Professional Documents
Culture Documents
But art is not limited to paint brushes and pens. Known for their innate resourcefulness, our
forefathers used their own bodies as a living canvass to express themselves by means of the
painful, yet intricate, art of tattooing. Though it is highly criticized by many conservative minds as a
way of disrespecting and defiling ones own body, perhaps there is something more to this form of
art, beyond the fact that it requires blood and endurance before someone might fully appreciate the
beauty that lies under the works of needle and ink.
Scott added that the position of the tattoo on ones body indicates certain meanings about the
Pintados. According to him, chest tattoos are given to those who have been in a series of battles. As
their war experiences grew in number, their tattoos would also cover their backs. Facial tattoos are
special markings that are reserved only for those who are proven to be the bravest warriors of their
tribe.
The Tattooed Headhunters
In the northern part of the Philippines, hardened mountain men from the tribes of Kalinga,
Bontoc and Ifugao also practice tattoo rituals or pagbabatuk. Like the Pintados, tattoos are often
seen on the bravest warriors and head hunters. Their women also have the right to possess tattoos on
their body, wherein it is believed to increases their beauty as well as their fertility.
Having a tattoo for these highland people marks the beginning of a mans journey from a legitimate
head hunter to a fearsome warrior. In the study made by Analyn Ikin V. Salvador-Amores from UP
Baguio, men can officially be named as a head hunter the moment he managed to make his first kill.
Doing this will make him acquire a tattoo called gulot which is described as a banded stripe
pattern. When he gets his second kill, he can now have another tattoo that will be placed in his hands.
The more kills he will get in his lifetime, the more intricate designs of tattoo will be placed on him.
This continues until such time that he acquires a tattoo on his cheeks which signifies him as a warrior
of the highest level, gaining the title of maingor.
Currently, the only living tattoo artist or magbabatuk in the Cordillera region who still practices
the traditional tattoo ritual is Apo Whang-Od. She is currently training her niece in order to preserve
this culturally significant art.
Meanings Behind The Ink
Different cultures have a varying perspective on the significance of tattoos. Ancient Egyptians
considered tattoos as protective markings from diseases especially for women when they are
pregnant. In Thailand, Yantra Tattoos are sacred markings on the body which act as a charm for
those who bear it. On the other hand, Greek culture used tattoos to mark their slaves wherein they are
treated as possessions. In the Philippines, tattoos during the pre-colonial age was a wide-spread
tradition that not just culminated ones life as a warrior but it also had several connections with our
animistic roots.
The names of tattoo designs used by our ancestors were recorded by Scott and most of these designs
reflected the beautiful imagery of nature. The Labid, was an inch-wide vertical design that
resemble a snake or crocodiless scale pattern zigzagging from ones legs to their
waist. Bangut was an exclusive tattoo design for the face of warriors, resembling the gaping jaw
of crocodile or sometimes the face of an eagle. In a similar way, there are tattoos which were only
done or applied on certain body parts such as Ablay for shoulder, Dubdub for chest and Daya-
Daya for the arms.
In Los Angeles, a group of Filipino-Americans formed a group of tattoo enthusiast known as Tatak
ng Apat na Alon (Mark of the Four Waves) preserve Filipino tribal designs in their tattoo art.
Raised in foreign lands, these people find a deep connection to their roots through tattooing.
Whether it symbolizes valor or simply an aesthetic appeal for todays youth, tattooing, holds such an
ingrained cultural value that it has survived 400 years under one of the largest and most oppressive
colonial empires in history. Perhaps that is the true meaning of an authentic masterpiece; it lives
forever not just on paper or canvass, but under the skin of a people known the world over as one of
the most enduring and steadfast races to ever walk the face of the earth; the Filipinos.