice and exemplified by the tattooed "man of honor."
Rock art panels in Missouri provide evidence that tattooing probably has been an indelible feature of Great Plains culture for at least one thousand years, if not longer. In the historic period, ethnographic records reveal that tattooing... more
Rock art panels in Missouri provide evidence that tattooing probably has been an indelible feature of Great Plains culture for at least one thousand years, if not longer. In the historic period, ethnographic records reveal that tattooing was practiced amongst most groups inhabiting this vast culture area, with the tradition reaching its apex amongst Siouan groups, including the Hidatsa, Mandan, Osage, Ponca, Omaha, Otoe, and Ioway. Although each tribal society employed specific abstract designs in ritualistically mandated patterns, the religious structure of belief behind the origins of these corporeal symbols was remarkably similar.
Although the practice of tattooing was ubiquitous across the Great Plains, tattoos could not be worn by just anyone. Warriors had to prove themselves on the field of battle by winning specific war honors to merit the right to be tattooed. Women traditionally earned their "marks of honor" through their fathers, who, upon lavishing large quantities of gifts on those individuals who witnessed the ceremony, reserved their progeny's place among families of high social standing.
Tattooing on the plains also provided a ritual means by which to enhance one's access to the supernatural. This spiritual energy was embodied in specific forms of iconography, the human bodies that absorbed it, and especially the tattooing bundles from which such designs were created. Because these ancestral toolkits served as the primary repository for the transfer of sacred power, this paper will examine the properties, significance, and use of tattooing bundles with specific reference to traditional Eastern Plains religion and tattooing practices through an exploratory narrative based on studies of associative material culture and ethnographic sources. Through describing this largely understudied world of visual culture, I seek to expand not only our knowledge of Great Plains tattooing traditions but also the Indigenous biographies and belief systems that inspired it.
Although the practice of tattooing was ubiquitous across the Great Plains, tattoos could not be worn by just anyone. Warriors had to prove themselves on the field of battle by winning specific war honors to merit the right to be tattooed. Women traditionally earned their "marks of honor" through their fathers, who, upon lavishing large quantities of gifts on those individuals who witnessed the ceremony, reserved their progeny's place among families of high social standing.
Tattooing on the plains also provided a ritual means by which to enhance one's access to the supernatural. This spiritual energy was embodied in specific forms of iconography, the human bodies that absorbed it, and especially the tattooing bundles from which such designs were created. Because these ancestral toolkits served as the primary repository for the transfer of sacred power, this paper will examine the properties, significance, and use of tattooing bundles with specific reference to traditional Eastern Plains religion and tattooing practices through an exploratory narrative based on studies of associative material culture and ethnographic sources. Through describing this largely understudied world of visual culture, I seek to expand not only our knowledge of Great Plains tattooing traditions but also the Indigenous biographies and belief systems that inspired it.
It began as a mission of rescue. Two years after the American whaling bark Napoleon sank in frigid Arctic waters in 1885 unconfirmed reports surfaced of a man who had survived the tragedy; a man who was living with Siberian “deermen” in... more
It began as a mission of rescue. Two years after the American whaling bark Napoleon sank in frigid Arctic waters in 1885 unconfirmed reports surfaced of a man who had survived the tragedy; a man who was living with Siberian “deermen” in one the least known regions of the world. As newspapers and popular weeklies quickly picked up the tale, a narrative of human suffering, physical hardship, and courage emerged. But were it not for the acknowledged actions and generosity of a little-known people we call the Kerek, the stranded whaleman’s story would never have been told.
Drawing on long-forgotten journals, periodicals, and unpublished correspondence, this paper vividly evokes the historical events surrounding the incredible true story of the nearly forgotten whaler J.B. Vincent and how the Sheldon Jackson Museum acquired a “Koriak” collection from the enigmatic people who saved him.
Drawing on long-forgotten journals, periodicals, and unpublished correspondence, this paper vividly evokes the historical events surrounding the incredible true story of the nearly forgotten whaler J.B. Vincent and how the Sheldon Jackson Museum acquired a “Koriak” collection from the enigmatic people who saved him.
See attached PDF for overview.
Indigenous peoples of the Americas have long practiced tattooing. Some employed tattoos for therapeutic purposes, to mark special achievements, or assert tribal identity. Others decorated the body with symbols that were understood to... more
Indigenous peoples of the Americas have long practiced tattooing. Some employed tattoos for therapeutic
purposes, to mark special achievements, or assert
tribal identity. Others decorated the body with symbols
that were understood to promote fertility, attract prey
animals, or act as love charms to attract a future mate.
Lars Krutak’s lecture focuses on a category of body
marking known as “guardian” or “assistant” tattooing that
was performed to incorporate tutelary and protective
spirits into the human body. Based on ethnographic
data and fi eldwork among the Kayabi of Brazil, Krutak
discusses how personal power and belief allowed individuals to transcend their human, natural, and supernatural realms of everyday existence through engaging in highly intimate spiritual relationships.
purposes, to mark special achievements, or assert
tribal identity. Others decorated the body with symbols
that were understood to promote fertility, attract prey
animals, or act as love charms to attract a future mate.
Lars Krutak’s lecture focuses on a category of body
marking known as “guardian” or “assistant” tattooing that
was performed to incorporate tutelary and protective
spirits into the human body. Based on ethnographic
data and fi eldwork among the Kayabi of Brazil, Krutak
discusses how personal power and belief allowed individuals to transcend their human, natural, and supernatural realms of everyday existence through engaging in highly intimate spiritual relationships.
For thousands of years, peoples around the world have marked their bodies with various types of tattoos. This painful form of body art was not just the latest fashion; it was a visual language that exposed an individual's desires and... more
For thousands of years, peoples around the world have marked their bodies with various types of tattoos. This painful form of body art was not just the latest fashion; it was a visual language that exposed an individual's desires and fears as well as ancient cultural values and ancestral ties that were written on the body.
However, many other forms of tattooing also embodied therapeutic values, and the surfaces of the human body became the location where preventive, curative, and spiritualistic medicine was practiced. Drawing on the paleopathological record of tattooed mummies and ethnographic research, this paper will explore the indelible legacy of medicinal corporeal marking to reveal the complex system of tools, techniques, and beliefs by which ancient and more recent cultures attempted to control their bodies, lives, and experiences.
However, many other forms of tattooing also embodied therapeutic values, and the surfaces of the human body became the location where preventive, curative, and spiritualistic medicine was practiced. Drawing on the paleopathological record of tattooed mummies and ethnographic research, this paper will explore the indelible legacy of medicinal corporeal marking to reveal the complex system of tools, techniques, and beliefs by which ancient and more recent cultures attempted to control their bodies, lives, and experiences.
At the end of the 19th century, new discoveries of prehistoric ruins and living “cave and cliff dwellers” in the Greater Southwest excited the imaginations of scientists, travel writers, and popular magazine readers alike. As this... more
At the end of the 19th century, new discoveries of prehistoric ruins and living “cave and cliff dwellers” in the Greater Southwest excited the imaginations of scientists, travel writers, and popular magazine readers alike. As this frontier world was revealed for the first time, a constellation of ideas, images, and cultural markers were selectively created to later “sell” the region and its peoples to tourists, including those individuals who visited the “Cliff-Dwellers” exhibition at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
Inhabited by members of Laguna Pueblo during the Fair, this 70-foot-tall diorama was modeled after the now-vanished Battle Rock ruin located in McElmo Canyon, Colorado. However, this paper will suggest that the Tarahumara (Rarámuri) of Northwest Mexico probably were the original source of inspiration for the Cliff-Dwellers installation.
