Māori Tattoos: History, How They Were Made, Smoked Heads | Sea Life, Islands and Oceania

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MĀORI TATTOOS

tattooed Māori man

Tattoos were introduced to much of the world by the Māori and Tahitians. The word tatoo is of Polynesian and the custom of tattooing was introduced to Europe by Captain Cook's 1769-71 expedition. Sailors on Cook's ship copied Māori tatoo patterns and observed how the practice was done. After tattooing was introduced to Europe it became popular with sailors The Māori, wrote Terry Madau in “About Faces”, have "an elaborate tattoo techniques called ta moko...One traveler described a tribal chief who prided himself on having spared no visible part of his body: even his lips, tongue, gums, and palate were completely tattooed."

Tattooing among the Māori was highly developed and extremely symbolic. It also was a sign of status and rank, and was regarded as attractive to the opposite sex. Men generally wore tattoos on their faces, buttocks (raperape) and thighs (puhoro). Māori men have traditionally worn tattoos on their faces, thighs and buttocks. Women also sometimes wear them, particularly on their lips (kauwae) and chins. Other parts of the body known to have tattoos include women's foreheads, buttocks, thighs, necks and backs and men's backs, stomachs, and calves.

Ta moko is name for Māori tattooing, It is one of the five main Polynesian tattoo styles (the other four are Marquesan, Samoan, Tahitian and Hawaiian). Tohunga-ta-moko (tattooists) were considered tapu, or inviolable and sacred. The methods and tools they use are similar to those used in other parts of Polynesia. In pre-European Māori culture, many, if not most, high-ranking individuals received ta moko. Ta Moko were associated with mana and high social status. However, some individuals of the highest status were considered too tapu to acquire ta moko, and it was also not considered suitable for certain tohunga to do so. Receiving a ta moko was an important rite of passage from childhood to adulthood and was accompanied by many rituals. [Source: Wikipedia]

History of Māori Tattoos

Europeans first observed the Pacific form of body marking in voyages to Polynesia starting in the 16th century. Māori tattooing was given a lot of exposure through the the trade of toimoko smoked heads, which often had elaborate facial markings (See Below). In the old days, getting a moko was not like going to a tattoo shop, choosing a design from a book, and having it applied with a stencil and electric ink machine. Each moko was unique, and the right to wear one had to be earned through valorous deeds or inherited. When the chiefs came to sign the Treaty of Waitangi, many used part of their moko as their signatures.[Source: Hamish McDonald, Nikkei, July 31, 2019]

Portrait of a Māori chief by Sydney Parkinson, 1773, member of Captain Cooks expedition

Moko served as markers of identity and status, commemorating rites of passage for people of chiefly rank as well as significant milestones in their lives. Each moko was unique, encoding information about an individual’s lineage, tribal affiliation, social rank, occupation, and personal achievements. Because the process was both time-consuming and costly, elaborate moko were typically reserved for chiefs and high-ranking warriors.

The art of moko itself—and those who practised it—were surrounded by tapu and governed by strict ceremonial protocols. The application of moko was not merely decorative; it was a sacred act that affirmed social hierarchy, ancestry, and spiritual connection within Māori society. The practice of tā moko among men largely ceased around the 1860s, reflecting shifts in fashion and the growing influence of pākehā (European) cultural norms. Women, however, continued to receive moko well into the early twentieth century. In the 1970s, historian Michael King interviewed more than seventy elderly women who had been given their moko before the passing of the 1907 Tohunga Suppression Act. Women’s tā moko, applied to the lips and chin, are commonly referred to as pūkauae or moko kauae.

Hamish McDonald wrote in Nikkei: After organized British settlement began, ta moko faded as a cultural identifier, at least among men, although the practice of markings around the lips and chin survived among Māori women until the 1930s when it was replaced by cosmetics. Many art museums have shown live exhibits to illustrate specific topics, including body paintings applied to people, but the National Gallery, located in Canberra, may be unique in imposing permanent cultural changes on the bodies of its models."Moko is very different from tattoos," said Crispin Howarth, the gallery's curator of Pacific art. "It is wearing Māori identity on your face."

