Maori Tattoos, Then and Now

Back in the day the Maori would get a tattoo to tell a story since they didn't have pens and paper. They would use chisels to get deeper in the skin. The stories would usually be told on there face but the more personal stories would be tattooed small at the bottom of there spine.

Karakia

Tuia i runga

Bind above

Tuia i raro

Bind below

Tuia i whao

Bind without

Tuia i roto

Bind within

Tuia te here tangata

Bind together the people

Ka rongo te ao

Plan for the day

Ka rongo te po

By looking to the past

Tihei mauri ora!

Behold the sneeze of life

Tūmatauenga

Tūmatauenga is the main god of war and he is one of the sons of Ranginui (father of the sky) and Papatuanuku (earth mother). In tradition he was known to solve conflict through war.

There is a statue outside Eden Park so people can solve it, out on the rugby pitch.

cultural values

Certain objects were particularly Tapu, so much so that it was a dangerous act to even touch them, apart from suitably qualified priests. A breach of "Tapu" could incur the wrath of the Gods and death was the penalty for serious breaches of Tapu. Tapu and Noa is basically just the opposite of Yin Yang.

Yin Yang similar to Tapu and Noa symbol which is separated with a straight horizontal line through the centre black below white above which represents wairua (tapu and noa). Found this information.