Maori tattooing
By Michael King with photography by Marti Friedlander
In 1970, Michael King and Marti Friedlander travelled around New Zealand to find and speak to those who had been tattooed in the traditional manner. They located 71 women who had been given the moko, several whose chisel tattoos dated back to the end of the nineteenth century, and others whose tattoos came from a more recent needle technique.
King & Friedlander interviewed and photographed this unique group of women, all of whom are now long gone. As Michael King wrote, "I salute the kuia moko. I farewell them again with respect as they disappear from our lives, though not from our memories."
This book of photographs illustrates not only the moko itself but also the women who proudly wore it and the environments in which they lived.
