I’m just gonna say it:
Not all tattoos have to have meanings and yeah you can have tattoos just to look badass but please reconsider getting any indigenous/native tattoos.

That said these don’t count and I’ll tell you why

First things first: the word “tattoo” is said to have originated from the Samoan word “tatau”. I’m aware each culture has their own word for their respective tattoos but for this thread I’m using the word “tatau” to mean all traditional Polynesian tattoos. Ok moving on!

Reason I’m focusing on these “tribal tattoos” specifically is cuz they’re inspired by Polynesian tatau which tend to have intricate patterns and symbols that represent the person. Although they might have “pictures” w/in the tatau, the entire tatau doesn’t “shape into” something

There’s several different kinds of tatau and like many things in native culture they all have significance. Ex: Samoan pe’a is still practiced as a traditional rite of passage for men and MUST cover the entirety of the man’s waist down to their mid thigh/knees. All of it.

Ofc there’s tatau for women as well, but like most Polynesian cultures they are either placed on different parts of the body than men or have an entirely different style
1)Men pe’a vs women malu
2)Maori men moko (men cover their face)
3)Maori women moko (placed on chin)

These are only examples and please feel free to add more info/correct what I’ve placed here but the bottom line is that most of these tribal tattoos mainly just look badass whereas many of these examples are still practiced to this day. Just be mindful while looking badass, yeh?

I also know I focused heavily on Polynesian tattoos this thread but if y’all wanna show off your own indigenous tattoos too feel free to hop in as well so I can get my mind blown over your tattoos AND your cultural practices

This is really a long winded way of me saying tribal tattoos aren’t really “tribal” tattoos so if you wanna get them just to look cool then go ahead since it looks & represents none of these other practices but that’s merely my own opinion