Indigenous tattoo traditions : humanity through skin and ink / Lars Krutak.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Krutak, Lars F., author.

Contributor:

Mallon, Sean, writer of foreword.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Tattooing--History.

Tattooing.

Indigenous art.

Tattooing--History--Pictorial works.

Tattooing--Social aspects.

Physical Description:

272 pages : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [2025]

Summary:

"Tattooing within Indigenous communities is a time-honored practice that binds the tattoo recipient to a deeply felt collective history. More than mere decoration, tattoos embody cultural values, ancestral ties, and spiritual beliefs. Indigenous Tattoo Traditions captures ancient tribal tattooing practices and their contemporary resurgence, highlighting a beautiful aspect of humanity's shared cultural heritage. Transporting readers through history, Lars Krutak explores the art and customs of tattooing across numerous ancestral lands, including Africa, the Middle East, the Americas, the Arctic, Oceania, Japan, Southeast Asia, and Siberia. He illustrates how tattoos function as a form of writing that defines and structures community life, performing as rites of passage, symbols of rank, and signs of marital or religious devotion, among other facets of culture. We are introduced to the heavily tattooed Li women of China's Hainan Island with their elaborate facial and body tattoos, the bold indelible markings of Papua New Guinea's Indigenous peoples, and innovative cultural tattoo practitioners who are rebuilding a skin-marking legacy for future generations to come. With numerous images published for the first time and an illuminating foreword by cultural historian Sean Mallon, Indigenous Tattoo Traditions opens a window onto one of the world's most vibrant yet misunderstood mediums of human expression."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Tattoos of Africa, the Middle East, and Beyond

Tattoos of Native North America

Tattoos of South America

Tattoos of the South Seas

Tribal Tattoos of Japan

Tattoos of Southeast and Mainland Asia

India, Land of Eternal Ink

Tattoos of China and Siberia.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 258-267) and index.

ISBN:

0691255393

9780691255392

9780691271170

0691271178

OCLC:

1450713041

Publisher Number:

90102153123

CIPO000217541