Indigenous Tattoo Culture Subject of New Art Exhibit at Humboldt Area Foundation
This is a press release from the Humboldt Area Foundation:
On display now through May 2020, Humboldt Area Foundation is hosting Ink and Skin and Bone, a solo art exhibit of acrylic portraits by Native artist Tiffany Adams.
Known for her shell work, painting, and jewelry making, Tiffany Adams (Chemehuevi/Konkow/Nisenan) is an artist, activist, and educator who incorporates her California Indian cultural practices into the fabric of her work. Tiffany’s work is deeply rooted in her cultural identity as a California Indian, from her sculptures, paintings, jewelry, and basket making to her equity activism in public education, Tiffany’s community-based approach to art and art making is reflective of the ways in which identity formation is vital to artistic expression.
According to Adams, Ink and Skin and Bone is “a (re)writing and (re)righting of past anthropological and stereotypical representations of California Indigenous womxn’s tattoo culture,” a practice that banned during colonization. “It is imagery about strength, resilience and the literary power of tattoo revival, a language that is universal within many indigenous communities. This feminist artwork is made to reclaim space in our homelands and on our bodies.”
Humboldt Area Foundation invites the public to visit the Community Center, located at 363 Indianola Road in Bayside, to enjoy Tiffany Adams works. Ink and Skin and Bone will be on display for public viewing during normal business hours through May 2020. For more information contact Jill Moore: [email protected] or (707) 442-2993.
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Beautiful.
every human on the face of the earth should give “Gravity” & “age” a real thought before tatting,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,just a thought
Umm, “gravity” and “age” make tattoos MORE beautiful.
[edit] Indigenous tribes have practiced their tattoo traditions for thousands of years. I’m sure they thought about and have seen it through the aging process. Don’t be ignorant. Vanity is not a priority in Native culture. Stay in your lane.
Well said, thank you for saying that. I’m a native woman.
Amen
👏👏👏 Perfectly put. Seeing the tattoos on my elders is seeing the strength and perseverance of my people💖
thank you, it’s very well thought through before getting our lines done!
❤️
I’m native and totally agree with you. Well said on behalf of us all.
Totally agree with Steph – this isn’t a fanciful whim; it is the manifestation of who you are.
I love this artist and her work. Taking back the power that was stolen away is so heartfelt with strength.
Yes age and gravity do make tatts more beautiful. I too have a chin tatt that is symbolic to my society.
That’s some sad colonizer thinking right there.
Thank you!
Mind your own life. Just a thought
It’s more then just getting a tattoo it’s culture and culture is not walking into a tattoo store and picking a number 29 on a wall that you may regret later
As a Native woman who made the choice to get a chin tattoo, I find it funny that anyone would think they had the right to say think about age and gravity. The point here is that we are done subscribing to the white mans version of beauty. We are indigenous, we have lived through 400 years of being told nothing about us is beautiful. We know better now, your idea of beauty is not mine. I look forward to being an old woman with a gravity pulled face that shows my Tattoos clearly. It is my way of making sure every person who looks at me knows I am indigenous and we are not the same. A 400 year attempt to kill us physically and spiritually had failed. We are here and our beauty is not up for your debate. We know who we are.
Beautifully said.
Agreed 100%, We are beautiful .
👏👏👏 Thank you for voicing against this person’s ignorance.
👍👍👍
Well said. Rise up and claim all that has been expunged in your culture.
Kia Kaha.
Maori Women in New Zealand
Are doing the same. Age and gravity have nothing to do with it.
WORD!!!!
We are beautiful
Agreed! Well said!
100%💪🏾👊🏾
An awesomely well said reply to that “thought”
Tino ātaahua ngā tā moko katoa!
Thank you Stevey Seymour, well said.
💎 ♥
*Mic drop*
♥️✊🏽
Beautiful words… Grandma Aggie was 95 when she just left us and she was beautiful with her tattoos and the most amazing human, that I have ever met!
Yes a million times and more!
BEAUTIFULLY STATED!!!
Respect!
<3
The kind of thinking that starts with “every human on the face of the earth” must conform to any single idea is what has kept humankind killing each other in wars and conflicts for the entire two hundred thousand years of “modern” human history. And it continues today. The fact that that there are still people who think we should all be pigeon-holed into a single mold to make us look and walk and talk and think and behave and worship the same way is why the world is in the constant state of chaos that it is. Get a clue.
No one owes you or your preferences anything. This art show is about sacred cultural practices that have been maligned and stamped out by small-minded people who felt they had a right to dictate how others live. You and I don’t get a say here, nor should we ever have imposed ours on others.
Why? Vanity takes no part when it comes to cultural design. Go away with your white washed ways. This is why we age gracefully and you don’t
🙌🏻
Women were not put here to look beautiful for you. Now give that a thought!!
This is ritual, tribal tatooing, not some stupid, drunken foray. Please respect the difference.
No, from culture to culture certain things hold differing degrees of importance and value. Maybe vanity is just a white person thing? Or maybe indigenous cultures have different ideas of what physical beauty is and what they find attractive in a mate?
Either way, sorry for your ignorance and your tunnel vision perspective. Man you are missing out!
You still don’t realise that we don’t give a dam about the effects of age on tattoos??? We ( persons who are tattooed) worry about the effects of age on our tattoos as much as we worry about the effects of age on our bodies.
You dont like tattoos? That’s ok, swipe on.
tribal tattoos are a form of expression and identification. No matter the age and the lifestyles people choose, their tattoos will always represent something deeper than what any other person or society my project.
