@Regrann from @indigenous_takeover - I needed to make this post, me being a partly indigenous Filipino covered in traditional tattoos there is an extreme stigma around our culture. Every since the Catholic invaded, our practices have been lost since they destroyed our culture. The stigma that surrounds our tattoos are that we are criminals, we disrespect our bodies, and that they make us look unattractive. We get denied jobs, in the Philippines and overseas. It’s not like other pacific nations that have politicians with their tribal face tattoos. The difference with us is that our country is completely washed by Christianity to the point of even thinking about following indigenous culture would lead one to being ostracized. We need to restore our culture and our communities. What we need to do is restore the practices that were lost to us. We need to teach our Moreno/a people to love their brown skin. We need to teach our kids to appreciate who they are as a people.
We are Austronesians after all, and most don’t even know that we had a tattoo history that expanded across South Asia and the Pacific Islands
.
#pinoy #philippines #kalinga #austronesia #tatau #tattoo #photography
