Maori Tattoos
Maoris are the indigenous people of 
Not only these, these are also for making a person more attractive to the opposite sex. Penning these designs differ with the sex. Men generally receive on their faces, buttocks and thighs. Women usually have them on their lips and chins. Other parts include the foreheads, neck and backs of women, and the backs, stomachs and calves of men. The awheto, ‘Vegetable caterpillar’ was used traditionally by Maori for making tattoo ink and ngarehu (burnt timbers) for the blacker face color. For making pigment, they mixed the soot from burnt kauri gum with the fat. An ornamented vessel named oko is used for storing the pigments and is often buried when not in use. These vessels were handed over on to the successive generations. Till 20th century, only men have predominantly practiced this tattooing business. Later only, women folk took to this business.