Samoa

Samoa is a Polynesian island country with a living tradition of tatau, or tattooing. Men's peʻa and women's malu connect bodily decoration with family, service and cultural identity.

A famous story tells how the sisters Taema and Tilafaiga learned tattooing in Fiji. Swimming home, they repeated the instruction to tattoo women rather than men.

Near Samoa, they spotted a shellfish and dived to collect it. When they surfaced, they resumed the chant—but reversed its meaning. Now the words called for men to be tattooed rather than women.

The story gives a memorable explanation for men's tattooing. The peʻa extends from the waist towards the knees, creating a dense arrangement of patterns. Women have their own tradition, the malu. Both involve skilled tattooists and a demanding process whose meaning reaches beyond the finished design.