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Cama'i, today we will be discussing Traditional Tattooing of the Kodiak Island Alutiiq. Cultures in the Arctic region have been tattooing themselves for at least 3,500 years. Tattoos carried messages regarding social information, spiritual protection, and medicinal assistance.
Tattoos were done by two methods: First is breaking the skin with a fine bone needle and then rubbing the cut with a mixture of spruce charcoal and blood, this resulted in a dark blue tattoo. The second method is running a blackened sinew thread beneath the skin with a needle.
It is believed that traditionally women were highly skilled tattoo artists due to their experience in sewing animal skin and furs.
Married and unmarried women wore two different styles of tattoos. In Alutiiq society, preparation for marriage began at puberty. When a young woman got her first menstrual period, she was secluded in a special hut for at least 10 days.
This prevented her new and powerful life-giving abilities from polluting hunting gear or diminishing the hunting luck of the men in her family. This ritual separation also marked her transition into womanhood. When she emerged from seclusion, she received chin tattoos (Tumlakas)
Women tattooed their chins with five vertical lines which signaled the women’s status as an adult, marriageability, and probably fertility. They also tattooed lines from the ears to the chin, lines across the cheeks, or small round dots on the cheeks.
Married women also might tattoo their chest and arms as a sign of love and pride for their husband and family. These tattoos were signs of wealth and high social standing. Here I have a picture of Sugpiat dancer Hanna Sholl’s wedding tattoo.
Unfortunately tattooing is a disappearing practice. Contact with western cultures changed the tattooing traditions drastically. By the early 1800’s it was observed that tattooing was becoming less common among the Indigenous people of the Kodiak region.
Personally, I have met 4-5 young women in Kodiak who have made the huge decision to revitalize this important right of passage in our culture by getting these tattoos themselves.
Lastly, Kodiak Island Sugpiat people pierced themselves in many ways: including nosepins, ear ornaments, and labrets. Kodiak Island women had several holes in their lower lip from which they hung beads and small white bones. These holes varied between two and six.
Their lips were pierced by close relatives and there was a great deal of respect that went into the process. Therefore, women islanders had the most piercings. Although labrets were usually worn for decorative purposes, they also signified the social status, prestige, and age.
Quyanna, feel free to check out my extensive thread on Sugpiat regalia and my personal introduction in Sugcestun.
Sources: Peggy Azuyak, Hanna Sholl, Alutiiq Museum of Kodiak
(1) https://www.npr.org/2015/10/10/446868008/a-return-to-native-roots-traced-in-ink
(2) http://www.vanishingtattoo.com/artic_piercing.htm
(3) https://www.alutiiqmuseum.org/files/Ed%20Handouts/28%20Marriage.pdf
Sources: Peggy Azuyak, Hanna Sholl, Alutiiq Museum of Kodiak
(1) https://www.npr.org/2015/10/10/446868008/a-return-to-native-roots-traced-in-ink
(2) http://www.vanishingtattoo.com/artic_piercing.htm
(3) https://www.alutiiqmuseum.org/files/Ed%20Handouts/28%20Marriage.pdf
