Two people who travelled to Samoa a couple of years ago to receive traditional tattoos are now seeking corrective work after their markings were left incomplete and improperly done by a local tattooist.
Su’a Suluape Alaiva’a, one of Samoa’s most senior tattoo masters, told the Samoa Observer that the siblings’ experience highlights the risks of trusting unqualified tattooists.
He said the local tattooist in question was never granted permission to use the au (tattooing stick), but took equipment while working with his children in Apia and began tattooing on the side. That tattooist worked as the ‘toso’, which is the person who pulls and wipes the skin while the tufuga tattoos the skin.
Su’a said design mistakes are visible in online photos that have been circulating on the internet.
“I look at it and see that the placement of the patterns is wrong. The way the pattern goes down to the back is correct, but the way the patterns are placed is wrong — there is a huge difference from what it is meant to be.”
Despite warnings to stop earlier on, Su’a said the local tattooist continued because of money.
“I cannot hold these people back from carrying out the work, but the reason these wrongdoings come up in the first place is the person who is being tattooed. What is tattooed on your body cannot be taken off.”
He emphasized that the Samoan tattoo tradition was never meant to be about profit. “Our work was never to be paid with money. People nowadays just come over, pay the money, then hop on the plane and go back. They don’t stay and visit their families. That is the biggest difference between these times and those of the past. The opportunity is always open to carry out the fa’a Samoa way.”
