Atayal facial tattoos

photo by Mikael Owunna

The Atayal (泰雅) or Taya, or Tayal (aboriginal tribe in Taiwan) place great cultural significance on their facial tattoos (ptasan). According to legend, a stone called Pinspkan split open and three people emerged. One returned to the stone and the other two fell in love. However, the man was too shy to tell the woman he loved her. So the woman put coal on her face to change her appearance so he could speak openly to her. It is believed that facial tattoos are used (like the coal) to symbolize maturity. Girls receive them when they are "ready for marriage" and have learned how to weave. in fact, like the Truku (太魯閣族) and Sediq (賽德克族) tribes, the intricacy of the tattoo design can reveal the expertise of the weaver. However, there are few living Atayal women with tattoos. You see, in the 1930's when the Japanese ruled Taiwan, they outlawed tattooing because they believed it was barbaric and a symbol of headhunting. So women who have this special tattoo are around 100 years old. Facial tattoos are viewed negatively by many in Taiwan because in the dominant Han society, facial tattoos have been used to mark people as criminals and outcasts. 

There have been recent attempts to preserve this important tradition. In 2008, an Atayal woman and her husband got Atayal tattoos; the first Atayal facial tattoos in nearly a century. Atayal elders have also called for the preservation of this tradition and many cultural events include temporary facial tattoos. My Fulbright collaborator, Mikael Owunna, recently photographed a student at Nan'ao elementary school wearing a tattoo for an Atayal dance performance (photo above). See the rest of his beautiful photos here. Some people, like Kimi Labal (Atayal photographer) have spent years documenting the remaining elders with Atayal facial tattoos. Unfortunately, the disappearance of the Atayal facial tattoos is symbolic of the numerous ways that aboriginal communities have been forced into assimilation and hence lose critical aspects of their culture. 

note: the image of the Atayal woman above is from http://www.culture24.org.uk/art/art13151