The author says that these uprights are always carved according to the crest of the gens of the house owner, and represent men standing on the heads of animals. This use of the term “crest” is not heraldically correct, as literally it would require the men to be standing on the coverings of their own heads, but the idea is plain, the word being used for a device similar in nature and significance to the crest in heraldry, and it was adopted by the ancestors of the Kwakiutl gentes in relation to certain exploits that they had made. Both human figures show painting and probably also tattooing on their faces.
The character on the left hand also shows a design on the breast. That on the right hand presents a curious artifice of carving by which the legs and an arm are exhibited while preserving the solidity of the upright.
Tattooing proper is a permanent marking of the skin accomplished by the introduction of coloring matter under the cutaneous epidermis. In popular expression and often in literature it includes penetration of the skin by cuts, gashes, or sometimes burns, without the insertion of coloring matter, the cicatrix being generally whiter than the sound skin of the people, most frequently of the dark races, among whom the practice is found. This form of figuration is distinguished as scarification and some examples of it are given below. The two varieties of tattoo may, however, for the purpose of this paper, be considered together and also in relation to painting the human body, which in its early use differs from them only in duration.
Mr. Herbert Spencer (a) considers all forms of tattoo to be originally tribal marks, and draws from that assumption additional evidence for his favorite theory of the deification of a dead tribal chief. Miss A. W. Buckland (a), in her essay on tattooing, follows in the same track, although recognizing modern deviations from the rule. A valuable article in the literature of the subject entitled “Tattooing among civilized people,” by Dr. Robert Fletcher should be consulted. Also A tatuagem em Portugal, by Rocha Peixoto.
Dr. C. N. Starcke (a) lays down the law still more distinctly, thus:
The tattoo-marks make it possible to discover the remote connection between clans, and this token has such a powerful influence on the mind that there is no feud between tribes which are tattooed in the same way. * * * Tattooing may also lead to the formation of a group within the tribe.
Prof. Frederick Starr (a) makes these remarks:
As a sign of war prowess the gash of the Kaffir warrior may be described. After an act of bravery the priest cuts a deep gash in the hero’s thigh. This heals blue and is a prized honor. To realize the value of a tribal mark think for a moment of the savage man’s relation to the world outside. He is a very Ishmaelite. So long as he remains on his own tribal territory he is safe; when on the land of another tribe his life is the legitimate prey of the first man he meets. To men in such social relations the tribal mark is the only safety at home; without it he would be slain unrecognized by his own tribesmen. There must have been a time when the old Hebrews knew all about this matter of tribe marks. By this custom only can we fully understand the story of Cain (Gen. IV, 14, 15), who fears to be sent from his own territory lest he be slain by the first stranger he meets, but is protected by the tribal mark of those among whom he is to wander being put upon him. But in scarring, as in so many other cases, the original idea is often lost and the mark becomes merely ornamental. This is particularly true among women. Among men it more frequently retains its tribal significance.
After careful study of the topic, less positive and conclusive authority is found for this explanation of tattooing than was expected, considering its general admission.
The great antiquity of tattooing is shown by reference to it in the Old Testament, and in Herodotus, Xenophon, Tacitus, Ammianus, and Herodian. The publications on the topic are so numerous that the notes now to be presented are by no means exhaustive. They mainly refer to the Indian tribes of North America with only such comparatively recent reports from other lands as seem to afford elucidation.
G. Holm (b) says of the Greenland Innuit that geometric figures consisting of streaks and points, are used in tattooing on the breasts, arms, and legs of the females.
H. H. Bancroft (b) says:
The Eskimo females tattoo lines on their chins; the plebeian female of certain bands has one vertical line in the center and one parallel to it on either side. The higher classes mark two vertical lines from each corner of the mouth. * * * Young Kadiak wives tattoo the breast and adorn the face with black lines. The Kuskoquim women sew into their chin two parallel blue lines.
William H. Gilder (a) reports:
The Esquimau wife has her face tattooed with lampblack and is regarded as a matron in society. * * * The forehead is decorated with the letter V in double lines, the angle very acute, passing down between the eyes almost to the bridge of the nose, and sloping gracefully to the right and left before reaching the roots of the hair. Each cheek is adorned with an egg-shaped pattern, commencing near the wing of the nose and sloping upward toward the corner of the eye; these lines are also double. The most ornamented part, however, is the chin, which receives a gridiron pattern; the lines double from the edge of the lower lip, and reaching to the throat toward the corners of the mouth, sloping outward to the angle of the lower jaw. This is all that is required by custom, but some of the belles do not stop here. * * * None of the men are tattooed.