Since 1890, the Tarahumara had been described as “living cave and cliff dwellers” in a variety of scientific and mass-produced publications penned by writers including the pioneering archaeologist Adolph Bandolier, the explorer Frederick Schwatka, and the noted ethnologist Carl Lumholtz. Today, the “living cave dwellers” theme continues to be endorsed and exploited by Mexican state and federal tourism sectors to draw travelers to the homeland of the Tarahumara: the remote Copper Canyon region which is promoted as the “Last Frontier” of Mexico.
Drawing on the literary and ethnographic record of the late 19th century, this paper will explore the enduring legacy of the “living cave dwellers” trope and reveal how it is implicated in the commercialization of 21st century Tarahumara culture.
Inhabited by members of Laguna Pueblo during the Fair, this 70-foot-tall diorama was modeled after the now-vanished Battle Rock ruin located in McElmo Canyon, Colorado. However, this paper will suggest that the Tarahumara (Rarámuri) of Northwest Mexico probably were the original source of inspiration for the Cliff-Dwellers installation.
Since 1890, the Tarahumara had been described as “living cave and cliff dwellers” in a variety of scientific and mass-produced publications penned by writers including the pioneering archaeologist Adolph Bandolier, the explorer Frederick Schwatka, and the noted ethnologist Carl Lumholtz. Today, the “living cave dwellers” theme continues to be endorsed and exploited by Mexican state and federal tourism sectors to draw travelers to the homeland of the Tarahumara: the remote Copper Canyon region which is promoted as the “Last Frontier” of Mexico.
Drawing on the literary and ethnographic record of the late 19th century, this paper will explore the enduring legacy of the “living cave dwellers” trope and reveal how it is implicated in the commercialization of 21st century Tarahumara culture.
(Abridged) Throughout the Americas, indigenous peoples practiced tattooing for a variety of reasons. Some groups employed tattoos for therapeutic purposes or to mark special achievements, while others illuminated the body with permanent... more
(Abridged) Throughout the Americas, indigenous peoples practiced tattooing for a variety of reasons. Some groups employed tattoos for therapeutic purposes or to mark special achievements, while others illuminated the body with permanent markings to enhance its beauty or assert tribal identity. Other forms of tattooing, however, embodied more magical properties. These kinds of indelible symbols were understood to promote fertility, attract prey animals, or perform as love charms to attract a future husband or wife...
In this essay, I explore the use of guardian or assistant tattoos as religious and practical tools that indigenous peoples of the Americas utilized to enhance their access to supernatural power. Based on ethnographic data collected from historical sources and fieldwork among the Kayabi of Brazil, I discuss how this complex of personal power and belief allowed individuals to transcend their human, natural, and supernatural realms of everyday existence through engaging in highly intimate spiritual relationships, wherein supernatural power, magic, and knowledge were shared to the benefit, and sometimes detriment, of the human tattoo bearer. Through an analysis of this largely neglected field of study, I seek to reveal conceptual knowledge concerning indigenous ways of thinking about tattooing and the religious milieus that ultimately inspired the tradition of Amerindian corporeal marking.
In this essay, I explore the use of guardian or assistant tattoos as religious and practical tools that indigenous peoples of the Americas utilized to enhance their access to supernatural power. Based on ethnographic data collected from historical sources and fieldwork among the Kayabi of Brazil, I discuss how this complex of personal power and belief allowed individuals to transcend their human, natural, and supernatural realms of everyday existence through engaging in highly intimate spiritual relationships, wherein supernatural power, magic, and knowledge were shared to the benefit, and sometimes detriment, of the human tattoo bearer. Through an analysis of this largely neglected field of study, I seek to reveal conceptual knowledge concerning indigenous ways of thinking about tattooing and the religious milieus that ultimately inspired the tradition of Amerindian corporeal marking.
Research Interests:
See attached PDF for overview.
See attached PDF for overview
Edwin S. Hall Award, best student paper competition.
This traveling exhibit was curated by Dr. Lars Krutak and is organized by Vesterheim, the national Norwegian-American Museum and Folk Art School and supported by funds from the John K. and Luise V. Hanson Foundation, and Jon and Mary... more
This traveling exhibit was curated by Dr. Lars Krutak and is organized by Vesterheim, the national Norwegian-American Museum and Folk Art School and supported by funds from the John K. and Luise V. Hanson Foundation, and Jon and Mary Hart. It is made possible at ASHM by gifts from the ASHM Auxiliary, Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation, Midsommarklubben, and an anonymous foundation. Funding for the American Swedish Historical Museum is supported by a grant from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
https://www.americanswedish.org/exhibitions/tattoo-identity-through-ink
https://www.americanswedish.org/exhibitions/tattoo-identity-through-ink
Research Interests:
In 2008, 2010, and 2014, Dr. Lars Krutak conducted two months of field research focusing on the vanishing tattoo traditions of the Naga people of India and Myanmar/Burma. Funded by two Special Projects Grants provided by the Daniele... more
In 2008, 2010, and 2014, Dr. Lars Krutak conducted two months of field research focusing on the vanishing tattoo traditions of the Naga people of India and Myanmar/Burma. Funded by two Special Projects Grants provided by the Daniele Agostino Derossi Foundation (Torino, Italy) and with sponsorship by the Borneo Research Council, Lars interviewed and photographed over 100 tattoo bearers among the Ao, Wancho, Nocte, Konyak, Chen, Khiamniungen, Yimchungru, Tikhir, Chang, Phom, Macham, Yonkon, Laju, Lainong, Ponyo, Gongva, and Heimi Naga.
INTRODUCTION
Less than 50 years ago, the Naga of remote northeast India and neighboring Myanmar hunted for human heads in the mountains and valleys of their ancestral homelands. On my travels in this region I’ve met many warriors and women who vividly remember those stressful and dangerous days like they were yesterday. Finding these Naga elders is not easy, but once located they stand out from the crowd because of the incredibly bold tattoos they wear across their bodies.
There are dozens of Naga tribes in India and Myanmar and approximately half of them tattooed. Naga tattooing is a visual language and if you know how to read this book of body art then you can begin to decipher the life history of the person standing before you. Sadly, however, tattooing is the most endangered of the Naga's cultural practices. Today, traces of the indelible custom can only be found on elders (many of whom are between 80 and 100 years of age) and very old forms of sculpture.
Missionization, the cessation of tribal warfare and headhunting, and the adoption of less permanent forms of body decoration all contributed to the decline of this once important tradition that is part of our world’s cultural and artistic heritage.
INTRODUCTION
Less than 50 years ago, the Naga of remote northeast India and neighboring Myanmar hunted for human heads in the mountains and valleys of their ancestral homelands. On my travels in this region I’ve met many warriors and women who vividly remember those stressful and dangerous days like they were yesterday. Finding these Naga elders is not easy, but once located they stand out from the crowd because of the incredibly bold tattoos they wear across their bodies.
There are dozens of Naga tribes in India and Myanmar and approximately half of them tattooed. Naga tattooing is a visual language and if you know how to read this book of body art then you can begin to decipher the life history of the person standing before you. Sadly, however, tattooing is the most endangered of the Naga's cultural practices. Today, traces of the indelible custom can only be found on elders (many of whom are between 80 and 100 years of age) and very old forms of sculpture.
Missionization, the cessation of tribal warfare and headhunting, and the adoption of less permanent forms of body decoration all contributed to the decline of this once important tradition that is part of our world’s cultural and artistic heritage.
Research Interests:
Curated exhibition photography consisting of 20 prints, drafted exhibition text panels, and presented opening lecture.
"Ancestors" was the first exhibition on contemporary tattoo art in Israel. Exhibited four photographic works in the refereed show and presented the opening lecture associated with the exhibition.
