Māori tattoo designs

 

This is my Maori tattoo designs MPR.

Māori tattoo designs: Tā moko for men and women

Traditionally men received moko on their faces, buttocks and thighs. Māori face tattoos are the ultimate expression of Māori identity. Māori believe the head is the most sacred part of the body, so facial tattoos have special significance. 

Women usually wore moko on their lips and chins, or sometimes on the throat.

Moko was sometimes applied to other parts of the body, including the forehead, neck, back, stomach and calves.

The meanings behind Māori symbols and designs

Many of the designs are universal. In particular, the spirals that swirl across the nose, cheek and lower jaw. The lines of a moko accentuate the lines of the face so emphasise the expressions.

The main lines in a Māori tattoo are called manawa, which is the Māori word for heart. These lines represent your life journey.

Common tattoo designs can include the koru, which literally represents an unfurling silver fern, and symbolically represents a new life or the unfolding of someone's life path. When used in Māori tattoos, the koru usually stands for a loved one or family member. 

The history of tā moko

Before the arrival of European settlers, the complex designs of tā moko were literally carved into the skin. A rake-like instrument, usually made of teeth or bone, was used to break the skin; then a flat-edged blade was used to tap in the dye, creating a tattoo with a scarred, chiselled appearance. The pigment used was soot obtained from burning kahikatea, or white pine, sometimes mixed with kauri gum or soot from the oily koromiko (hebe) shrub.

Tā moko today

Traditional tā moko artists used a chisel to scar and mark the skin. 

The modern tool of tā moko is the tattoo machine, although some tā moko artists alternate between traditional and modern methods. While the needle is faster and more precise, hand tools bring the ritual more in line with how it was done traditionally.

Tā Moko MICRO personal response

Comprehension strategy 1 – INFERRING Using clues from the surrounding words, work out what words are missing. Faster, identity, European, applied, designs

Comprehension strategy 2 – SUMMARISING  Summarise the reading in 20 words, including Who, where, when and the 3 most important whats. The koru represents an unfurling silver fern, and symbolically represents a new life or the unfolding of someone's life path

Comprehension strategy 3 – MAKING CONNECTIONS Personal connection. Relate this story to something that has happened to you or people you know in your own life; or what other book or film is it similar to. How is it the same, how is it different? It’s kinda the same as having a new cousin because the koru unfurling represents new life. It’s not the same because babies don’t have tattoos.

Comprehension strategy 4 – REREADING FOR INFORMATION Answer these questions: Where do men receive their moko on their bodies? faces, buttocks and thighs Where do women receive their moko? Lips, chin, throat What does the koru design represent?unfurling silver fern, and symbolically represents a new life or the unfolding of someone's life path. When used in Māori tattoos, the koru usually stands for a loved one or family member.  What did they traditionally use to tattoo the tā moko? A rake-like instrument, usually made of teeth or bone, was used to break the skin; then a flat-edged blade was used to tap in the dye, creating a tattoo with a scarred, chiselled appearance.  What did they use for the ‘ink’ of the tā moko?then a flat-edged blade  What do the manawa represent? Life journey.

Comprehension strategy 5 - Developing vocabulary Find the meanings or synonyms for 5 of the words below. Remember some words have more than one meaning. You must choose the meaning that fits the word as it is used in the text. Tip - in Google type in “synonym for ______” Significance - importance Accentuate - highlight Unfurling - unroll Emphasise - spotlight? Chiselled - carve

Comprehension strategy 6 -  Reading carefully. Record yourself reading the story aloud using Screencastify - you can get it from here. When you’ve finished recording find the button on the right that says “shareable link” and use that to put your link here: Screencastify