An early notice of tattooing in the territory now occupied by the United States, mentioned in Hakluyt (d), is in the visit of the Florida chief, Satouriona, in 1564, to Réné Laudonnière. His tattooed figure was drawn by Le Moyne, Tabulæ VIII, IX.
Capt. John Smith (a) is made to say of the Virginia Indians:
They adorne themselues most with copper beads and paintings. Their women, some haue their legs, hands, breasts and face cunningly imbrodered with divers workes, as beasts, serpents, artificially wrought into their flesh with blacke spots.
Thomas Hariot (a), in Pl. XXIII, here reproduced as Fig. 516, Discoveries of 1585, discussing “The Marckes of sundrye of the Chief mene of Virginia,” says:
The inhabitats of all the cuntrie for the most parte haue marks rased on their backs, wherby yt may be knowen what Princes subiects they bee, or of what place they haue their originall. For which cause we haue set downe those marks in this figure, and haue annexed the names of the places, that they might more easelye be discerned. Which industrie hath god indued them withal although they be verye simple, and rude. And to confesse a truthe I cannot remember, that euer I saw a better or quietter people than they.
The marks which I observed amonge them, are heere put downe in order folowinge.
The marke which is expressed by A. belongeth tho Wingino, the cheefe lorde of Roanoac.
That which hath B. is the marke of Wingino his sisters husbande.
Those which be noted with the letters of C. and D. belonge vnto diverse chefe lordes in Secotan.
Those which haue the letters E. F. G. are certaine cheefe men of Pomeiooc, and Aquascogoc.
Frère Gabriel Sagard (b) says (about 1636) of the Hurons that they tattooed by scratching with a bone of bird or fish, a black powder being applied to the bleeding wounds. The operation was not completed at once, but required several renewals. The object was to show bravery by supporting great pain as well as to terrify enemies.
In the Jesuit Relation for 1641, p. 75, it is said of the Neuter Nation that on their bodies from head to foot they marked a thousand diverse figures with charcoal pricked into the flesh on which beforehand they have traced lines for them.
Lemoyne D’Iberville, in 1649, Margry (b), remarked among the Bayogoulas that some of the young women had their faces and breasts pricked and marked with black.
In the Jesuit Relation for 1663, p. 28, there is an account that the head chief of the Iroquois, called by the French Nero, had killed sixty enemies with his own hand, the marks of which he bears printed on his thigh, which, therefore, appears covered over with black characters.
Joutel, in Margry (c), speaks of tattooing among the Texas Indians in 1687. Some women make a streak from the top of the forehead to chin, some make a triangle at the corners of their eyes, others on the breast and shoulders, others prick the lips. The marks are indelible.
Bacqueville de la Potherie (b) says of the Iroquois:
They paint several colors on the face, as black, white, yellow, blue, and vermillion. Men paint snakes from the forehead to the nose, but they prick the greater part of the body with a needle to draw blood. Bruised gunpowder makes the first coat to receive the other colors, of which they make such figures as they desire and they are never effaced.
M. Bossu (a) says of tatooing among the Osages in 1756:
It is a kind of knighthood to which they are only entitled by great actions; they suffer with pleasure in order to pass for men of courage.
If one of them should get himself marked without having previously distinguished himself in battle he would be degraded, and looked upon as a coward, unworthy of an honor. * * *
I saw an Indian, who, though he had never signalized himself in defense of the nation, got a mark made on his body in order to deceive those who only judged from appearance. The council agreed that, to obviate such an abuse, which would confound brave men with cowards, he who had wrongfully adorned himself with the figure of a club on his skin, without ever having struck a blow at war, should have the mark torn off; that is, the place should be flayed, and that the same should be done to all who would offend in the same case.
The Indian women are allowed to make marks all over their body, without any bad consequences; they endure it firmly, like the men, in order to please them, and to appear handsomer to them.