In March and April 2012, Dr. Lars Krutak conducted four weeks of field research focusing on the vanishing art of indigenous tattooing across Papua New Guinea (PNG). Funded by a Special Projects Grant provided by the Daniele Agostino... more
In March and April 2012, Dr. Lars Krutak conducted four weeks of field research focusing on the vanishing art of indigenous tattooing across Papua New Guinea (PNG). Funded by a Special Projects Grant provided by the Daniele Agostino Derossi Foundation (Torino, Italy) and with sponsorship by the Borneo Research Council, Lars interviewed and photographed over sixty tattoo bearers among the Managalase, Korafe, Miniafia, Maisin, Aroma, Inland Aroma, Hula, Motu, Waima, and Mekeo tribes. Most of the men and women featured in the exhibition are in their 80s and 90s.
Contributes exhibition panel texts, arranges loans of objects, and presented opening lecture.
In 1777, the word ‘tattoo’ was defined as ‘an indelible mark or figure fixed upon the body by insertion of pigment under the skin or by the production of scars.’ For thousands of years before that date, however, indigenous peoples... more
In 1777, the word ‘tattoo’ was defined as ‘an indelible mark or figure fixed upon the body by insertion of pigment under the skin or by the production of scars.’ For thousands of years before that date, however, indigenous peoples practiced various forms of tattooing and scarification not only to beautify themselves or mark significant life achievements, but also to please or seek protection from particular spirits which inhabited their world.
For the past fifteen years, anthropologist Dr. Lars Krutak has traveled the globe to document the religious beliefs behind permanent forms of tribal body modification. His photographic exhibition focuses upon the deeply spiritual realm of tattoo through an examination of these fascinating rituals.
For the past fifteen years, anthropologist Dr. Lars Krutak has traveled the globe to document the religious beliefs behind permanent forms of tribal body modification. His photographic exhibition focuses upon the deeply spiritual realm of tattoo through an examination of these fascinating rituals.
Curator of 2,200 sq. foot exhibition.
Documentation of the human remains and funerary objects potentially affiliated with the Native Village of Chuathbaluk, Alaska, was initiated in response to an official request from Native Village of Chuathbaluk President Robert Golley,... more
Documentation of the human remains and funerary objects potentially affiliated with the Native Village of Chuathbaluk, Alaska, was initiated in response to an official request from Native Village of Chuathbaluk President Robert Golley, Jr., for the identification and repatriation of human remains and funerary objects from settlements associated with the Native Village of Chuathbaluk. Examination of the relevant museum records indicated that the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) housed two human remains and one funerary object dating to the nineteenth or early twentieth centuries. The human remains and funerary object were acquired from burials at Old Crow Village, Alaska, on June 26, 1930, by Dr. Aleš Hrdlicka of the U.S. National Museum (later NMNH).
Several lines of evidence support the cultural affiliation of the human remains and funerary object to the Native Village of Chuathbaluk. These include the historic record of local Yupik settlement and land use in the vicinity of Chuathbaluk, the ethnographic record of Yupik mortuary customs, the proximity of recorded burial sites to Old Crow Village, and the taphonomic characteristics of the remains themselves. Taken together, this information constitutes a preponderance of evidence in support of the conclusion that the remains and funerary object dating to the historic period are culturally affiliated with the Native Village of Chuathbaluk. Therefore, it is recommended that the human remains of an estimated two indigenous Alaskan individuals in two catalog numbers and one funerary object in one catalog number be made available for repatriation to the Native Village of Chuathbaluk.
Several lines of evidence support the cultural affiliation of the human remains and funerary object to the Native Village of Chuathbaluk. These include the historic record of local Yupik settlement and land use in the vicinity of Chuathbaluk, the ethnographic record of Yupik mortuary customs, the proximity of recorded burial sites to Old Crow Village, and the taphonomic characteristics of the remains themselves. Taken together, this information constitutes a preponderance of evidence in support of the conclusion that the remains and funerary object dating to the historic period are culturally affiliated with the Native Village of Chuathbaluk. Therefore, it is recommended that the human remains of an estimated two indigenous Alaskan individuals in two catalog numbers and one funerary object in one catalog number be made available for repatriation to the Native Village of Chuathbaluk.
Documentation of the human remains and funerary objects potentially affiliated with the Native Village of Unga, Alaska, was initiated in response to two independent requests from Native Village of Unga President John A. Foster and... more
Documentation of the human remains and funerary objects potentially affiliated with the Native Village of Unga, Alaska, was initiated in response to two independent requests from Native Village of Unga President John A. Foster and Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association President Dmitri Philemonof for the repatriation of human remains and funerary objects from Unga. Examination of the relevant museum records indicated that the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) housed 16 human remains and 757 funerary objects dating to the seventeenth to early nineteenth centuries. A funerary object collected from a burial cave near the village of Unga, Alaska, in 1868 by Captain Charles Riedell was presented to the U.S. National Museum (later NMNH). The human remains of one individual and an associated funerary object were collected from the same burial cave in 1868 by Dr. Thomas T. Minor and later presented to the U.S. National Museum. The human remains of an estimated 15 individuals and 756 funerary objects were acquired from cave burials near the village of Unga, Alaska, in 1872 and 1873 by William Healey Dall of the U.S. National Museum.
Several lines of evidence support the cultural affiliation of the human remains and funerary objects to the Native Village of Unga. These include the historic record of local Unangan (Aleut) settlement and land use at Unga, Alaska; the historic record of Unangan (Aleut) mortuary customs; the proximity of historic funerary cave sites to the village of Unga; NMNH accession and collection records; unpublished field notes from the original collector; and the taphonomic characteristics of the remains themselves. Taken together, this information constitutes a preponderance of evidence in support of the conclusion that the remains and funerary objects dating to the late prehistoric or early historic periods are culturally affiliated with the Native Village of Unga. Therefore, it is recommended that the human remains of an estimated 16 indigenous Alaskan individuals in 15 catalog numbers and 757 funerary objects in 85 catalog numbers be made available for repatriation to the Native Village of Unga.
Several lines of evidence support the cultural affiliation of the human remains and funerary objects to the Native Village of Unga. These include the historic record of local Unangan (Aleut) settlement and land use at Unga, Alaska; the historic record of Unangan (Aleut) mortuary customs; the proximity of historic funerary cave sites to the village of Unga; NMNH accession and collection records; unpublished field notes from the original collector; and the taphonomic characteristics of the remains themselves. Taken together, this information constitutes a preponderance of evidence in support of the conclusion that the remains and funerary objects dating to the late prehistoric or early historic periods are culturally affiliated with the Native Village of Unga. Therefore, it is recommended that the human remains of an estimated 16 indigenous Alaskan individuals in 15 catalog numbers and 757 funerary objects in 85 catalog numbers be made available for repatriation to the Native Village of Unga.
Documentation of three objects potentially affiliated with the Pueblo de Cochiti, New Mexico, was initiated in response to an official request from Robert B. Pecos, Governor of the Pueblo de Cochiti, and Lieutenant Governor Dwight A. Mody... more
Documentation of three objects potentially affiliated with the Pueblo de Cochiti, New Mexico, was initiated in response to an official request from Robert B. Pecos, Governor of the Pueblo de Cochiti, and Lieutenant Governor Dwight A. Mody for the identification and return of Kachina (ka'tsina) Society masks that the Pueblo de Cochiti identified as sacred objects. Examination of the relevant museum records indicated that the NMNH housed a Deer Dance Mask and a Mask of the Rainmakers from Cochiti Pueblo, and a Guardian Mask from an unspecified pueblo Indian community on the Rio Grande River. Each of these objects was collected by Father Noël Dumarest sometime between 1894 and 1898.