In 2016, New Zealand politician Nanaia Mahuta received a moko kauae. When she became Minister of Foreign Affairs in 2020, one commentator suggested that her facial tattoo was inappropriate for a diplomat. However, Mahuta received widespread support, responding that “there is an emerging awareness about the revitalisation of Māori culture and that facial moko is a positive aspect of that. We need to move away from moko being linked to gangs, because that is not what moko represent at all.” She was also criticized in Japan, where wearing tattoos is associated with yakuza gangsters.

in 2021, Māori journalist Oriini Kaipara became the first person with traditional facial markings to host a primetime news program on national television in New Zealand. While the practice of moko is increasingly widespread, those wearing ta moko are still subject to discrimination or racist abuse. In 2021, a petition was launched to formally prohibit discrimination against people with moko. [Source: French 24, July, 29, 2022]

How Māori Tattoos Were Made

Making Māori tattoos is a very painful process. It is has traditionally been done with long bone, metal or bamboo tools. The whirling tattoos designs follow very strict rules often based on ancient designs and legends that can be seen today on ancient preserved heads. Different tribes have different tattoos patterns. Historically, tā moko was carved into the skin using uhi (chisels), rather than punctured as in contemporary tattooing practices. This technique left the skin with distinctive grooves rather than a smooth surface. Although needle tattooing later became common, reports from 2007 indicate that some artists have revived the traditional use of the uhi. [Source: Wikipedia]

The tohunga tā moko (tattoo specialists) originally used a range of uhi crafted from albatross bone, hafted onto wooden handles and struck with a mallet. Pigments were derived from natural materials: awheto (fungus) produced a dark brown hue for the body, while ngarehu (burnt timber) was used for the deep black of facial tattoos. The soot of burnt kauri gum was also mixed with fat to create a lustrous black pigment. These pigments were kept in elaborately carved vessels known as oko, which were often buried when not in use and passed down through generations. A korere (feeding funnel) was used to feed men whose mouths had swollen during the healing process after receiving tā moko.

Hamish McDonald wrote in Nikkei: It was a painful and somewhat dangerous process. The moko artist cut the lines into the skin with chisels made of bone, leaving incised grooves and ridges marked with black, dark blue or dark green dye made from the soot of specific plants. Derek Lardelli, a Māori and ta moko scholar in Gisborne, New Zealand, said the degree of precision achieved by the artists would be hard to match today, even with modern tattoo machines, which use electric needles and inject only the surface layers of skin. Tattoos were created by eye, in close rapport with the subjects, and without set patterns. The designs recall sweeping waves, curling fern fronds, the lines of whales and stories of ancestors. By the end of their lives, the rangatira chiefs came to resemble wood-carvings, like great ancient trees, Lardelli noted.[Source: Hamish McDonald, Nikkei, July 31, 2019]

Both men and women served as tā moko specialists, and many traveled between communities to practice their art. However, during the early colonial period, the pākehā (European) practice of collecting and trading mokomokai (tattooed heads) profoundly disrupted traditional tā moko customs. By the late nineteenth century, metal needles had largely replaced the uhi as the principal tool. The needle method was faster and carried fewer health risks, but it also altered the character of the tā moko, producing a smooth surface rather than the deeply incised texture of earlier work.

Māori Tattoo Designs and What They Mean

some Māori symbols used in tattoos

Traditional Māori tattoos— ta moko — are sacred visual representations of a person's identity, family heritage, social status, and life story, with each intricate design element carrying specific cultural significance. These tattoos connect the wearer to their ancestors and descendants, symbolizing their journey through life and the values important to their family and clan. Traditionally, to receive a moko, an individual needed permission from family elders or sub-clan leaders. The design was not chosen by the individual but was selected and created by a tribal tattoo expert (tohunga).

Key Elements of Ta Moko: 1) Whakapapa (Genealogy and Ancestry): Designs visually represent a person's family lineage, ancestral connections, and place within the community. 2) Identity and Social Status: ta moko serves as an "identity card," displaying the individual's rank, tribal affiliation, and social standing. 3) Life Achievements and Milestones: Patterns can mark significant life events, rites of passage, or achievements, such as military victories or important social rituals. 4) Cultural Pride and Heritage: Today, getting ta moko is an expression of cultural pride and a way to reclaim and perpetuate ancestral traditions. Spiritual Connection: The tattoos are deeply personal and sacred, connecting the wearer to both the spiritual and physical realms.

