This Papua art began circa 3000 years ago when Austronesian immigrants from Asia. They moved to Papua and started a practice of tattoo culture on Papua’s north coast. There are 3 tribes that have tattoos on their bodies. They are the Sentani tribe in Jayapura, the Moi tribe in Sorong, and the Waropen tribe in Cenderawasih Bay.
Sentani Tribal Tattoo
The traditional Papua art, or tattoos of the Sentani tribe, Jayapura Regency, or enahu, are quickly becoming obsolete. The reason for this is that awareness of one of the Sentani tribe’s indigenous traditions has limitations to the elderly, whilst the younger generation is no longer present.
Method
Enahu (tattoo) uses charcoal from the burning of wam wood combined with breadfruit tree sap. Sago thorns or fish bones are then soaked in sap and charcoal. Then, it is ready to stab into the chest, cheeks, eyelids, calves, hips, and back of the body. This tattoo can last for three months before the wedding ceremony.
Tattoo Pattern
Sentani women’s tattoo motifs include depictions of nine fish, eels, and birds of paradise. The tattoo’s purpose is to enhance the bride’s appearance. The symbolism of a bird of paradise and a fish depict a mother or a woman who provides nourishment to her children and the community.
While the purpose of tattoos for males is to make the groom seem good. Sentani, the groom, had tattoos of a crocodile, a saw shark, a snake, and a cassowary. These animals represent a man’s manhood. The groom must be masculine in addressing life’s obstacles with a manly soul in order to attain tremendous success.
Moi Tribe Tattoos
Only the elder generation of the Moi tribe in Sorong Regency, West Papua, is still tattooing their bodies, while the younger generation has stopped tattooing and is said to be on the verge of extinction.
The Moi tribe are the original inhabitants of Sorong Regency. The Moi tribe spread themselves throughout practically all of Sorong Regency and other growth regions in the vicinity.
Method
The Moi Tribe’s customary law territory, which also refers to the Malamoi Tribe, has a location in Sorong Regency. Tattoos are body ornaments for the Moi people, and the tattooing substance is fine charcoal (yak kibi) from burning wood combined with langsat tree sap (loum).
The thorns of the sago tree or fish bones are usually dipped in a combination of langsat sap and charcoal. Afterwards, it stabs on the body area for which the traditional tattoo motif will be formed, which can be on the chest, cheekbones, eyelids, calves, hips, or the back of the body.
Tattoo Pattern
This tattoo pattern consists of geometric motifs or circular lines and points aligned in the shape of a conical triangle or tridiagonal. The tattoo design is usually customized for the limited region of the body to be inked. However, today’s youthful population does not like to get tattoos, maybe due to the times or present conventions and work ethics.
Tato Waropen
Women, the inhabitants of Waropen, Papua, usually do the tattoo, rather than men.
Method
This papua art or tattoo pattern first places itself on the skin through black coloring. Then two fishbones pierced the skin and were strung together on a pair of wooden sticks that were softly getting hammered with another piece of wood.
Black makes a threat again to the little incisions until they become somewhat irritated, leaving the theme indelible in the skin. The entire procedure is fairly uncomfortable, which is why tattooing is done in phases.
Tattoo Pattern
During their adolescence years, the Waropen females had several tattoos on their bodies (including onda: paintings of boats, letters, and writing), both on the chest and thighs, as well as on the arms of their faces.
So, those are several Papua art or cultural tattoos that can be your inspiration. Maybe you can get inspiration from the ways they are done, or the patterns themselves. If you want the original ones, perhaps you can go for them and visit Papua.
