PHOTOS: Book Looks At The Tattoos Of A Tribe Of Former Headhunters : Goats and Soda The tattoos were once a sign that a man in India's Konyak clan was a headhunter. A new book tells their story.
Chingham Chatrahpa, 75, shows off his facial and neck tattoos. A face tattoo would be etched after a man's first headhunting expedition, usually at the age of 18-to-25 years. Only a warrior who decapitated an enemy could get a neck tattoo. Peter Bos hide caption
Chingham Chatrahpa, 75, shows off his facial and neck tattoos. A face tattoo would be etched after a man's first headhunting expedition, usually at the age of 18-to-25 years. Only a warrior who decapitated an enemy could get a neck tattoo.
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When Phejin Konyak was a girl, she'd sit on her grandfather's lap in front of a roaring fireplace, with a pot of black tea simmering. He'd tell her folk tales. She was entranced by the stories — but even more by the jet black tattoos that curved over his eyes, nose, upper lip and chin. His neck, chest and body were filled with geometrical shapes and patterns.
When she went to boarding school at age 4, she began to realize that her grandfather's tattooed body – and indeed, the tattooed bodies of his fellow tribesmen – were quite extraordinary.
"All sorts of tribesmen would pass by our home or halt here for the night. All of them were elaborately decorated with tattoos. I always believed that tattooed bodies were the norm, " she says.
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(Roli books), documenting the tattooing traditions and the headhunting rituals of her ancestors. She collaborated with photographer Peter Bos to explore the changing ways of life and culture of this warrior clan.
Fiercely individualistic, they once believed in settling disputes by headhunting — decapitating their enemies. They also hunted the heads of animals — cows, wild boars and monkeys.
"I don't deny that change is good, especially when it ushers in education, but in the case of the Konyaks it was too much, too soon, " says Phejin. When she visited the National Museum of Kolkata in August 2014, she realized how much of India's rich cultural history was on display — and how there was barely any information about her own people. One reason, she says, is that people have been afraid to go into the territory of these fearsome warriors. "It struck me that even within India, the Konyak identity wasn't as well-known, " says Phejin. "I knew our voices needed to be heard."
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And that's where the tattoos came in. A warrior who decapitated an enemy would be decorated with a prized neck tattoo. If he were only part of a larger hunting group and didn't actually cut the head of his prey, he would be given a facial tattoo. Rattan palm cane needles were bound into "tattoo combs" to etch the design, using the sap from the kong tree for the dark ink.
In addition to the headhunting-related tattoos for men, the patterns were indicative of their clan and represented bravery, status and achievement. "For women and girls, tattoos marked a transition in their lives from one phase to the next, " adds Phejin. Women also had special tattoos signifying the achievements of male members of their family.
Today, the younger generation dresses in traditional clothes during festivals, but they paint their faces instead of undergoing the painful process of tattooing.
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In March 2015, Phejin met Peter Bos, a 46-year-old Netherlands-based portrait photographer. She asked him to help with her book, he readily agreed. They both invested from their personal funds to cover their research.
"It was an intriguing project, " says Bos. "I was always painfully aware that I could be the last to document the Konyaks.
"I shot a picture of an old frail man who was standing outside his bamboo hut, with a bag of monkey skulls. Back home I printed the photo out and sent it to his family. By the time they'd received it, he had passed away."
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Phejin and Bos had to contend with leech-infested forests and pouring rain to reach subjects in remote villages. In April that year, they set out to photograph a warrior with a neck tattoo. (Though headhunting was banned in 1935, it persisted until the '70s.)
Seventy-five-year-old Chingham Chatrahpa lived in Chen Loishu village in a remote part of Mon district. "Our pick-up truck couldn't go on because of the bad roads and heavy rain. We hired a four-wheel drive that took us a bit further, but we had to cover the rest of the five miles on foot, " says Bos.
Chatrahpa refused to allow them to photograph him at first. "Thankfully, we were able to convince him, " says Bos — partly because a Konyak woman was behind the project. Their photo of him is at the top of this post.
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In some of the photos in the book, it is evident how the changing times have affected the Konyaks. There is a picture of an old warrior posing with his grandchild, holding him close just outside their long house. The child is dressed in western clothes. The contrast, Bos says, caught his eye immediately.
Wanglei Wangshu, 79, with his grandson. His face tattoo indicates that he has participated in a headhunting expedition. But he doesn't have the neck tattoo that's a sign that he decapitated someone. Peter Bos hide caption
Another startling image is that of 82-year old Pennga of Hunphoi village. His chest tattoos were a stark contrast to his western clothing. "He wore old gym pants, a beret cap on his head and dark glasses, " says Bos. "He posed for me with such confidence."I f one thing has become obvious in the summer heat and the inevitable baring of flesh, it’s the degree to which body art is now the norm. At the pool, the park, or the pub beer garden, you’ll find an enormous variety of designs inked on the skin representing the breadth of human creativity.
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About 20% of adults in the UK now have at least one tattoo, and that proportion is likely to grow. Cynics might argue that the increased uptake is a superficial fad, based purely on the aesthetic appeal of tattoos. In this view, they might be the result of a momentary impulse to follow a passing trend followed by years of regret, rather than something that holds deep meaning.
Prof Viren Swami, a psychologist at Anglia Ruskin University who studies body image, thinks that these superficial explanations are highly unlikely. “Given their permanence, and the pain that’s involved, and the planning that often goes into getting a tattoo, it’s very difficult to conceptualise tattooing as a fashion accessory, ” he says.
In his opinion, it is far more interesting to examine the ways that people use body art for self-realisation, as artistic endeavours that are expressions of identity, body ownership, and personal growth. Many are now finding that tattoos are a particularly apt way of marking a bereavement – a means of holding the loved one close after death.
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Like any art form, tattooing should be understood in its historical and cultural context. Our ancestors seem to have recognised the skin as a canvas since time immemorial. The oldest definitive proof of body art comes from Ötzi, the 5, 300-year-old body of a man who remained frozen in a glacier near Bolzano, Italy, until it was discovered by two hikers in 1991. He bore 61 tattoos of geometric designs across his left wrist, lower legs, lower back, and his torso. Ancient body art – dating from at least 3, 000 years ago – has also been found in human remains from Egypt, Russia, China and Chile.
Given how widespread tattooing is – and apparently always has been – some psychologists have suggested it may have an evolutionary purpose. According to one theory, you would have needed to have a robust immune system to survive the danger of infection after getting your skin inked; if you survived, it could show that you had good genes to pass on to your children. In this way, it acted as a fitness signal, making you more sexually attractive to prospective partners. Swami, however, is unconvinced by the theory. “I think it’s much easier to understand tattooing from a social and cultural perspective than it is from an evolutionary perspective, ” he says. In other words, it is the way we use body art to express ourselves, within a particular context, that really matters.
The history of body art in Britain has been rather chequered. There are records of tattoos on indigenous Britons at time of Caesar’s invasion. Indeed, the practice was so widespread that the name Britain is likely to be derived from the Celtic word
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Swami explains that tattoos gained renewed popularity after Captain Cook’s exploration of the Pacific, as sailors returned with designs inked by the people they encountered. “The twist in this tale, though, is that in the late 19th century, once the first electric tattooing machine had been invented, tattooing suddenly flipped and became very popular among the upper classes in
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