HAWAIIN ISLANDS | ARTS + CULTURE
Tattooing, the traditional Hawaiian way
The technique of applying tattoos with an electric needle is relatively new. For centuries, Hawaiians used a cruder -- and far more painful -- method.
A sharpened bone or shell was tied to a stick and then dipped in ink made from the kukui nut. The point was then hammered against the body to impregnate the skin. The pain was, understandably, intense.
"It's, like, 10 times worse than having it done by machine," says Keeaumoku Kapu, whose chest bears a tattoo applied the traditional way.
Once the tattoo is complete, an egg is cracked on the person's forehead.
"That symbolizes that you're born again," Kapu says. "You're no longer [the old] you."
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