On the American continent we find tattooing practised from north to
south, from east to west, for the most diverse reasons, among which
the desire to facilitate courtship is never even hinted at. The
Eskimos, about the age of puberty, apply paint and tattooing to their
faces, cut holes and insert plugs or labrets. The object of these
disfigurements is indicated by Bancroft (I., 48): "Different tribes,
and different ranks of the same tribe, have each their peculiar form
of tattooing." Moreover, "these operations are supposed to possess
some significance other than that of mere ornament. Upon the occasion
of piercing the lip, for instance, a religious feast is given." John
Murdoch relates (Mallery, 396) that the wife of an Eskimo chief had "a
little mark tattooed in each corner of her mouth, which she said were
'whale marks,' indicating that she was the wife of a successful
whaleman." Of the Kadiaks Bancroft says (72): "The more the female
chin is riddled with holes, the greater the respectability." Among the
Chippewayan Indians Mackenzie found (85) that both sexes had "blue or
black bars, or from one to four straight lines, on their cheeks or
foreheads to distinguish the tribe to which they belong." Swan writes
(Mallery, 1882-83, 67) that
"the tattoo marks of the Haidas are heraldic designs or the
family totem, or crests of the wearers, and are similar to
the carvings depicted in the pillars and monuments around
the homes of the chiefs."
A Haida Indian remarked to Swan (69): "If you were tattooed with the
design of a swan, the Indians would know your family name." It is at
festivals and masquerade performances, says the same writer, that "the
tatoo marks show with the best effect, and the rank and family
connection [are] known by the variety of design," Lafitan reports
(II., 43) regarding the Iroquois and Algonquins that the designs which
they have tattooed on their faces and bodies are employed as
hieroglyphics, writing, and records, to indicate victories, etc. The
designs tattooed on an Indian's face or body distinguish him, he adds,
as we do a family by its armorial bearings.
"In James's Long it is reported that the Omahas are often
neatly tattooed.... The daughters of chiefs and those of
wealthy Indians generally are denoted by a small round spot
tattooed on the forehead."
(Mallery, 1888-89, 395.) Bossu says regarding the practice of
tattooing by the Osages (in 1756): "It is a kind of knighthood to
which they are only entitled by great actions." Blue marks tattooed
upon the chin of a Mojave woman indicate that she is married. The
Serrano Indians near Los Angeles had, as late as 1843, a custom of
having special tattoo marks on themselves which were also made on
trees to indicate the corner boundaries of patches of land. (Mallery,
1882-83, 64, 182.) In his book on the California Indians, Powers
declares (109) that in the Mattoal tribe the men tattoo themselves; in
the others the women alone tattoo. The theory that the women are thus
marked in order that the men may be able to recognize them and redeem
them from captivity seems plausible for the reasons that these Indians
are rent into a great number of divisions and that "the squaws almost
never attempt any ornamental tattooing, but adhere closely to the
plain regulation mark of the tribe." The Hupâ Indians have discovered
another practical use for body-marks. Nearly every man has ten lines
tattooed across the inside of his left arm, and these lines serve as a
measurement of shell-money.
The same non-esthetic motives for tattooing prevail in South and
Central America. In Agassiz's book on Brazil we read (318) concerning
the Mundurucu Indians:
"Major Coutinho tells us that the tattooing _has nothing to
do with individual taste_, but that the pattern is appointed
for both sexes, and is _invariable throughout the tribe_. It
is connected with their caste, the limits of which are very
precise, and with their religion."
The tattooing "is also an indication of aristocracy; a man who
neglected this distinction would not be respected in his tribe."
Concerning the Indians of Guiana we read in Im Thurn (195-96) that
they have small distinctive tribal marks tattooed at the corners of
the mouth or on the arms. Nearly all have "indelibly excised lines"
which are
"scars originally made for _surgical_, not ornamental
purposes." "Some women specially affect certain little
figures, like Chinese characters, which looks as if some
meaning were attached to them, but which the Indians are
either unable or unwilling to explain."
In Nicaragua, as Squire informs us (III., 341), the natives tattooed
themselves to designate by special marks the tribes to which they
belonged; and as regards Yucatan, Landa writes (§ XXI.) that as
tattooing was accompanied by much pain, they thought themselves the
more gallant and strong the more they indulged in it; and that those
who omitted it were sneered at--which gives us still another motive
for tattooing--the fear of being despised and ridiculed for not being
in fashion.