My Ta Moko!

Kia Ora!

On Friday I flew back to Melbourne from New Zealand after spending a month long holiday over there. It was AMAZING!!! I would have stayed if I could! Apart from shopping, and catching up with family and friends I got me a Ta Moko; A Maori tattoo that cannot be copied by another person other than family as it holds significant meaning to the person who designed it! My aunty, dad and I designed mine!

This is what I got! 

My Ta moko is all about my family tree and family history. It begins in the middle where the two koru patterns meet (both halves of the tattoo); the meeting signifies the beginning of life itself and is then spreads out into my parents. The fact that the koru patterns don’t actually join is to show the difference between the two cultures of my parents: Maori and Pakeha (European English). The Diamond patterns that go both up and down the Ta Moko are the family line, the way that they merge into each other and never fully create a full diamond represents the tradition, culture, and values that have been passed down from generation to generation. They eventually lead into two koru patterns on each end, which are for all my brothers and sisters- the bigger korus are the older ones and the smaller korus are for the little one. The rest of the patterns just represent culture. The three waves on the right of the tattoo represent hope, love and faith all connected by a line of trust.

That’s about it I think. The Ta Moko took three and a half hours to do, pretty proud of myself for doing it in one sitting especially considering it was my first ever tattoo! Choice aye! haha

I'll post the Whakapapa up when I get it right! Cause that's in the tattoo too!