The original report found that two of these objects, the deer Dance Mask and Mask of the Rainmakers, were found to be culturally affiliated with the Pueblo de Cochiti and were repatriated to the Pueblo de Cochiti on October 18, 2012.
However, the original report found that the cultural affiliation of the cultural object identified as a Guardian Mask could not be determined by a preponderance of evidence because the specific pueblo of origin where the object was collected was not provided by the original collector. Furthermore, the pueblos of Cochiti, San Felipe, and Santo Domingo each employed this type of mask during kachina ceremonies.
In order to determine the cultural affiliation of the Guardian Mask, the Repatriation Office consulted with governmental and religious representatives of San Felipe Pueblo and Santo Domingo Pueblo. As a result of these discussions, it was determined that the kachina object was not culturally affiliated to these communities. In turn, the evidence documented in consultations and official correspondence with the pueblos of San Felipe and Santo Domingo supported the finding that the Guardian Mask was culturally affiliated with the Pueblo De Cochiti. Therefore, it is recommended that this object in one catalog number be made available for repatriation to the Pueblo de Cochiti.
Repatriation Update
The Guardian Mask was repatriated to the Pueblo de Cochiti on May 30, 2013.
The original report found that two of these objects, the deer Dance Mask and Mask of the Rainmakers, were found to be culturally affiliated with the Pueblo de Cochiti and were repatriated to the Pueblo de Cochiti on October 18, 2012.
However, the original report found that the cultural affiliation of the cultural object identified as a Guardian Mask could not be determined by a preponderance of evidence because the specific pueblo of origin where the object was collected was not provided by the original collector. Furthermore, the pueblos of Cochiti, San Felipe, and Santo Domingo each employed this type of mask during kachina ceremonies.
In order to determine the cultural affiliation of the Guardian Mask, the Repatriation Office consulted with governmental and religious representatives of San Felipe Pueblo and Santo Domingo Pueblo. As a result of these discussions, it was determined that the kachina object was not culturally affiliated to these communities. In turn, the evidence documented in consultations and official correspondence with the pueblos of San Felipe and Santo Domingo supported the finding that the Guardian Mask was culturally affiliated with the Pueblo De Cochiti. Therefore, it is recommended that this object in one catalog number be made available for repatriation to the Pueblo de Cochiti.
Repatriation Update
The Guardian Mask was repatriated to the Pueblo de Cochiti on May 30, 2013.
Documentation of the objects potentially affiliated with the Pueblo de Cochiti, New Mexico, was initiated in response to an official request from Robert B. Pecos, Governor of the Pueblo de Cochiti, and Lieutenant Governor Dwight A. Mody... more
Documentation of the objects potentially affiliated with the Pueblo de Cochiti, New Mexico, was initiated in response to an official request from Robert B. Pecos, Governor of the Pueblo de Cochiti, and Lieutenant Governor Dwight A. Mody for the identification and return of three Kachina (ka'tsina) Society masks that the Pueblo de Cochiti identified as sacred objects. Examination of the relevant museum records indicated that the NMNH housed a Deer Dance Mask and a Mask of the Rainmakers from Cochiti Pueblo, and a Guardian Mask from an unspecified pueblo Indian community on the Rio Grande River.
The evidence indicates that the objects were collected by Father Noël Dumarest sometime between 1894 and 1898 and date to the historic period.
Several lines of evidence support the cultural affiliation of the Deer Dance Mask and Mask of the Rainmakers to the Pueblo de Cochiti. These include museum accession and catalog information and the historic record of local Pueblo de Cochiti kachina mask forms and their usage. The evidence does not support a determination of cultural affiliation for the cultural object identified as a Guardian Mask. That is because museum records do not indicate a specific pueblo of origin where the mask was collected. Masks of this type were employed at Cochiti Pueblo, San Felipe Pueblo, and Santo Domingo Pueblo during kachina ceremonies.
Taken together, this information constitutes a preponderance of evidence in support of the conclusion that the Deer Dance Mask and Mask of the Rainmakers are culturally affiliated with the Pueblo de Cochiti. Therefore, it is recommended that these two objects in two catalog numbers be made available for repatriation to the Pueblo de Cochiti.
Repatriation Update
These two sacred objects were repatriated to the Pueblo de Cochiti on October 18, 2012. The cultural affiliation of the Guardian Mask was further evaluated in an Addendum to this report.
The evidence indicates that the objects were collected by Father Noël Dumarest sometime between 1894 and 1898 and date to the historic period.
Several lines of evidence support the cultural affiliation of the Deer Dance Mask and Mask of the Rainmakers to the Pueblo de Cochiti. These include museum accession and catalog information and the historic record of local Pueblo de Cochiti kachina mask forms and their usage. The evidence does not support a determination of cultural affiliation for the cultural object identified as a Guardian Mask. That is because museum records do not indicate a specific pueblo of origin where the mask was collected. Masks of this type were employed at Cochiti Pueblo, San Felipe Pueblo, and Santo Domingo Pueblo during kachina ceremonies.
Taken together, this information constitutes a preponderance of evidence in support of the conclusion that the Deer Dance Mask and Mask of the Rainmakers are culturally affiliated with the Pueblo de Cochiti. Therefore, it is recommended that these two objects in two catalog numbers be made available for repatriation to the Pueblo de Cochiti.
Repatriation Update
These two sacred objects were repatriated to the Pueblo de Cochiti on October 18, 2012. The cultural affiliation of the Guardian Mask was further evaluated in an Addendum to this report.
Documentation of funerary objects potentially affiliated with the Native villages of Gambell and Savoonga, St. Lawrence Island, was initiated in response to two independent requests from Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) Tribal Council... more
Documentation of funerary objects potentially affiliated with the Native villages of Gambell and Savoonga, St. Lawrence Island, was initiated in response to two independent requests from Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) Tribal Council presidents Mr. Gerald Soonagrook, Sr., of Gambell and Mr. Kenneth Kingeekuk of Savoonga for the repatriation of culturally affiliated funerary objects from St. Lawrence Island. Examination of the relevant museum records indicated that the NMNH houses 72 funerary objects dating to the eighteenth or nineteenth century. Three unassociated funerary objects were acquired from undocumented locations on St. Lawrence Island through surface collections made by Dr. Riley D. Moore of the U.S. National Museum (later NMNH). Archaeologist Henry B. Collins of the U.S. National Museum collected eight associated funerary objects and one unassociated funerary object in 1928 at historic sites on the Punuk Islands, a chain of small islets located approximately five miles off Cape Apavawook on the northeastern side of St. Lawrence Island. Collins collected an additional 47 associated and 13 unassociated funerary objects in 1929 at historic sites at Cape Kialegak (Kiyalighaq) on the southeastern end of St. Lawrence Island. The Punuk Islands and Cape Kialegak were depopulated after the 1878-1880 famine or epidemic and the remaining survivors settled in the village of Gambell.
Collins also excavated nine associated funerary objects dating to the prehistoric Old Bering Sea (OBS) II/III culture at Miyowagh (Mayughaaq) near the village of Gambell in 1930. Two associated funerary objects from prehistoric contexts representative of the OBS II/III culture at the Kukulik (Kukulek) site near Savoonga were incorporated into the collections of the U.S. National Museum through a 1936 gift from the University of Alaska.
The preponderance of evidence does not support that the 11 funerary objects in three catalog numbers dating to the prehistoric period of the OBS II/III culture are culturally affiliated with the contemporary residents of Gambell and Savoonga. Current scholarship and oral traditions are inconclusive regarding OBS II/III cultural affiliation to the current inhabitants of St. Lawrence Island.
