The Ancient Inks You Can Also Get

Magical powers, healing properties, markers for the afterlife... these are the legends around ancient tribal tattoos. And you can get one too.

Transcript

00:00I am Mon Aga, I am trying to revive traditional tattoos.

00:30We use thorns, natural thorns as the needle, we tie them together with natural fiber, we

00:46extract ink, the soot and mix it with carriers like rice beer, tea, another liquid, we use

00:56some special leaves that has antiseptic property for wiping because we don't have tissues,

01:02remember back then.

01:03It's all connected, it has the capacity to heal, it has the capacity to inspire, it has

01:24the capacity to heal, it has the capacity to inspire, it would also mark the transformation

01:54stages from a young girl, to teenage, to adulthood, to getting married, to becoming a mother.

02:24It is complete bullshit because in their fascination for stories like that, they completely forget

02:49that men also have tattoos on their chin, you know, so who were kidnapping the men,

02:54you know, the other tribe's women came down because they were the most handsome ones.

03:08It also talks about their spiritual beliefs, sometimes it is ornamental, sometimes rites

03:16of passage, sometimes marks your identity, your status, the achievements that you have

03:22made in life, and there are so many different reasons why the Naga people used to tattoo.

03:27Harrington is just one aspect of it, they have meanings, those are not random lines,

03:41a lot of it is already lost, but whatever is left, we are trying to recollect it, and

03:47unfortunately, it is the loss of indigenous aesthetics.