Common Design Elements and Their Meanings: 1) Koru (Spiral): Represents new life, growth, harmony, and new beginnings, inspired by the unfurling fern frond. 2) Hei Matau (Fish Hook): Symbolizes prosperity, strength, determination, and good health, along with a connection to the sea and navigation. 3) Pakati (Dog-Tooth Pattern): Signifies courage, warrior spirit, and strength, often seen in male designs. 4) Poutama (Stairway to Knowledge): A symbol of the stairway to knowledge and growth. 5) Niho Taniwha (Teeth of the Taniwha): Represents chiefly power and strength.

Māori Tattoos in the Modern World

Mike Tyson in 2019

Since the 1990s, there has been a significant revival of tā moko for both men and women, paralleling the broader resurgence of te reo Māori and Māori cultural practices. While most tā moko today is applied using modern tattoo machines, there has also been renewed interest in traditional methods employing uhi (chisels). Women have increasingly taken on roles as tā moko practitioners.

Contemporary tā moko artist Turumakina Duley explained this modern evolution in Artonview magazine: “The difference in tā moko today as compared to the nineteenth century is in the change of lifestyle, in the way we live. […] The tradition of moko was one of initiation, rites of passage — it started around that age — but it also benchmarks achievements in your life and gives you a goal to strive towards and achieve in your life.”

Today, a large proportion of New Zealanders have tattoos of some kind, and there is growing acceptance of body art as a form of both cultural and individual expression. The use of Māori tattoo designs by non-Māori has been labeled as cultural appropriation. High-profile examples — including tattoos worn by Robbie Williams and Ben Harper, and a 2007 Jean-Paul Gaultier fashion show featuring Māori-inspired motifs — have sparked considerable controversy. To address the global demand for Māori-inspired designs in a culturally respectful way, the organisation Te Uhi a Mataora promotes the use of the term kirituhi, which has since gained wide acceptance. Kirituhi translates literally as “skin writing.” Unlike moko, which requires consultation, consent, and connection through whakapapa (genealogy) and cultural knowledge, kirituhi refers to designs inspired by Māori art that can be applied to anyone, anywhere, without claiming cultural authority or lineage.

Māori Facial Tattoos and Mike Tyson

Māori facial tattoos were created by two methods. One was by piercing and pigmenting the skin with a tattooing comb. The other was by creating permanent grooves in the face with a chisel-like instrument. Male facial tattooing was done in stages in a male's life through adulthood. Female facial tattooing was known as ta ngutu. Designs were placed on the chin and lips. There is a growing revival of this art among younger Māori women nowadays. Today, facial tattoos are sometimes painted on.

Tukukino, an old fighting chief of the Ngāti Tamaterā people of the Hauraki district, North Island, New Zealand; He is pictured wearing a pōhoi ear ornament made from the skin of the huia, an ornament often worn by high-born chiefs in the years before the bird became extinct; Tukukino was famous for his determined opposition to the opening up of the Ohinemuri area for goldmining; Lindauer painted this portrait in 1878

The boxer Mike Tyson's is the most famous person with a Māori face tattoo. In 2003, when he was 37, he got a tribal tattoo on the left side of his head on his cheek and temple. Originally, he wanted something different. In an interview on In Depth with Graham Bensinger, he said that he wanted his face to be covered in heart tattoos because he thought it was cool and that he'd then be recognised as 'The Man of Hearts'. His tattoo artist talked him out of it. [Source: Mark McGowan, LAD Bible, June 30. 2016]

In the 2008 documentary Tyson, said his Māori tattoo represents his 'warrior status'. He got it, he said, because he thought the design was 'cool', adding "I thought it was so hot. I just thought it was a cool tattoo." After getting it done, thousands of people got similar tattoos. Tyson said: "I love this tattoo. Over a million people got it now, so I did a good thing. This is good."

