There are many types of tribal tattoos all over the world all meaning different things. What most people in America know today as tribal tattoos consist of long solid black bars and lines that generally come to sharp points to complement the area of the body in which it is placed. This style of tribal became very popular in America in the 90s as well as the also very popular style of Polynesian tattoos which originates from many Tropical Islands telling stories about one's life. These types of tribal tattoos also help them gain spiritual power or to give them protection and great strength or even tell others their role or position in the hierarchy of the society that they are in.
The Tribal tattoo style has been around since the beginning of time primarily used to mark tribes and tell life stories in a very primitive view but was banned in several parts of the world in the 18th century because of the scriptures in the Old Testament. Tattooing was again banned in French Polynesia territories in 1986. Tattooing has also been outlawed in Asian areas such as Japan for a vast amount of time because of their relationship with crime and the gang formally known as the Yakuza. Tattooing has seemed to always survive in the tribes of the Samoans who have been tattooing in their culture for over 2000 years and still to this day produce amazing works of tribal art.
Most tribal tattoos since the beginning of time have been applied with a method called Tatau which means to write. This style of tribal tattooing uses a rake and hammer to apply only black ink to create several rows of geometric patterns such as squares and triangles and circles to tell stories such as how many people sit at your family table or how many people are in your family as well as telling stories of large hunts for the first time that a man may have gone on.
Women are tattooed as well in these tribal cultures but not to the extent of their male counterparts because the tattoos bring a more masculine look and feel to the tribal communities. Most women's tattoos were often much more subtle but more detailed.
The most sacred place to be tattooed in most tribal cultures is the facial area. Most men that are much older and wiser in the tribes display such tattoo work.
Pistol Pete enjoys doing all styles of tribal tattoos. One of Pistol Pete's favorite variations of tribal is a more cut-out three-dimensional approach that will use the same long sharp shapes that 1990s solid black tribal would use. Using these shapes a light source is used to show dimension in the shapes to make them appear cut out or of stone. You can either make these shapes look sunken in or pop out depending on the desired effect the customer wants. Cracks and crevices are also used to make the tattoo look more realistic. Also, this style is not traditional; it still has many traits about it that accentuate the part of the body it is on.