Original Meanings of Tribal Tattoo

Many cultures and tribes from the past have used tattoos to show different meanings of tribal tattoo. It is therefore important to understand the different meanings associated these tattoos before going ahead and having one done.

The origin of tattoos can be traced back to the Egyptians and from that time those tattoos have been in use in different cultures worldwide. The symbolism that was associated with these tattoos can be difficult to understand but the idea behind tribal tattoos and their meanings was just displaying the social standing of an individual. In hunters’ tribes the success of a person was displayed by the various drawings done on their body and respect was achieved by the number of drawings a person had. Those that were done on tribal leaders were more powerful and darker whereas those that were done on medicine men and doctors were done using distinct designs.

Tribal Tattoo Designs

Tribal tattoos were the first of the designs to be done on earth and their history goes back to a number of tribes in the Philippines, Europe, Cambodia, Japan, Taiwan, Africa and New Zealand. It was also a belief among many of the tribes that if their bodies were covered with certain arks it would chase away evil spirits. 

They saw these tattoos as having magical powers. The meanings of tribal tattoo get more significant when you take into account the superstitious nature of these tribes as well as their faith in evil sprits and God that they demonstrated using the tattoos that they made popular. When western culture came in, these beliefs and superstitions were slowly killed and subsequently tribal tattoos declined steadily. Due to this tribal tattoos today are for decorative purposes instead of being a means of displaying rank or position.

Think Before Getting a Tattoo

It is advisable to understand the meaning of a tattoo because you could soon establish that the meaning of the tattoo is something that will not make you happy at all. This can be rally bad because the ink used to make tattoos is permanent. It is not possible to remove it from one’s skin completely as some traces will remain. In case you want to get a tribal design you should know its exact meaning.

The Polynesians are the people credited with starting the ritual of making tribal designs and all kinds of tribal designs are said to come from them. There is no guarantee that this is indeed the source of tribal tattoos but the fact that the meanings of tribal tattoos have a historical significance is in no doubt. Presently, it is enough to just persuade people to go and have one. This is not the correct approach that should be taken and it is important that one is ware of the meaning before going to have one done. The best thing to do is to get tattoos whose meanings of tribal tattoo you know.