Tribal Tattoos

There has been a lot of controversy on what exactly constitutes as a tribal tattoo. The truth is though that there are many different styles of tribal tattoo art. The most common misconception is that the old Celtic designs are that of true tribal tattooing, but in reality, the concept of a tribal tattoo far dates that of the Celtic period.

busta rhymes tribal tattoo

Long before the Celtic times, indigenous tribes all around the world practiced the art of tattooing in one form or another. Their reasons for doing so also vary greatly as well. A tribal tattoo was basically a symbol that marked someone as belonging to a certain tribe. These indigenous tribal tattoos can date back several thousands of years. The goals of these tattoos were not only as a means of identifying one’s tribe, but also as a means of helping the hunters to blend in better with their natural surroundings in an attempt to mimic the camouflaging found in other animals across the globe.

Later these tattooing would be incorporated into different types of spiritual beliefs but they all carried with them the same basic principals of marking who they belong with, albeit a particular tribe, cult or belief.

In recent times these tribal arts have become revived in the form of today’s tribal tattooing. Today the concept of tribal tattoos seemed to be limited to that of the Celtic period but in fact many of the Eurasian tattooing conforms to that of a tribal tattoo. Today the tattoo is a sign of free expression of one’s self through the manipulation of the skin. Even in today’s standards though, the concept of tattooing still lives on as a means of identifying one’s beliefs and who or she belongs with.

Most people start of with a tattoo that has an underlying meaning to it. While many people may stop at just this one tattoo, many others continue to turn their entire body into a walking art gallery of some of the finest works currently available. Many of those who can be considered the die hard tattoo embodiments can tell you a story about each and every tattoo on their body. Where the tattoo came from, who did it and even why they had it done. They tell a tale, a time line or history of one’s life and therefore distinguishes them from the rest of the world

In its most basic form there is of course the tribal tattoo. Every design caries its own underlying meaning based on the old tribal interpretation. If one were to be able to depict each and every tribal symbol from every tribe that has walked the face of the Earth, then they would be able to sit back and read this tribal artwork as if it were a book of hieroglyphics.

While the concept of the tribal tattoo stays in tact and many people only think of the Celtic or maybe the Polynesian tribes, they have to remember that the underlying concept of a tribal tattoo simply means that any tattoo which can tell a story through time can constitute as a tribal tattoo.