Several lines of evidence support the cultural affiliation of the historic period funerary objects to the Native villages of Gambell and Savoonga. These include the historic record of local St. Lawrence Island Yupik settlement and land use on the island and the Punuk Islands, the historic record of St. Lawrence Island Yupik mortuary customs, the proximity of burial sites to documented historic villages, and the historic record of the great famine or epidemic that ravaged St. Lawrence Island and the Punuk Islands in the late nineteenth century. Taken together, this information constitutes a preponderance of evidence in support of the conclusion that the funerary objects dating to the historic period are culturally affiliated with the Native villages of Gambell and Savoonga. Therefore, it is recommended that 72 funerary objects in 25 catalog numbers be made available for repatriation to the Native villages of Gambell and Savoonga.
Collins also excavated nine associated funerary objects dating to the prehistoric Old Bering Sea (OBS) II/III culture at Miyowagh (Mayughaaq) near the village of Gambell in 1930. Two associated funerary objects from prehistoric contexts representative of the OBS II/III culture at the Kukulik (Kukulek) site near Savoonga were incorporated into the collections of the U.S. National Museum through a 1936 gift from the University of Alaska.
The preponderance of evidence does not support that the 11 funerary objects in three catalog numbers dating to the prehistoric period of the OBS II/III culture are culturally affiliated with the contemporary residents of Gambell and Savoonga. Current scholarship and oral traditions are inconclusive regarding OBS II/III cultural affiliation to the current inhabitants of St. Lawrence Island.
Several lines of evidence support the cultural affiliation of the historic period funerary objects to the Native villages of Gambell and Savoonga. These include the historic record of local St. Lawrence Island Yupik settlement and land use on the island and the Punuk Islands, the historic record of St. Lawrence Island Yupik mortuary customs, the proximity of burial sites to documented historic villages, and the historic record of the great famine or epidemic that ravaged St. Lawrence Island and the Punuk Islands in the late nineteenth century. Taken together, this information constitutes a preponderance of evidence in support of the conclusion that the funerary objects dating to the historic period are culturally affiliated with the Native villages of Gambell and Savoonga. Therefore, it is recommended that 72 funerary objects in 25 catalog numbers be made available for repatriation to the Native villages of Gambell and Savoonga.
Documentation of human remains potentially affiliated with the Native Village of Shishmaref was initiated in response to a request from Mr. Matt Ganley, Staff Archaeologist of the Bering Straits Foundation (BSF) and Bering Straits Native... more
Documentation of human remains potentially affiliated with the Native Village of Shishmaref was initiated in response to a request from Mr. Matt Ganley, Staff Archaeologist of the Bering Straits Foundation (BSF) and Bering Straits Native Corporation (BSNC) in Nome, Alaska, for the repatriation of culturally affiliated human remains from the Native Village of Shishmaref and several other Native Alaskan communities of the Bering Strait region. Examination of the relevant museum records indicated that the NMNH houses the remains of an estimated 48 individuals represented by 50 catalog numbers, five funerary objects in two catalog numbers, and one non-statutory object in one catalog number from the Shishmaref region.
The evidence indicates that the remains, funerary objects, and non-statutory object date to the nineteenth or early twentieth century. The human remains of an estimated 27 individuals were acquired at gravesites by Aleš Hrdlička of the U.S. National Museum (later NMNH) on July 27, 1926, from historic burials at the old village site of Shishmaref and also in the vicinity of the current village site of Shishmaref. Skeletal remains on nine individuals and five funerary objects were incorporated into the collections of the U. S. National Museum through a 1927 gift from George Goshaw, who disinterred the remains and objects from the old village site of Shishmaref and part of its cemetery. Archaeologist Henry B. Collins on the U.S. National Museum collected an estimated 12 human remains at historic burials sites at the old village site of Shishmaref on July 22, 1929.
Several lines of evidence support the cultural affiliation of the human remains, funerary objects, and non-statutory object to the Native Village of Shishmaref. These include the historic record of local Inupiaq (Qikiqaamiut) settlement and land use at Shishmaref, Alaska, the historic record of Inupiaq (Qikiqaamiut) mortuary customs, the proximity of historic burial sites to the contemporary village of Shishmaref, oral historical accounts of former settlement and burial sites, and the taphonomic characteristics of the remains themselves. Taken together, this information constitutes a preponderance of evidence in support of the conclusion that the human remains, funerary objects, and non-statutory object are culturally affiliated with the Native Village of Shishmaref. Therefore, it is recommended that the remains of an estimated 48 indigenous Alaskan individuals in 50 catalog numbers, five funerary objects in two catalog numbers, and one non-statutory object in one catalog number be made available for repatriation to the Native Village of Shishmaref.
Repatriation Update
The remains of 48 individuals, five funerary objects, and one non-statutory object were repatriated to the Native Village of Shishmaref on September 11, 2012.
The evidence indicates that the remains, funerary objects, and non-statutory object date to the nineteenth or early twentieth century. The human remains of an estimated 27 individuals were acquired at gravesites by Aleš Hrdlička of the U.S. National Museum (later NMNH) on July 27, 1926, from historic burials at the old village site of Shishmaref and also in the vicinity of the current village site of Shishmaref. Skeletal remains on nine individuals and five funerary objects were incorporated into the collections of the U. S. National Museum through a 1927 gift from George Goshaw, who disinterred the remains and objects from the old village site of Shishmaref and part of its cemetery. Archaeologist Henry B. Collins on the U.S. National Museum collected an estimated 12 human remains at historic burials sites at the old village site of Shishmaref on July 22, 1929.
Several lines of evidence support the cultural affiliation of the human remains, funerary objects, and non-statutory object to the Native Village of Shishmaref. These include the historic record of local Inupiaq (Qikiqaamiut) settlement and land use at Shishmaref, Alaska, the historic record of Inupiaq (Qikiqaamiut) mortuary customs, the proximity of historic burial sites to the contemporary village of Shishmaref, oral historical accounts of former settlement and burial sites, and the taphonomic characteristics of the remains themselves. Taken together, this information constitutes a preponderance of evidence in support of the conclusion that the human remains, funerary objects, and non-statutory object are culturally affiliated with the Native Village of Shishmaref. Therefore, it is recommended that the remains of an estimated 48 indigenous Alaskan individuals in 50 catalog numbers, five funerary objects in two catalog numbers, and one non-statutory object in one catalog number be made available for repatriation to the Native Village of Shishmaref.
Repatriation Update
The remains of 48 individuals, five funerary objects, and one non-statutory object were repatriated to the Native Village of Shishmaref on September 11, 2012.
Documentation of human remains and funerary objects potentially affiliated with the Native Village of Hooper Bay was initiated in response to an official request from Mr. Patrick Lake, President of the Native Village of Hooper Bay, for... more
Documentation of human remains and funerary objects potentially affiliated with the Native Village of Hooper Bay was initiated in response to an official request from Mr. Patrick Lake, President of the Native Village of Hooper Bay, for the identification and return of any human remains and funerary objects from indigenous settlements associated with the Native Village of Hooper Bay. Mr. James Ayuluk, Tribal Chief of the Chevak Traditional Council, forwarded an official request for the identification and return of human remains and funerary objects from indigenous Kashunamiut settlements associated with the Native Village of Chevak, including the ancestral village of Kashunak. Examination of the relevant museum records indicated that the NMNH houses the remains of an estimated 31 individuals represented by 30 catalog numbers from the village of Hooper Bay, one individual in one catalog number from Cape Romanzof, and three human remains in three catalog numbers from the village of Kashunak. Two associated funerary objects in one catalog number and 12 unassociated funerary objects represented by 10 catalog numbers in the collections of the NMNH have been identified as coming from the village of Hooper Bay.
