The History of Tattooing
Polynesia
The Maoris - Tahiti - Samoa - Marquesas
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The explorer Captain Cook came to Tahiti in the 1700-hundreds, and
heard the natives call it "ta-tau". He brought the word to
Europe.
He did make some mistakes though, when he put it down to English
phonetics. For a long time it has been thought that the word related to
the sound of the sticks that beats the colour into the skin. But
new knowledge of the Tahitian language *) tells us that it shall be spelled
ta-ta-u.
The double ta-ta does not relate to the sound, but to an act that is
done with your hand. U means colour.
A few examples: Ta-tara = to pull a thorn out, when you have been stung.
Ta-iri = to beat with your hand.
Ta-hiri = to use a fan made of laced palm leaves.
Ta-pu = to place something in your hand and make an offering (pu) to the
gods, whereby it becomes holy - this has given the word Taboo!
Ta-hiri = to apply oil.
The repetitive ta-ta tells that you with your hands beat
several (two) times, to get the colour u into the skin.
Thus: Tatau.
Other sources tells us that it may be more complicated. In Samoan the word tatau means "must, necessary, appropriate" - because it is necessary to get a tattoo in life.
*) Thanks to Michel Yieng Kow for the information.
Tattooing technique:
The old tattooing technique was the same in all the Polynesian Islands.
A number of needles were attached to the end of a stick, and they used
another stick as a hammer to beat the needle stick with.
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