MUNDURUCU
One Samoan legend tells how the sisters Taema and Tilafaiga learn the art of tattooing in Fiji. Swimming home, they repeat the instruction to tattoo women rather than men. Near Samoa they spot a tempting shellfish on the seabed and dive down to retrieve it.
When they surface, they resume their chant—but reverse its meaning, now calling for men to be tattooed rather than women. The story offers a memorable explanation for the origins of men’s tattooing in Samoa.
The men’s peʻa, a word also used for the flying fox, covers the body from the waist towards the knees. Women have their own traditional tattoo, the malu. Both form part of a living tradition connected with family, service and cultural identity.