The evidence reviewed suggests that the remains and funerary objects from Hooper Bay and the remains of one individual from Cape Romanzof date to the period of the seventeenth through early twentieth century. The Cape Romanzof remains were collected by Henry B. Collins of the U.S. National Museum (later NMNH) in 1927 at a burial site approximately 20 miles north of Hooper Bay. An additional 16 individuals were collected by Collins in 1927 at burial sites in the village cemetery of Hooper Bay. Collins also recovered 12 unassociated funerary objects from graves at Hooper Bay. Dr. Aleš Hrdlička of the U.S. National Museum acquired three human remains from Hooper Bay in 1929. Two human remains from Hooper Bay also were incorporated into the collections of the U.S. National Museum through a 1931 gift from archaeologist Otto W. Geist of the Alaska Agricultural College. Geist collected the human remains in 1928 during the Bunnell-Geist Bering Sea Expedition. Father John P. Fox transferred 10 additional human remains from Hooper Bay to Aleš Hrdlička and the U.S. National Museum in 1937 and 1938. The remains of three individuals collected at the village of Kashunak (circa A.D. 1640 – A.D. 1950) 20 miles south of Hooper Bay were incorporated into the collections of the U.S. National Museum through a 1929 gift from Father Philip I. Delon.
Several lines of evidence support the cultural affiliation of the Hooper Bay remains and funerary objects to the Native Village of Hooper Bay. These include the historic record of local Yupik settlement and land use, the historic record of Yupik mortuary customs, the proximity of recorded burial sites to the village of Hooper Bay, and the taphonomic characteristics of the remains themselves. Taken together, this information constitutes a preponderance of evidence in support of the conclusion that the human remains and funerary objects dating to the seventeenth through early twentieth century are culturally affiliated with the Native Village of Hooper Bay. Therefore, it is recommended that the remains of 31 Native Alaskan individuals in 30 catalog numbers and 14 funerary objects in 11 catalog numbers be made available for repatriation to the Native Village of Hooper Bay.
The preponderance of evidence supports that the human remains of one individual in one catalog number collected at Cape Romanzof, Alaska, by Henry B. Collins in 1927 are culturally affiliated with the Native Village of Paimiut. Furthermore, three human remains in three catalog numbers acquired from the village of Kashunak have been found to be culturally affiliated with the Native Village of Chevak. These determinations of cultural affiliation are based on the historic record of local Yupik settlement and land use in these areas, the proximity of recorded burial sites to the historic villages of Paimiut and Kashunak, and documents and recorded statements provided by the Native Village of Hooper Bay, the Native Village of Chevak, and the Native Village of Paimiut. Therefore, it is recommended that the human remains of one individual be made available for repatriation to the Native Village of Paimiut, and three human remains be made available for repatriation to the Native Village of Chevak.
Repatriation Update
The remains of three individuals acquired from the village of Kashunak were repatriation to the Native Village of Chevak on May 29, 2012. The remains of one individual from Cape Romanzof, Alaska, were repatriated to the Native Village of Paimiut on August 7, 2012. The remains of 31 individuals and 14 funerary objects were repatriated to the Native Village of Hooper Bay on August 7, 2012.
The evidence reviewed suggests that the remains and funerary objects from Hooper Bay and the remains of one individual from Cape Romanzof date to the period of the seventeenth through early twentieth century. The Cape Romanzof remains were collected by Henry B. Collins of the U.S. National Museum (later NMNH) in 1927 at a burial site approximately 20 miles north of Hooper Bay. An additional 16 individuals were collected by Collins in 1927 at burial sites in the village cemetery of Hooper Bay. Collins also recovered 12 unassociated funerary objects from graves at Hooper Bay. Dr. Aleš Hrdlička of the U.S. National Museum acquired three human remains from Hooper Bay in 1929. Two human remains from Hooper Bay also were incorporated into the collections of the U.S. National Museum through a 1931 gift from archaeologist Otto W. Geist of the Alaska Agricultural College. Geist collected the human remains in 1928 during the Bunnell-Geist Bering Sea Expedition. Father John P. Fox transferred 10 additional human remains from Hooper Bay to Aleš Hrdlička and the U.S. National Museum in 1937 and 1938. The remains of three individuals collected at the village of Kashunak (circa A.D. 1640 – A.D. 1950) 20 miles south of Hooper Bay were incorporated into the collections of the U.S. National Museum through a 1929 gift from Father Philip I. Delon.
Several lines of evidence support the cultural affiliation of the Hooper Bay remains and funerary objects to the Native Village of Hooper Bay. These include the historic record of local Yupik settlement and land use, the historic record of Yupik mortuary customs, the proximity of recorded burial sites to the village of Hooper Bay, and the taphonomic characteristics of the remains themselves. Taken together, this information constitutes a preponderance of evidence in support of the conclusion that the human remains and funerary objects dating to the seventeenth through early twentieth century are culturally affiliated with the Native Village of Hooper Bay. Therefore, it is recommended that the remains of 31 Native Alaskan individuals in 30 catalog numbers and 14 funerary objects in 11 catalog numbers be made available for repatriation to the Native Village of Hooper Bay.
The preponderance of evidence supports that the human remains of one individual in one catalog number collected at Cape Romanzof, Alaska, by Henry B. Collins in 1927 are culturally affiliated with the Native Village of Paimiut. Furthermore, three human remains in three catalog numbers acquired from the village of Kashunak have been found to be culturally affiliated with the Native Village of Chevak. These determinations of cultural affiliation are based on the historic record of local Yupik settlement and land use in these areas, the proximity of recorded burial sites to the historic villages of Paimiut and Kashunak, and documents and recorded statements provided by the Native Village of Hooper Bay, the Native Village of Chevak, and the Native Village of Paimiut. Therefore, it is recommended that the human remains of one individual be made available for repatriation to the Native Village of Paimiut, and three human remains be made available for repatriation to the Native Village of Chevak.
Repatriation Update
The remains of three individuals acquired from the village of Kashunak were repatriation to the Native Village of Chevak on May 29, 2012. The remains of one individual from Cape Romanzof, Alaska, were repatriated to the Native Village of Paimiut on August 7, 2012. The remains of 31 individuals and 14 funerary objects were repatriated to the Native Village of Hooper Bay on August 7, 2012.
Documentation of remains and funerary objects from the Nome region was initiated in response to an official request from Mr. Andrew C. Miller, Jr., President of the Nome Eskimo Community, for the identification and return of any human... more
Documentation of remains and funerary objects from the Nome region was initiated in response to an official request from Mr. Andrew C. Miller, Jr., President of the Nome Eskimo Community, for the identification and return of any human remains and funerary objects from indigenous settlements associated with the Nome Eskimo Community. Examination of the relevant museum records and osteological analyses indicated that the NMNH houses the remains of an estimated 22 individuals represented by 20 catalog numbers. Two associated and five unassociated funerary objects represented by three catalog numbers in the collections of the NMNH have been identified as coming from the Nome region.
The evidence indicates that the remains and funerary objects date to the nineteenth or early twentieth century. The human remains of three individuals and one commingled skeletal element were acquired through surface collections made by Aleš Hrdlička of the U.S. National Museum (later NMNH) in 1926 at two unnamed historic sites on Cape Nome approximately 17 miles east of present-day Nome, Alaska. The human remains of 19 individuals and three commingled skeletal elements were collected by Henry B. Collins of the U.S. National Museum in 1928 at a historic burial site on Sledge Island approximately 25 miles off the coast of Nome. Collins also recovered seven funerary objects from burials there: two are associated funerary objects and five are unassociated funerary objects. Sledge Island and the villages of the Cape Nome district were depopulated after the 1918 influenza epidemic and the remaining survivors settled in the town of Nome.
