ARCTIC AND SUBARCTIC “It seems like those folks who were born after 1915 stopped getting tattoos. Some were actually feeling fortunate for not being tattooed, and some were feeling ashamed for being tattooed, saying they didn’t like them. Perhaps some were embarrassed about their tattoos, as some may have been influenced by the Christianity of those times. But how powerful the ancient tattooing was that they left and carried it away with them! And though some today may try to revive tattooing traditionally, some – at least – have used pencils to make tattoo during events like Yupik Days. Perhaps some may use the real material and soot to get the tattoos that our ancestors used; tattoos used to beautify in order to sturdily continue that part of the tradition of our Yupik culture.” Christopher Koonooka (Petuwaq), St. Lawrence Island Yupik Educator (Krutak 2003:7). 12 | Siberian Yupik or Maritime Chukchi woman of Chukotka, 1816. Watercolor by Louis Choris. Courtesy of Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University Collection of Western Americana.
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