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I was watching the History Channel the other day, and they had this really interesting program on about the history of tattooing around the world.

One part I found really fascinating was watching the native Hawaiian people that have their tats done in the same way their forefathers did to keep that tradition alive. The tools they used were really neat, and the designs were amazing considering how primitive the tools were.

They also went to Japan, Australia, South Amaerica, looked at the military, and looked at the prison system incuding gagn tattoos.

I hope it will come on again so I can watch the whole thing (I turned it on about halfway through.)

Michelle, my friend watched that and said it was awesome, I'll have to catch it when it comes on again

i dont have cable so im envious and wish i could have seen it. im stuck with books.

but yeah a lot of countries other than hawaii are keeping up the tradition of using the old fashion way to tattoo. theyre pretty much masters of their craft those who are left who still do it.

In some ways it was kind of scary looking at those "barbaric" tools, but on the other hand it was really beautiful. Knowing the tradition that comes down with it.

I specifically remember one guy from Hawaii saying the reason he was having his tat done in the traditional way was because his Dad would be the last in their family to be of pure Hawaiian line. SO this was his way of keeping the Hawaiian blood flowing to pass down.

There's just something beyond having a cool piece of art when you do that.

ive noticed a lot of the really beautiful art has a story like that behind it. or maybe its the story makes it more beautiful than the actual amazing craftsmanship.

the word tattoo is said to has two major derivations- from
the polynesian word �ta� which means striking something
and the tahitian word �tatau� which means �to mark something�.