James Adair (a) says of the Chikasas in 1720:
They readily know achievements in war by the blue marks over their breasts and arms, they being as legible as our alphabetical characters are to us. Their ink is made of the root of pitch pine, which sticks to the inside of a greased earthen pot; then delineating the parts, they break through the skin with gairfish teeth, and rub over them that dark composition, to register them among the brave, and the impression is lasting. I have been told by the Chikasah that they formerly erased any false marks their warriors proudly and privately gave themselves, in order to engage them to give real proofs of their martial virtue, being surrounded by the French and their red allies; and that they degraded them in a public manner, by stretching the marked parts, and rubbing them with the juice of green corn, which in a great degree took out the impression.
Sir Alex. Mackenzie (b) tells that the Slave and Dog Rib Indians of the Athabaskan stock practiced tatooing. The men had two double lines, either black or blue, tattooed upon each cheek from the ear to the nose.
In James’s Long (c) it is reported that—
The Omahas are often neatly tattooed in straight lines, and in angles on the breast, neck, and arms. The daughters of chiefs and those of wealthy Indians generally are denoted by a small round spot tattooed on the forehead. The process of tattooing is performed by persons who make it a business of profit.
Rev. J. Owen Dorsey (a) says:
In order that the ghost may travel the ghost-road in safety it is necessary for each Dakota, during his life, to be tattooed either in the middle of the forehead or on the wrists. In that event his spirit will go directly to the “Many Lodges.”
The female Midē' of the Ojibwa frequently tattoo the temples, forehead, or cheeks of sufferers from headache or toothache, which varieties of pain are believed to be caused by some malevolent manido or spirit. By this operation such demons are expelled, the ceremony being also accompanied by songs and gesticulations of exorcism. Relief is sometimes actually obtained through the counterirritant action of the tattooing, which is effected by using a small bunch of needles, though formerly several spicules of bone were tied together or used singly.
One old Ojibwa woman who was observed in 1887 had a round spot over each temple, made there to cure headache. The spots were of a bluish-black color, and about five-eighths of an inch in diameter. Another had a similar spot upon the nasal eminence, and a line of small dots running from the nostrils, horizontally outward over either cheek, two-thirds of the distance to the ears.
The men of the Wichita wore tattoo lines from the lips downward, and it is a significant fact that their tribal sign means “tattooed people,” the same expression being used to designate them in the language of several neighboring tribes. This would imply that tattooing was not common in that region. The Kaiowa women, however, frequently had small circles tattooed on their foreheads, and the Sixtown Choctaws still are distinguished by perpendicular lines tatooed on the chin.
Mr. John Murdoch (b) reports of the Eskimo:
The custom of tattooing is almost universal among the women, but the marks are confined almost exclusively to the chin, and form a very simple pattern. This consists of one, three, five, or perhaps as many as seven vertical lines from the under lip to the tip of the chin, slightly radiating when there are more than one. When there is a single line, which is rather rare, it is generally broad, and the middle line is sometimes broader than the others. The women, as a rule, are not tattooed until they reach a marriageable age, though there were a few little girls in the two villages who had a single line on the chin. I remember seeing but one married woman in either village who was not tattooed, and she had come from a distant settlement, from Point Hope, as well as we could understand.
Tattooing on a man is a mark of distinction. Those men who are, or have been, captains of whaling umiaks that have taken whales have marks to indicate this tattooed somewhere on their persons, sometimes forming a definite tally. For instance, An̄oru had a broad band across each cheek from the corners of the mouth, made up of many indistinct lines, which was said to indicate “many whales.” Amaiyuna had the “flukes” of seven whales in a line across his chest, and Mû'n̄ialu had a couple of small marks on one forearm. Niăksára, the wife of An̄oru, also had a little mark tattooed in each corner of her mouth, which she said were “whale marks,” indicating that she was the wife of a successful whaleman. Such marks, according to Petitot (Monographie, etc., p. 15), are a part of the usual pattern in the Mackenzie district—“deux traits aux commissures de la bouche.” One or two men at Nuwŭk had each a narrow line across the face over the bridge of the nose, which were probably also “whale marks,” though we never could get a definite answer concerning them.
The tattooing is done with a needle and thread, smeared with soot or gunpowder, giving a peculiar pitted appearance to the lines. It is rather a painful operation, producing considerable inflammation and swelling, which lasts several days. The practice of tattooing the women is almost universal among the Eskimo from Greenland to Kadiak, including the Eskimo of Siberia, the only exception being the natives of Smith sound, though the custom is falling into disuse among the Eskimo who have much intercourse with the whites.
