Tribal tattoo designs have been the first tattoo designs to be used. Tattoos originated in various tribes across the world, where members of each tribe would paint or scar certain marks on them. Tattooing is done today by inserting ink in the pores of the skin so as to make a permanent mark on the skin but this originated in various primitive tribes as an extremely crude and painful procedure.
It is known that several tribes such as Celtic, Irish, Chinese, Indian, African, Native American, Maori, etc. all over the world used tattoos. The design themes that these tribes used have collectively come to be known as tribal tattoo designs. Tribal tattoos are generally done in black color.
Tribal tattoos were used in different cultures to delineate between the tribes. They were also used to distinguish between classes or rank within the tribe. Everyone in the tribe had some form of the tattoo. In most cultures, the tattoos were given in a ceremonial way, to celebrate the passage from childhood to adulthood.
It is widely believed that the Polynesian culture brought us our most popular tribal tattoos. The Samoans, the Maori, the Hawaiians. The most detailed of these are the Maori. These tattoos are intricate and curvilinear in nature. They are based on the spiral which give them such powerful movement within the design. The design begins in the center and radiates out, forming beautiful curves that are filled with pattern. The tribal tattoos were carved into the skin and rubbed with ash. Maori tattoos were placed on the face, back, chest, and arms. The more important you were, the more tattooing you had.
