Skin Deep
Heads of New Zealand Chiefs Curiously Tatowed By William Hodges, 1771
The Maori practise facial tattooing, which they call ta moko. When Cook visited New Zealand, five times between 1768 and 1777, his crew were struck by the remarkable facial tattoos of Maori men and women. Sydney Parkinson, the artist on the Endeavour, drew a number of fine portraits of these people. The Maori believe that tattooing has mythical origins. A young man named Mataora followed his lover Niwareka back to her underworld home after he had beaten her. He found her only after much effort, arriving there with his face-paint smeared and spoiled. He was ridiculed for his appearance but eventually forgiven and taught tattooing by Niwareka's father, Uetonga. Together, the young couple returned to the human world taking this treasured art with them.