The simple pattern of straight, slightly diverging lines on the chin seems to prevail from the Mackenzie district to Kadiak, and similar chin lines appear always to form part of the more elaborate patterns, sometimes extending to the arms and other parts of the body, in fashion among the eastern Eskimo and those of Siberia, St. Lawrence island, and the Diomedes.
During the summer of 1884 Dr. Hoffman met, at Port Townsend, Washington, a party of Haida Indians from Queen Charlottes island, who were encamped there for a short time. Most of them were tattooed after the manner of the Haidas, the breast, back, forearm, and legs bearing partial or complete designs of animate forms relating to totems or myths. Some of the persons had been tattooed only in part, the figures upon the forearms, for instance, being incomplete, because the operation at a previous “potlatch” or festival had to be suspended on account of the great length of time required, or on account of an extra inflammatory condition of the affected parts.
Among this party of Haidas was Makdē'gos, the tattooer of the tribe, whose work is truly remarkable. The designs made by him are symmetrical, while the lines are uniform in width and regular and graceful in every respect. In persons tattooed upon the breast or back the part operated upon is first divided into halves by an imaginary vertical line upon the breast through the middle of the sternum and upon the back along the middle of the vertebral column. Such designs are drawn double, facing outward from this imaginary line. One side is first drawn and completed, while the other is merely a reverse transfer, made immediately afterwards or at such future time as the operation of tattooing may be renewed.
The colors are black and red, the former consisting of finely powdered charcoal, gunpowder, or India ink, while the latter is Chinese vermilion. The operation was formerly performed with sharp thorns, spines of certain fishes, or spicules of bone; but recently a small bunch of needles is used, which serves the purpose to better effect.
As is well known, the black pigments, when picked into the human skin, become rather bluish, which tint, when beneath the yellowish tinge of the Indian’s cuticle, appears of an olive or sometimes a greenish-blue shade. The colors, immediately after being tattooed upon the skin, retain more or less of the blue-black shade; but by absorption of the pigment and the persistence of the coloring matter of the pigmentary membrane the greenish tint soon appears, becoming gradually less conspicuous as time progresses, so that in some of the oldest tattooed Indians the designs are greatly weakened in coloration.
Upon the bodies of some persons examined the results of ulceration are conspicuous. This destruction of tissue is the result of inflammation caused by the tattooing and the introduction under the skin of so great a quantity of irritating foreign matter that, instead of designs in color, there are distinct, sharply defined figures in white or nearly white cicatrices, the pigmentary membrane having been totally destroyed by the ulceration.
The figures represented upon the several Indians met with, as above-mentioned, were not all of totemic signification, one arm, for instance, bearing the figure of the totem of which the person is a member, while the other arm presents the outline of a mythic being, as shown in Fig. 517, copied from the arms of a woman. The left device is taken from the left forearm, and represents kul, the skulpin, a totemic animal, whereas the right hand device, taken from the right arm of the same subject, represents mamathlóna, the dragon fly, a mythic insect.
In Fig. 518 two forms of the thunderbird are presented, copied from the right and left forearms and hands, respectively, of a Haida woman. The right hand device is complete, but that on the left, copied from the opposite forearm and hand, is incomplete, and it was expected that the design would be entirely finished at the “potlatch” which was to be held in the autumn of 1884. In the completed design the transverse curve in the body of the tail was red, as also the three diagonal lines upon the body of the bird running outward from the central vertical toward the radial side of the hand. The brace-shaped lines within the head ornament had also been tattooed in red.
In some instances the totem and mythic character are shown upon the same member, as is represented in Fig. 519. This tattooing was copied from the left arm of a woman, the complete figure upon the forearm and hand being that of a thunder bird, while the four heads upon the fingers represent that of the tshimō's, a mythic animal. The thunder-bird had been tattooed upon the arms a number of years before the heads were added, probably because the protracted and painful operation of tattooing so large a figure deterred the sufferer from further sitting. Sometimes, however, such, postponement or noncompletion of an operation is the result of inability on the part of the subject to defray the expense.
Another instance of the interrupted condition of tattooed designs is presented in Fig. 520. The figure upon the forearm and hand is that of the bear totem, and was made first. At a subsequent festival the bear heads were tattooed upon the fingers, and, last of all, the body was tattoed upon the middle finger, leaving three yet to be completed.
Fig. 521 shows tattoo designs upon the leg. These represent mēt, the mountain goat.
It is seldom that double designs occur on the extremities, such being reserved for the breast and back, but an instance was noted, represented in Fig. 522, which is a representation of hélinga, the thunder-bird, and was on the left arm of a man.