Indigenous Consciousness .
I am me.
I am Tohono O’odham.
Is all I have to say .
The women on my mom’s side of the family, have been wearing these special markings on their faces for generations. My great aunt when she died at the age of 87, had her special markings since she became a women while in her teens. Her markings on her face were precious and lovely to see. Sure they faded, but she still was a beautiful, graceful woman. There were no issues with “gravity and age” if anything they enhanced her looks as a proud Yupik indigenous woman.
I’m so happy your family has persevered to keep this tradition alive.
You do realize alize that different interpretations of what beauty is do exist right? And it may be worth considering that your concept of beauty and world views are not the only ones, nor are they relevant to someone else’s cultural and spiritual customs and expression.
Facial tattooing in most Native cultures have a religious and cultural identity connected to them. Most people don’t know this because it it not widely known or shared in educational institutions or in the press. As a California Tribal member, thank you for giving me a voice.
Wow! Gravity & Age??!! Screw societal norms and what your thoughts on beauty. Beyond and above that egotistical train of thought. Indigenous rising
Wow! Your thoughts are so colonized be. Ignorant of the oppression of our cultures have faced.
Binbearda4,
[Edit] maybe find a way to become a little more cultured. We’re not talking about tramp stamps for little college white girls here… thanks
When we believe in something with our whole heart because it is our people’s way, our tradition, our culture, saggy tattoos are the least of our worries. We do these things with great spiritual purpose, not only as personal preference.
HAF needs to discuss its own “me too” moment regarding its past misogynistic Director before they have my support again.
Thank you for this post, Kim. Indigenous tattoos and faces that wear them are beautiful. And I particularly like the comment about minding one’s own life.
They are beautiful, I carry mine proudly, with honor!
Tatau =
Polynesian culture
Tatau is not a north American first nation tradition.
If they were doing it, it wasn’t known as tatau.
Co-opt others culture much?
Ufa oi
“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet…” -Billy S.
In Iñupiatun (Iñupiaq in Alaska), the chin tattoo is called tavluġun. It has been an Iñupiaq women’s cultural heritage for thousands of years. It is not just a Polynesian tradition.
What do you mean “If they were doing it”? Of course they were. It was stick and poke or hand poke. Hand scratching and other titels translated to english. This term tattoo or tatau is universally known now. I call my chin “tattoo” medicine? Oh…. I’m not indigenous to the America’s either. Nothing like scaring fellow people of the same skin tone. XD
We are all connected. Our ancestors went from tahiti to the native Americans a very long time ago, before colonisers even knew how to sail. Hence why us Māori have the Kumara (sweet potato)…
Inuit women have been doing it for Millenia. It obviously wasn’t called tattoo. In our language is was called tunniit.
🙄🙄🙄🙄
I love this… Reinforces the theory our people met before Colonisers even knew how to sail. My people too wear moko on their face both men and women
My Great Grandmother had these tatoos on her chin. When she died at approx 101 they were very faint. In our community the stripes were earned and a matter of respect in our community for various strengths. Now I see young ladies with stripes that I know are not even old enough have had earned the stripes. More upsetting is to see a non tribal person wearing stripes. I was 6 when my Gram died. Later on in years i found her obituary she was very respected in our community. But now days to each his own I think all Native women are beautiful in their own ways.
Indigenous Consciousness
I am Tohono O’odham
I am me.
Having survived termination policies, forced sterilization, boarding schools, colonization, domestic violence and abduction in frightening numbers, the 111 is a mark of courage, belonging and cultural continuity. Despite all the past, resilience and timeless beauty will always define indigenous women.
Thank you for this and thank you persevering tawi.
Native women have a royal beauty about themselves. Having tattoo’s on their face just accents their beauty and it is a means of honoring their heritage, culture, language and family traditions.
It is not a Decoration. It is a Declaration!
A picture is worth a thousand words. I added a chin tattoo in honor of my Nadawa Heritage. I used an aging app and here is the result.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B0CzVnfFaHc/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
This is me unaltered with the tattoo
https://www.instagram.com/p/BwXmUpyFCOl/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
In my country Aotearoa (New Zealand) we call these Moko Kauai. They are traditionally done on women to represent where they come from but also the change of wairua (spiritual/essence) within that wahine (lady). They are mostly worn by our Kuia (women elders) and most of them are healers within our culture.
Always a hater in the group. These paintings are so powerful and beautiful one day your skin shall sag for the remark you made about the tattoos. Becareful what you say. #INDIGENOUSSTRONGWOMEN
Bozho. Hello. Considering all my tawi have already told off the colonizer in the group I wanted to use this to reach out. I love this fire and all the conversations and stories you’ve shared. I am Loon Clan Bodwewadmi (Potawatomi according to the Federal Gov). I am a MA/PhD student hoping to restructure, reclaim, and decolonize institutions. My research is on tattooing because I know my ancestors tattooed but white anthropologists did not care about women or their tattoos, and by the time they started exoticizing these medicines we had been forced on the Trail of Death and into boarding schools. Our tattoos no longer existed except in our hidden elders up north. My family was removed to Indian country and thus removed from these elders. In the process of revitalizing this medicine do you have any advice? I am still too young and undeserving of these medicines but someday I hope I can be and I hope to help my people for the 7th and 8th fires. Migwetth – thank you.
Are the variations of the tattoos from different families or do they have other meanings?