Several lines of evidence support the cultural affiliation of these remains and funerary objects to the Nome Eskimo Community. These are: the historical record of local Inupiaq settlement, land use, and epidemics in the Cape Nome and Sledge Island region; the proximity of the burial sites to documented Inupiaq villages; and the taphonomic characteristics of the remains themselves. Taken together, these factors indicate a preponderance of evidence in support of this conclusion. Therefore, it is recommended that the remains of these 22 Native Alaskan individuals in 20 catalog numbers and seven funerary objects in three catalog numbers be made available for repatriation to the Nome Eskimo Community.
Repatriation Update
The human remains and funerary objects were repatriated to the Nome Eskimo Community in July of 2011.
The evidence indicates that the remains and funerary objects date to the nineteenth or early twentieth century. The human remains of three individuals and one commingled skeletal element were acquired through surface collections made by Aleš Hrdlička of the U.S. National Museum (later NMNH) in 1926 at two unnamed historic sites on Cape Nome approximately 17 miles east of present-day Nome, Alaska. The human remains of 19 individuals and three commingled skeletal elements were collected by Henry B. Collins of the U.S. National Museum in 1928 at a historic burial site on Sledge Island approximately 25 miles off the coast of Nome. Collins also recovered seven funerary objects from burials there: two are associated funerary objects and five are unassociated funerary objects. Sledge Island and the villages of the Cape Nome district were depopulated after the 1918 influenza epidemic and the remaining survivors settled in the town of Nome.
Several lines of evidence support the cultural affiliation of these remains and funerary objects to the Nome Eskimo Community. These are: the historical record of local Inupiaq settlement, land use, and epidemics in the Cape Nome and Sledge Island region; the proximity of the burial sites to documented Inupiaq villages; and the taphonomic characteristics of the remains themselves. Taken together, these factors indicate a preponderance of evidence in support of this conclusion. Therefore, it is recommended that the remains of these 22 Native Alaskan individuals in 20 catalog numbers and seven funerary objects in three catalog numbers be made available for repatriation to the Nome Eskimo Community.
Repatriation Update
The human remains and funerary objects were repatriated to the Nome Eskimo Community in July of 2011.
Documentation of the remains potentially affiliated with the Native Village of Diomede was initiated in response to a request from Mr. Matt Ganley, Staff Archaeologist of the Bering Straits Foundation (BSF) and Bering Straits Native... more
Documentation of the remains potentially affiliated with the Native Village of Diomede was initiated in response to a request from Mr. Matt Ganley, Staff Archaeologist of the Bering Straits Foundation (BSF) and Bering Straits Native Corporation (BSNC) in Nome, Alaska, for the repatriation of culturally affiliated human remains from the Native Village of Diomede and several other Native Alaskan communities of the Bering Strait region. Examination of the relevant museum records indicated that the NMNH houses the remains of an estimated 12 individuals represented by 12 catalog numbers from graves above the village. No funerary objects in the collections of the NMNH have been identified as being associated with or coming from the Native Village of Diomede.
The evidence reviewed in this report suggests that the remains described here date to the nineteenth or early twentieth century. The human remains of 12 individuals were acquired at historic gravesites by Aleš Hrdlička of the U.S. National Museum (later NMNH), Smithsonian Institution, on July 26, 1926 above the village of Inalik, Little Diomede Island, Alaska.
Several lines of evidence support the cultural affiliation of these remains to the Native Village of Diomede. These include the historic record of local Ingaliqmiut settlement on Little Diomede Island, Alaska; the historic record of Ingaliqmiut mortuary customs; the proximity of historic burial sites to the village which is the only habitation site located on the island; and the taphonomic characteristics of the remains themselves. Taken together, this information constitutes a preponderance of evidence in support of the conclusion that the remains are culturally affiliated with the Native Village of Diomede. Therefore, it is recommended that the remains of 12 indigenous Alaskan individuals be made available for repatriation to the Native Village of Diomede.
Repatriation Update
The human remains were repatriated to the Native Village of Diomede in April of 2011.
The evidence reviewed in this report suggests that the remains described here date to the nineteenth or early twentieth century. The human remains of 12 individuals were acquired at historic gravesites by Aleš Hrdlička of the U.S. National Museum (later NMNH), Smithsonian Institution, on July 26, 1926 above the village of Inalik, Little Diomede Island, Alaska.
Several lines of evidence support the cultural affiliation of these remains to the Native Village of Diomede. These include the historic record of local Ingaliqmiut settlement on Little Diomede Island, Alaska; the historic record of Ingaliqmiut mortuary customs; the proximity of historic burial sites to the village which is the only habitation site located on the island; and the taphonomic characteristics of the remains themselves. Taken together, this information constitutes a preponderance of evidence in support of the conclusion that the remains are culturally affiliated with the Native Village of Diomede. Therefore, it is recommended that the remains of 12 indigenous Alaskan individuals be made available for repatriation to the Native Village of Diomede.
Repatriation Update
The human remains were repatriated to the Native Village of Diomede in April of 2011.
The rapid proliferation of tattooing in Western culture over the past two decades has accompanied widespread acknowledgment of the personal significance that tattoos hold for their bearers, as well as recognition of the artistic value of... more
The rapid proliferation of tattooing in Western culture over the past two decades has accompanied widespread acknowledgment of the personal significance that tattoos hold for their bearers, as well as recognition of the artistic value of the tattoos themselves. As a result of these shifting views, the collection and preservation of tattooed skin from deceased individuals has emerged from the shadows of morbid curiosity and is poised to become part of the global consumer economy. Toward this end, two organizations have recently been launched that will work with tattooed individuals who want to have their tattoos preserved after their death.
Research Interests:
For thousands of years the Indigenous peoples of the Arctic have produced astonishingly rich and diverse forms of tattooing. Long neglected by anthropologists and art historians, tattooing here was a time-honored practice that expressed... more
For thousands of years the Indigenous peoples of the Arctic have produced astonishingly rich and diverse forms of tattooing. Long neglected by anthropologists and art historians, tattooing here was a time-honored practice that expressed the patterns of tribal social organization, therapeutic medicine, and religion, while also channeling worlds inhabited by deities, spirits, and the ancestors. This lecture explores the many facets of this ancient indelible practice with special reference to prehistoric ivory figurines.
Research Interests: Prehistoric Archaeology, Visual Studies, Visual Culture, Spirituality, The Tattoo, and 12 moreAlaska Native Studies, American Indian & Alaska Native, Arctic Anthropology, Prehistoric Figurines, Arctic, Anthropomorphic Figurines, Inuit, Tattoos, Ancient Tattooing, Ivory Carving, Tattooing, and Religious and Magical Practices
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Let's Celebrate Our Marks of Humanity. Commissioned by the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (Moscow, Russia) for the (2020) exhibition "TATY/TATTOO."
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For thousands of years astonishingly rich and diverse forms of tattooing have been produced by the Indigenous peoples of the world. Indigenous tattooing has been practiced across the globe since at least Neolithic times, as evidenced by... more
For thousands of years astonishingly rich and diverse forms of tattooing have been produced by the Indigenous peoples of the world. Indigenous tattooing has been practiced across the globe since at least Neolithic times, as evidenced by mummified preserved skin, ancient art, and the archaeological record. Long neglected by anthropologists and art historians, tattooing was a time-honored traditional practice that expressed the patterns of tribal social organization and religion, while also channeling worlds inhabited by deities, spirits, and the ancestors. But why were individuals undergoing this painful procedure?
