A Fijian noblewoman tattooed with veiqia and qia gusu (mouth)
Veiqia is a female tattooing practice in Fiji. The term refers to both the practice and to the tattoos. Women or adolescent girls who have reached puberty may be tattooed in the groin and buttocks area by older female tattooing specialists called dauveiqia or daubati. The practice was common prior to the arrival in the 1830s of Christian missionaries who discouraged it, but it was revived in the twenty-first century. In Fijian culture, the tattoos were considered to heighten a woman's beauty and could be an important factor that enabled her to marry. Receiving veiqia was highly ritualised, with many regional variations. Preparation for the process could include abstinence from food or from sexual relations, or inducing vomiting to purge the body. The process of tattooing was closely associated with the gift of a young woman's first fringed skirt to wear once her veiqia was complete. Motifs for tattoos included turtles, wandering tattlers, pottery and basketwork. (Full article...)
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