Tattoo Meaning Native American

Many traditional Native tattoos also held mystical and spiritual meanings to the Natives who wore them.

Tattoo meaning native american. T o celebrate her graduation from the University of Alaska Fairbanks Alaska Native Studies program in 2012 Marjorie Kunaq Tahbone got a tattoo. This comes from the Polynesian term tatau. The Cree tribesmen used to ink on their chest arms legs and even their lips and chin.

Native American tattoos are by no means only a modern trend. The Native American culture is a very old and spiritual one. Popular Native American tribal tattoo imagery used in contemporary tattooing includes dream-catchers arrows animals feathers and abstract tribal patterns.

Specifically tattoos in Native American history have cultural significance contrasting some modern-day tattooing practices. Many people took the tattoo of an animal whose strength they wanted to emulate. In fact few tribes such as Cree and Iroquois were especially known for full body tattoos.

Undisturbed by the Christian faith who denounced tattooing as barbaric and sacrilegious in the mid 700s AD the Native American tribes believed tattooing to be sacred spiritual and incorporated the practice into their everyday lives. Soldiers would tattoo each other with patriotic symbols. The reasons and meanings behind these Native American tattoos vary from tribe to tribe.

An arrow facing to the left is meant to ward off evil. The dreamcatcher is also a very popular tattoo design when it comes to the Native American culture. Depending on the tribe the tattoo art was a different spiritual ritual across Native American society.

There were tattoos for victory beauty love hate power passion and spiritual association to name a few. For a long time American tattoo artistry remained on the outskirts with people who dedicated their lives to not fitting in. In Native American culture tribal tattoos were used for both ritualistic and identification purposes as.