One of the most conspicuous examples of the art observed among the party of traveling Haidas mentioned, was that of a double raven tattooed upon the breast of Makdē'gos, copied here as Fig. 523.
Upon the back of this Indian is also the figure of kahátta, the dog-fish, Fig. 524. In addition to these marks he bears also upon his extremities totemic and mythic animals.
Sometimes the simple outline designs employed in tattooing are painted upon property belonging to various persons, such as boats, housefronts, etc. In such instances colors are employed that could not be used in tattooing. One fine example of such is presented in Pl. XXIV and another of more elaborate design in Pl. XXV.
Mr. James G. Swan made a valuable contribution on tattoo marks of the Haida Indians of Queen Charlotte islands, British Columbia, and the Prince of Wales archipelago, Alaska, published in the Fourth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, which, much condensed, is reproduced as follows:
Among all the tribes or bands belonging to the Haida family, the practice of tattooing the person in some manner is common; but the most marked are the Haidas proper, or those living on Queen Charlotte islands, and the Kaiganis, of Prince of Wales archipelago, Alaska.
I am of the opinion, judging from my own observation of over twenty years among the coast tribes, that but few females can be found among the Indians, not only on Vancouvers island, but all along the coast to the Columbia river, and perhaps even to California, that are not marked with some device tattooed on their hands, arms, or ankles, either dots or straight lines; but of all of the tribes mentioned, the Haidas stand preeminent for tattooing, and seem to be excelled only by the natives of the Fiji islands or the King’s Mills group in the south seas. The tattoo marks of the Haidas are heraldic designs or the family totem, or crests of the wearers, and are similar to the carvings depicted on the pillars and monuments around the homes of the chiefs, which casual observers have thought were idols.
These designs are invariably placed on the men between the shoulders just below the back of the neck, on the breast, on the front part of both thighs, and on the legs below the knee. On the women they are marked on the breast, on both shoulders, on both forearms, from the elbow down over the back of the hands to the knuckles, and on both legs below the knee to the ankle.
Almost all of the Indian women of the northwest coast have tattoo marks on their hands and arms, and some on the face; but as a general thing these marks are mere dots or straight lines having no particular significance. With the Haidas, however, every mark has its meaning; those on the hands and arms of the women indicate the family name, whether they belong to the bear, beaver, wolf, or eagle totems, or any of the family of fishes. As one of them quaintly remarked to me, “If you were tattooed with the design of a swan, the Indians would know your family name.”
In order to illustrate this tattooing as correctly as possible I inclose herewith sketches of the tattoo marks on two women and their husbands, taken by me at Port Townsend.
The man on the left hand of Fig. 525 is a tattooed Haida. On his breast is the cod (kahátta), split from the head to the tail and laid open; on each thigh is the octopus (noo), and below each knee is the frog (flkamkostan).
The woman in the same figure has on her breast the head and forepaws of the beaver (tsching); on each shoulder is the head of the eagle or thunder-bird (skamskwin); on each arm, extending to and covering the back of the hand, is the halibut (hargo); on the right leg is the skulpin (kull); on the left leg is the frog (flkamkostan).
The woman in Fig. 526 has a bear’s head (hoorts) on her breast. On each shoulder is the eagle’s head, and on her arms and legs are figures of the bear.
The back of the man in the same figure has the wolf (wasko), split in halves and tattooed between his shoulders, which is shown enlarged in Fig. 531. Wasko is a mythological being of the wolf species, similar to the chu-chu-hmexl of the Makah Indians, an antediluvian demon supposed to live in the mountains.
Fig. 528.—Frog, Haida.
Fig. 529.—Cod, Haida.
Fig. 530.—Squid, Haida.
Fig. 531.—Wolf, Haida.
The skulpin, on the right leg of the woman in Fig. 525, is shown enlarged in Fig. 527; the frog on the left leg in Fig. 528. The codfish on the man in Fig. 525 is shown enlarged in Fig. 529; the octopus or squid in Fig. 530.
As the Haidas, both men and women, are very light-colored, some of the latter—full blooded Indians, too—having their skins as fair as Europeans, the tattoo marks show very distinct.
The same author continues:
This tattooing is not all done at one time, nor is it everyone who can tattoo. Certain ones, almost always men, have a natural gift which enables them to excel in this kind of work. One of the young chiefs, named Geneskelos, was the best designer I knew, and ranked among his tribe as a tattooer.
