Apparently everyone loves a good tattoo. Enjoy this all time favorite written by Toni Wallace back in 2011. It still holds the place of one of our top viewed blogs of all time!
May 11, 2011
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Timucuan Man of Florida, John White Painting, 1585
(after LeMoyne, 1564) |
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| Timucuan Woman of Florida, John White Painting, 1585 (after LeMoyne, 1564) |
Modifying
the human body with permanent marks has been around at least 5000
years, the age of the tattooed Ice Man recently discovered in a melting
glacier on the Swiss/Italian border. Egyptian mummies have tattoos
preserved on their mummified skin.
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| Christopher Columbus |
The first written description of what may be
tattooing in the Americas was reported by Columbus's crew members on his
first voyages to the New World. Dr. Diego Alverez Chanca, a physician
on Columbus's second voyage, noted in a letter, that the Caribbean
Indians painted themselves with sharpened reeds. Oviedo, the first
historian of Spanish Florida who wrote in the 16th century, asserted
that tattooing was practiced everywhere in New Spain using flint razors
and pitch pine.
Early
explorers along the East Coast of North America noted the incidence of
body decoration almost everywhere. DeSoto's chroniclers reported it on
their travels through the Southeast in 1526. Soldiers, sailors and an
artist/cartographer with the French Hugeunots who built Fort Caroline in
1564, wrote about tattooing among the Timucua Indians of Northeast
Florida.
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| Outina Consults a Sorcerer, DeBry Engraving of Timucua, 1591 (after LeMoyne, 1564) |
The
first published artististic depiction of tattooed American Indians was
published in 1591 by Theodore DeBry, a Dutch engraver. He portrayed the
Timucua Indians of Florida and the Algonquians of Virginia (later to
become North Carolina) as tattooed. His Florida engravings were thought
to be based on paintings by the French Hugeunot cartographer, Jacques
Le Moyne, and his Virginia engravings were proven to be based on the
watercolors of John White, an Englishman with the Roanoke Voyages.
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| Saturina Goes to War, DeBry Engraving of Timucua, 1591 (after LeMoyne, 1564) |
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| The King and Queen Take a Walk, DeBry Engraving of Timucua, 1591 (after LeMoyne, 1564) |
Le Moyne's original paintings were lost but White's
watercolors have survived. White's paintings are the earliest artistic
representations of Southeastern American Indians and many depict body
decoration. And the captions clearly report that some of the markings
were permanent.
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| One of the Wives of Wyngyno, John White Painting of Algonquian Indians of Virginia (later North Carolina), 1585 |
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| The Wife of the Chief of Pomeioc with her Daughter, John White Painting of Algonquian Indians, 1585 |
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| Indian in War Paint, John White Painting of Algonquian Indians, 1585 |
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| A Great Lord of Virginia, DeBry Engraving, 1591 (after White, 1585) |
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| The Marks of the Chief Men of Virginia, DeBry Engraving, 1591 (after White, 1585) |
As
noted above, the use of painting and tattooing by American Indians was
widespread at the time of first European contact and was reported by the
explorers of the15th, 16th and 17th centuries. In the 18th century,
soldiers, traders, missionaries and settlers frequently reported and
depicted the unusual and extensive body decoration of the American
Indians.
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| The Georgia Indians in Their Natural Habitat, PhilipVon Reck Painting, 1736 |
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| Mohawk Chief, Verelst Painting , 1710 |
.
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| Tomochichi, King of the Yamachraw and his Son, Verelst Painting, 1734 |
In
the 19th century, the U.S. government commissioned portraits of Indian
leaders who came to Washington to negotiate treaties. Although most of
these Indian leaders had adopted European dress, their portraits show
that facial decoration persisted through the 19th century.
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| Yoholo-Micco, a Creek Chief, Charles Bird King Painting, 1826 |
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| Straight Man, a Distinguishwed Shawnee Warrior, George Catlin Painting, 1830 |
Traveling artists such as George Catlin document that
in the 19th century, Indians of the Midwest and West still practiced
body decoration.
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| A Choctaw Ball Player, George Catlin Painting, 1834 |
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| Weetarasharo, Head Chief of the Wichita, George Catlin Painting, 1834 |
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| Illinois Warriors and Dancer, Alexander DeBatz Painting, 1732 |
In pre-contact times, before Europeans
"discovered" America, American Indians created human figural art in
engraved shell, embossed copper, wood and clay figurines. Many of these
human figural artifacts uncovered archaeologically, depict body
decoration. It is difficult to determine if these depictions
represented painting or tattooing of the body but some of the designs
are very similar to tattooing documented in historic times.
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| Engraved Shell Cup, Spiro Site, Spiro Oklahoma |
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| Rubbing of Engraved Shell Cup, Spiro Site, Spiro, Oklahoma |
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| Engraved Shell Mask with weeping eye decoration, Little Egypt Site, Murray County, Georgia |
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| Repousse Copper Profile Cutout with forked eye decoration, Spiro, Oklahoma |
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| Drawing of Repousse Copper Birdman Plate, Burial 7, Leon County, Florida |
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| Wooden Masks, Key Marco Site, Marco Island, Florida |
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| Human Head Effigy Vessel, Blythville, Arkansas |
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Two hunchback human figural vessels with face and body decoration,
Nodena Phase,
a late pre-contact Mississippean Culture, Campbell Site, Pemiscot County, Missouri and Mississippi County, Arkansas |
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| Yuchi Face Painting, Chief Society and Warrior Society, Frank G. Speck drawing from his ethnographic reseach, 1909 |
The
most recent source of information on American Indian body decoration is
found in ethnographic studies with Indian informants. This type of
study undertaken in the late19th and 20th centuries, served primarily to
document the loss of the native Indian cultural traditions including
body decoration, with acculturation.
Today,
tattooing has experienced a revival among all of American society
including Native Americans. Some Native Americans today are using the
same literary, artistic and archaeological sources cited above to revive
their ancient traditions including the widespread tradition of
decorating the body with permanent marks.
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| Hand-across-mouth
design, historic Omaha warrior and prehistoric hawkman embossed copper
plate drawing from Dunklin County, Missouri |
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| Poor Wolf, Hidatsa Man with Tattoo, Frederick N. Wilson painting, 20th century |
Photographic
citations listed in: Antoinette B. Wallace, "Southeastern American
Indian Body Decoration: Forms and Functions" A Masters Thesis, Harvard
University, 1993.