Mokomokai — Māori Smoked Tattooed Heads

Mokomokai, or Toi moko, are the preserved heads of Māori, with faces that have been decorated by ta moko tattooing. They became valuable trade items during the Musket Wars of the early 19th century. In precolonial times, Māori communities preserved the heads of their rangatira chiefs as a way of retaining some of their power. When casualties in tribal fighting increased with the use of muskets in the early 19th century, the heads of lesser figures were often traded with passing ships for guns and other commodities.[Source: Wikipedia, Victoria University of Wellington]

When someone with moko died, often the head would be preserved. The method used by Māori in preserving human heads was unique and extremely simple. First, the brain was extracted, the eyes removed and all orifices sealed with flax fibre and gum before the head was boiled or steamed in an oven. One chronicler wrote: After “ being smoked over an open fire the Upoko was finally dried in the sun for several days before being treated with shark oil: finely incised tattooing of the head being perfectly preserved, along with the likeness of the deceased.

A missionary, Rev W Yate recorded the following speech by a warrior to the preserved head of an enemy chief: You wanted to run away didn't you? but my greenstone club overtook you! and after you were cooked you were made food for me!. And where is your father? he is cooked And where is your brother? he is eaten. And where is your wife? there she sits, a wife for me. And where are your children? there they are...loads on their backs carrying food as my slaves.

a photograph of a Mokomokai in American Museum journal from around 1910

Preserved heads were kept by their families in ornately carved boxes and brought out only for sacred ceremonies. Among relatives, the heads of both women and children were also preserved, and stored in carved wooden containers. Normally the heads were wives and offspring of chief s , and notable Toa or warriors. The heads of enemy chiefs killed in battle were also preserved; these mokomokai, being considered trophies of war, would be displayed on the marae and mocked. They were important in diplomatic negotiations between warring tribes, with the return and exchange of mokomokai being an essential precondition for peace.

Traditionally, the human head was the most sacred part of the body and most subject to tapu; neither hands nor food could touch it, particularly if the head was a chief or Tohunga. Related to Mokomokai, were ancient beliefs in the magical powers of such heads — which were connected to special prayers and ceremonies when publicly displayed in times of tribal and family mourning; the sacred head of a chief being the taumata or resting place of the ancestral spirit-communicated with through special priests.

In times of war, chiefly heads were focal points of tribal resistance: appealed to and placated on the same level almost as Atua or gods-their mana increasing with time and degree of success in prophesy and protection. Painted with red ochre (Kokowai) and shark oil, Mokomokai were the highly valued possessions of a people remarkable for their cultural achievements, and deep sense of human continuity through the generations. It was not until European intrusion that the traditional world of the Māori underwent radical change-under the pressure of missionaries, traders, settlers and the demands of a new warfare involving firearms generally exchanged for preserved heads-and all the highly esoteric beliefs and practices associated with them.

Trading and Collecting Māori Tattooed Heads

Among Māori 'Curios' collected by Captain Cook in 1770, was a preserved Ngaitahu head; the first of many Mokomokai to be exchanged for muskets over the next Century by whalers, sealers and traders, who often negotiated for heads even before Māori had been killed. Condemned men, usually slaves and war prisoners would be taken aboard ships, and captains would decide which man's head he wanted and it would be delivered later-in return for weapons. Often, prisoners were tattooed before death: while occasionally, Ta Moko was incised shortly after killing. [Source: Wikipedia, Victoria University of Wellington]

Trading for these heads with Western colonisers apparently began with Sir Joseph Banks, the botanist on HMB Endeavour, where he traded old linen drawers (underwear) for the head of a 14-year-old boy. It has since been suggested that this trade may have not been conducted voluntarily, as it is reported that Banks had a musket aimed at the leader of the Māori tribe as he was reluctant to relinquish the head of his ancestor. The head was traded as a "curio" and a fascination with the heads began to grow. This continued with Mokomokai heads being traded for muskets and the subsequent Musket Wars. During this period of social destabilisation, mokomokai became commercial trade items which could be sold as curios, artworks and as museum specimens which fetched high prices in Europe and America, and which could be bartered for firearms and ammunition.