He told me the plan he adopted was first to draw the design carefully on the person with some dark pigment, then prick it in with needles, and then rub over the wound with some more coloring matter till it acquired the proper hue. He had a variety of instruments composed of needles tied neatly to sticks. His favorite one was a flat strip of ivory or bone, to which he had firmly tied five or six needles, with their points projecting beyond the end just far enough to raise the skin without inflicting a dangerous wound, but these needle points stuck out quite sufficiently to make the operation very painful, and although he applied some substance to deaden the sensation of the skin, yet the effect was on some to make them quite sick for a few days; consequently, the whole process of tattooing was not done at one time. As this tattooing is a mark of honor, it is generally done at or just prior to a Tomanawos performance and at the time of raising the heraldic columns in front of the chief’s houses. The tattooing is done in open lodge and is witnessed by the company assembled. Sometimes it takes several years before all the tattooing is done, but when completed and the person well ornamented, then they are happy and can take their seats among the elders.
Other notices about the tattooing of the Indians of the Pacific slope of North America are subjoined.
Stephen Powers (c) says the Karok (California) squaws tattoo in blue three narrow fern leaves perpendicularly on the chin, one falling from each corner of the mouth and one in the middle.
The same author reports, page 76:
Nearly every (Hupâ, California) man has ten lines tattooed across the inside of the left arm about halfway between the wrist and the elbow; and in measuring shell money he takes the string in his right hand, draws one end over his left thumb nail, and if the other end reaches to the uppermost of the tattoo lines the five shells are worth $25 in gold, or $5 a shell. Of course, it is only one in ten thousand that is long enough to reach this high value.
Also on page 96:
The Pátawāt (California) squaws tattoo in blue three narrow pinnate leaves perpendicularly on their chins, and also lines of small dots on the backs of their hands.
On page 148, of the Kástel Pomo:
The women of this and other tribes of the Coast range frequently tattoo a rude representation of a tree or other object covering nearly the whole abdomen and breast.
Of the Wintūns he says, page 233: “The squaws all tattoo three narrow lines, one falling from each corner of the mouth and one between.”
The same author says, on page 109:
The Mattoal, of California, differ from other tribes in that the men tattoo. Their distinctive mark is a round blue spot in the center of the forehead. The women tattoo pretty much all over their faces.
In respect to this matter of tattooing there is a theory entertained by some old pioneers which may be worth the mention. They hold that the reason why the women alone tattoo in all other tribes is that in case they are taken captives their own people may be able to recognize them when there comes an opportunity of ransom. There are two facts which give some color of probability to this reasoning. One is that the California Indians are rent into such infinitesimal divisions, any one of which may be arrayed in deadly feud against another at any moment, that the slight differences in their dialects would not suffice to distinguish the captive squaws. The second is that the squaws almost never attempt any ornamental tattooing, but adhere closely to the plain regulation mark of the tribe.
Blue marks tattooed upon a Mohave woman’s chin denote that she is married. See Whipple (f).
Mr. Gatschet reports that very few Klamath men now tattoo their faces, but such as are still observed have but a single line of black running from the middle of the lower lip to the chin. Half-breed girls appear to have but one perpendicular line tattooed down over the chin while the full-blood women have four perpendicular lines on the chin.
In Bancroft’s Native Races (c), it is stated that the Modoc women tattoo three blue lines, extending perpendicularly from the center and corners of the lower lip to the chin.
The same author on pages 117 and 127 of the same volume says:
The Chippewas have tattooed cheeks and foreheads. Both sexes have blue or black bars or from one to four straight lines to distinguish the tribe to which they belong. They tattoo by entering an awl or needle under the skin and drawing it out, immediately rubbing powdered charcoal into the wounds. * * * On the Yukon river among the Kutchins, the men draw a black stripe down the forehead and the nose, frequently crossing the forehead and cheeks with red lines and streaking the chin alternately with red and black, and the women tattoo the chin with a black pigment.
Stephen Powers, in Overland Monthly, XII, 537, 1874, says of the Normocs:
I saw a squaw who had executed on her cheeks the only representation of a living object which I ever saw done in tattooing. It was a couple of bird’s wings, one on each cheek, done in blue, bottom-edge up, the butt of the wing at the corner of the mouth, and the tip near the ear. It was quite well wrought, both in correctness of form and in delicateness of execution, not only separate feathers but even the filaments of the vane, being finely pricked in.