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For nearly twenty years, anthropologist and photographer Lars Krutak has been on a mission to document the vanishing world of Indigenous tattooing culture. His research explores these ancient human traditions, revealing how this language... more
For nearly twenty years, anthropologist and photographer Lars Krutak has been on a mission to document the vanishing world of Indigenous tattooing culture. His research explores these ancient human traditions, revealing how this language of the skin exposed individual desires and fears as well as cultural values and ancestral ties that were written the body.
Lars Krutak is a tattoo anthropologist, author and television host who has spent the last two decades traveling the world, learning about unique tattoos and the meanings behind them. Lars has a special interest in preserving Indigenous knowledge of tattooing, as this ancient culture has begun to vanish quickly around the globe. Having published several books on the subject, and hosting a Discovery Channel series, entitled “Tattoo Hunter”, Lars has worked to reveal the cultural diversity of tattoos, the biographies they represent and what they say about being human. Lars’ latest project is a recently published book highlighting the Indigenous tattoo history of the North American continent.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx
Lars Krutak is a tattoo anthropologist, author and television host who has spent the last two decades traveling the world, learning about unique tattoos and the meanings behind them. Lars has a special interest in preserving Indigenous knowledge of tattooing, as this ancient culture has begun to vanish quickly around the globe. Having published several books on the subject, and hosting a Discovery Channel series, entitled “Tattoo Hunter”, Lars has worked to reveal the cultural diversity of tattoos, the biographies they represent and what they say about being human. Lars’ latest project is a recently published book highlighting the Indigenous tattoo history of the North American continent.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx
Research Interests:
Made while researching for the documentary film: Eternal Ink: Tattoos from the Spirit Worlds, Now available on Tubi, Q0sm and Amazon Prime: amazon.com/Eternal-Ink-Tattoos-Spirit-Worlds/dp/B08RF11M32 A short interview with Lars Krutak on... more
Made while researching for the documentary film: Eternal Ink: Tattoos from the Spirit Worlds, Now available on Tubi, Q0sm and Amazon Prime: amazon.com/Eternal-Ink-Tattoos-Spirit-Worlds/dp/B08RF11M32
A short interview with Lars Krutak on his new book: Tattoo Traditions of Native North America, filmed in Copenhagen at Colin Dale's studio, Skin & Bone.
A short interview with Lars Krutak on his new book: Tattoo Traditions of Native North America, filmed in Copenhagen at Colin Dale's studio, Skin & Bone.
Research Interests:
Part 1 of a talk given by Lars Krutak in Copenhagen on the tattoo traditions of Native North America. Made while researching for the documentary film: Eternal Ink: Tattoos from the Spirit Worlds, Now available on Tubi, Q0sm and Amazon... more
Part 1 of a talk given by Lars Krutak in Copenhagen on the tattoo traditions of Native North America.
Made while researching for the documentary film: Eternal Ink: Tattoos from the Spirit Worlds, Now available on Tubi, Q0sm and Amazon Prime: amazon.com/Eternal-Ink-Tattoos-Spirit-Worlds/dp/B08RF11M32
Made while researching for the documentary film: Eternal Ink: Tattoos from the Spirit Worlds, Now available on Tubi, Q0sm and Amazon Prime: amazon.com/Eternal-Ink-Tattoos-Spirit-Worlds/dp/B08RF11M32
Research Interests:
Part 2 of a talk given by Lars Krutak in Copenhagen on the tattoo traditions of Native North America. Made while researching for the documentary film: Eternal Ink: Tattoos from the Spirit Worlds, Now available on Tubi, Q0sm and Amazon... more
Part 2 of a talk given by Lars Krutak in Copenhagen on the tattoo traditions of Native North America.
Made while researching for the documentary film: Eternal Ink: Tattoos from the Spirit Worlds, Now available on Tubi, Q0sm and Amazon Prime: amazon.com/Eternal-Ink-Tattoos-Spirit-Worlds/dp/B08RF11M32
Made while researching for the documentary film: Eternal Ink: Tattoos from the Spirit Worlds, Now available on Tubi, Q0sm and Amazon Prime: amazon.com/Eternal-Ink-Tattoos-Spirit-Worlds/dp/B08RF11M32
Research Interests: Anthropology, Visual Studies, Indigenous Studies, Social Anthropology, Cultural Heritage, and 10 moreHeritage Studies, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Visual Communication, Indigenous Peoples, World Cultural Heritage, Intangible Cultural Heritage (Culture), Cultural Anthropology, Body Modification, Tattoos, and Ancient Tattooing
Made while researching for the documentary film: Eternal Ink: Tattoos from the Spirit Worlds, Now available on Tubi, Q0sm and Amazon Prime: amazon.com/Eternal-Ink-Tattoos-Spirit-Worlds/dp/B08RF11M32 Maellyn Macintosh caught up with Dr.... more
Made while researching for the documentary film: Eternal Ink: Tattoos from the Spirit Worlds, Now available on Tubi, Q0sm and Amazon Prime: amazon.com/Eternal-Ink-Tattoos-Spirit-Worlds/dp/B08RF11M32
Maellyn Macintosh caught up with Dr. Lars Krutak at the Florence Tattoo Convention and interviewed him about his new book, 'Magical Tattoos and Scarification: Spiritual Skin'.
The huge book (7 pounds) is the result of 10 years of field research across the Indigenous world. Krutak is also the presenter of the 10-part Discovery Channel documentary series 'Tattoo Hunter'.
Maellyn Macintosh caught up with Dr. Lars Krutak at the Florence Tattoo Convention and interviewed him about his new book, 'Magical Tattoos and Scarification: Spiritual Skin'.
The huge book (7 pounds) is the result of 10 years of field research across the Indigenous world. Krutak is also the presenter of the 10-part Discovery Channel documentary series 'Tattoo Hunter'.
Research Interests:
Teaser for a 4-part documentary series documentary ancient tattoo traditions across the Indigenous world. Two episodes have been filmed and this project was entirely crowdsourced. I hosted the Chen Naga episode which was filmed in... more
Teaser for a 4-part documentary series documentary ancient tattoo traditions across the Indigenous world. Two episodes have been filmed and this project was entirely crowdsourced. I hosted the Chen Naga episode which was filmed in Nagaland just prior to the global pandemic and it's currently in final edit. More updates forthcoming.
Follow @patterns.of.life.documentary on Instagram.
Project website: www.patternsof.life
Follow @patterns.of.life.documentary on Instagram.
Project website: www.patternsof.life
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Humbled to have been the 'resident tattoo historian' for this tattoo series produced by INSIDER for Facebook Watch. In this episode of Ink Expedition, meet the master tattoo artist – Pat fish – who has mastered the traditional Celtic knot... more
Humbled to have been the 'resident tattoo historian' for this tattoo series produced by INSIDER for Facebook Watch. In this episode of Ink Expedition, meet the master tattoo artist – Pat fish – who has mastered the traditional Celtic knot tattoo, and has built a devoted client base that visits her from all over the world.
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Humbled to have been the 'resident tattoo historian' for this tattoo series produced by INSIDER for Facebook Watch. In this episode of Ink Expedition, meet the master tattoo artist – Keone Nunes – who chooses the design for you.
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Humbled to have been the 'resident tattoo historian' for this tattoo series produced by INSIDER for Facebook Watch. In this episode of Ink Expedition, meet the master tattoo artist who must hide his life's work from the world. Because... more
Humbled to have been the 'resident tattoo historian' for this tattoo series produced by INSIDER for Facebook Watch.
In this episode of Ink Expedition, meet the master tattoo artist who must hide his life's work from the world. Because of cultural taboos about the art, Choshu Horikazu must cover his tattoos while in public in Japan.
In this episode of Ink Expedition, meet the master tattoo artist who must hide his life's work from the world. Because of cultural taboos about the art, Choshu Horikazu must cover his tattoos while in public in Japan.