Robley with mokomokai collection

During the early years of the 19th Century, trading in Māori heads was a thriving and very profitable business, a business described by Australia's Governor Darling as 'barbarous'. In 1831 he issued a proclamation in Sydney condemning the trade in 'baked heads' but failed to end the traffic. Not until 1840, when New Zealand became a British Colony, was any progress made against resistance among tribes in the interior, who continued the custom (among themselves) as late as 1870.

The demand for firearms was such that tribes carried out raids on their neighbours to acquire more heads to trade for them. While most early mokomokai sold to Europeans were slain warriors, eventually demand from European traders outstripped supply, so the heads of slaves and prisoners were tattooed (though with meaningless motifs rather than genuine moko) in order to provide heads to order. The peak years of the trade in mokomokai were from 1820 to 1831. In 1831 the Governor of New South Wales issued a proclamation banning further trade in heads out of New Zealand, and during the 1830s the demand for firearms diminished because every surviving group was fully armed. By 1840 when the Treaty of Waitangi was signed, and New Zealand became a British colony, the export trade in mokomokai had virtually ended, along with a decline in the use of moko in Māori society, although occasional small-scale trade continued for several years.

Major-General Horatio Gordon Robley was a British army officer and artist who served in New Zealand during the New Zealand Wars in the 1860s. A talented illustrator, he was interested in ethnology and fascinated by the art of tattooing. He wrote the classic text on the subject of moko, Moko; or Māori Tattooing, which was published in 1896. After he returned to England he built up a notable collection of 35 to 40 mokomokai which he later offered to sell to the New Zealand Government. When the offer was declined, most of the collection was sold to the American Museum of Natural History. The collection was repatriated to Te Papa Tongarewa in 2014.

Repatriation of Māori Smoked Heads

At present it is estimated that over two hundred Mokomokai are in Museums in New Zealand and overseas. In recent years there has been a campaign to repatriate to New Zealand mokomokai held in museums and private collections around the world, either to be returned to their relatives or to the Museum of New Zealand for storage, though not display. It has had some success, though many mokomokai remain overseas and the campaign is ongoing.

In 2018, Brigit Katz wrote in Smithsonian magazine: The Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum of World Cultures in Cologne has become the latest in a string of institutions to return a preserved head to New Zealand. A former director of the museum purchased the controversial item from a London dealer in 1908. After being held at the Rautenstrauch for 110 years, the head was given to the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa — also known as Te Papa — during a repatriation ceremony in Wellington in June, 2018. Te Papa hosted a powhiri or welcome ceremony to mark the return of the toi moko from Cologne in addition to 16 other ancestral remains of Māori and Moriori (people indigenous to New Zealand's easterly Chatham Islands) recently repatriated from the United States. According to a museum press release, the repatriated remains will stay at Te Papa's wahi tapu or sacred repository until the deceased individuals' descendants can be identified.[Source: Brigit Katz, Smithsonian, July 16, 2018]

In recent years, there has been a push within New Zealand to seek the return of Māori remains. The government’s indigenous repatriation program has arranged for the restoration of some 400 individuals since it was established in 1990, according to Eleanor Ainge Roy of the Guardian. Beginning in 2003, the government mandated Te Papa to create Karanga Aotearoa, a special unit within the national museum, whose mission is also focused on securing the return of Māori and Moriori skeletal remains still held abroad.

“Our ultimate aim is to ensure the safe return of Māori and Moriori ancestors to their uri [descendants]," Te Herekiekie Herewini, head of repatriation at Te Papa, said in the museum's statement. "Through this work, the ancestors are embraced by their whanau, comforted by the spirit of the land and once return to a peaceful enduring slumber.”

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: “Encyclopedia of World Cultures, Volume 2: Oceania,” edited by Terence E. Hays, 1996, National Geographic, New Zealand Tourism Board, New Zealand Herald, New Zealand government, Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand, Live Science, Natural History magazine, New Zealand Geographic, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, Encyclopedia.com, Library of Congress, The Conversation, The New Yorker, BBC, CNN, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, Culture Shock! New Zealand, Wikipedia, The Guardian and various websites, books and other publications.

Last updated October 2025