ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how people situate themselves in the world, physically and ideologically. Although Tahitians have various ways of manipulating their bodies, it explores tattooing, which is singularly powerful because it is permanent. When ink is inserted into the skin, an indelible mark is made on the body that stays with the person for as long as they remain alive. Historical discontinuity is one of the significant features of Tahitian tattooing, which is differentiated from tattooing elsewhere in Polynesia. Tahitian tattooing was abandoned due to suppression by Christian missionaries in the 1830s, and revived in the 1980s as a part of a cultural revitalization movement. There are two levels of involvement of individual agency in tattooing. First, body modification, including tattooing, is an active practice of individuals. Second, whether one actually practices body modification or not, one is actively involved in the construction and transformation of social systems through making assessments on tattooing and tattoos.