Dr. Franz Boas (c) says:
Tattooings are found on arms, breast, back, legs, and feet among the Haida; on arms and feet among the Tshimshian, Kwakiutl and Bilqula; on breast and arms among the Nootka; on the jaw among the Coast Salish women.
Among the Nootka scars may frequently be seen running at regular intervals from the shoulder down the breast to the belly, and in the same way down the legs and arms. * * *
Members of tribes practicing the Hamats'a ceremonies show remarkable scars produced by biting. At certain festivals it is the duty of the Hamats'a to bite a piece of flesh out of the arms, leg, or breast of a man.
Dr. im Thurn (c) says:
Tattooing or any other permanent interference with the surface of the skin by way of ornament is practiced only to a very limited extent by the Indians; is used, in fact, only to produce the small distinctive tribal mark which many of them bear at the corners of their mouths or on their arms. It is true that an adult Indian is hardly to be found on whose thighs and arms, or on other parts of whose body are not a greater or less number of indelibly incised straight lines; but these are scars originally made for surgical, not ornamental purposes.
Herndon and Gibbon (a), p. 319, report:
Following the example of the other nations of Brazil (who tattoo themselves with thorns, or pierce their nose, the lips, and the ears,) and obeying an ancient law which commands these different tortures, this baptism of blood, * * * the Mahués have preserved * * * the great festival of the Tocandeira.
Paul Marcoy (b) says of the Passés, Yuris, Barrés, and Chumanas, of Brazil, that they mark their faces (in tattoo) with the totem, or emblem of the nation to which they belong. It is possible at a few steps distant to distinguish one nation from another.
Ancient monarchs adopted special marks to distinguish slaves; likewise for vengeance as an indelible and humiliating brand, a certain tattoo denounced him who had fallen into disgrace with a sovereign. Two monks having censured the iconoclastic frenzy of the emperor Theophilus, he ordered to be imprinted on their foreheads eleven iambic verses; Philip of Macedon, from whom a soldier had solicited the possession of a man saved by him from shipwreck, ordered that on his forehead should be drawn signs indicative of his base greed; Caligula, without any object, commanded the tattooing of the Roman nobles.
In the period of the decline of Rome, tattooing was extensively practiced. Regulative laws prescribed the adopted symbols which were a proof of enlistment in the ranks and on which the military oath was taken. The purpose of this ordinance, which continued in force for a long time, was similar to that which authorized the marking of the slaves, since, the spirit of the people having become degenerated, the army was composed of mercenaries who, if they should run away, must be recognized, pursued, and captured. Until recently the practice, though more as a mark of manhood, was followed by the soldiers of the Piedmontese army.
Élisée Reclus (a) says:
Tattooing was in Polynesia widespread, and so highly developed that the artistic designs covering the body served also to clothe it. In certain islands the operation lasted so long that it had to be begun before the children were six years old, and the pattern was largely left to the skill and cunning of the professional tattooers. Still traditional motives recurred in the ornamental devices of the several tribes, who could usually be recognized by their special tracings, curved or parallel lines, diamond forms and the like. The artists were grouped in schools like the old masters in Europe, and they worked not by incision as in most Melanesian islands, but by punctures with a small comb-like instrument slightly tapped with a mallet. The pigment used in the painful and even dangerous operation was usually the fine charcoal yielded by the nut of Aleurites triloba, an oleaginous plant used for illuminating purposes throughout eastern Polynesia.
The following is from Rev. Richard Taylor (c) about the New Zealanders, Te Ika a Maui:
Before they went to fight, the youth were accustomed to mark their countenances with charcoal in different lines, and their traditions state that this was the beginning of the tattoo, for their wars became so continuous, that to save the trouble of thus constantly painting the face, they made the lines permanent by the moko; it is, however, a question whether it did not arise from a different cause; formerly the grand mass of men who went to fight were the black slaves, and when they fought side by side with their lighter colored masters, the latter on those occasions used charcoal to make it appear they were all one.
Whilst the males had every part of the face tattooed, and the thighs as well, the females had chiefly the chin and the lips, although occasionally they also had their thighs and breasts, with a few smaller marks on different parts of the body as well. There were regular rules for tattooing, and the artist always went systematically to work, beginning at one spot and gradually proceeding to another, each particular part having its distinguishing name.