Borneo Tattoo Art

The Dayak people were the originators of tattoo art on this island, and used abstract black-line styles to represent mythical animals, creatures and symbol-laden objects to decorate the body. An abstract rendering of an Eggplant flower was meant to represent a male coming-of-age, and tattoos were also gotten on specific places of the body to represent specific achievements and facts about their possessor: A specific tattoo on the hand represented a warrior who had taken heads. Tattoos were protective symbols, as well; it was thought that if your throat was decorated with a specific symbol you were protected from a beheading. The Borneo Rosette has been assimilated into the modern tattoo culture, arguably either a representation of a dog’s eye, a dragon’s eye or of a flower. For the tribes of Borneo the rosette tattoo in all its variations resounds with symbolism. It can be an icon of protection; modern usage retrospectively relates it to the warrior values of its’ first users, valiance and courage. The internal spiral motif is meant to echo the ‘circle of life.’ Borneo rosettes are meant only ever to be gotten in symmetric pairs, in order that both sides of the body are equally protected. The location of these rosettes means the symbolism varies, too: rosettes on each hip are fertility charms, and on each wrist they are a charm of protection.