October 20, 2008. Last Friday Jane and I went down to the National Geographic Society to attend a seminar entitled: Tā Moko: The Art of Māori Tattoo. The speaker, Derek Lardelli, was 
a very elegant and engaging speaker and took the audience throught the historical origins of Maori tatooing, or Moko as it is referred to. Unlike the tatoos we're more familiar with in America, the Maori tatoos signify one's genealogy and play important roles in their culture. Whereas the tattoos appearing in pictures of 19th century New Zealanders were etched into the skin to create scarification ridges and grooves (representing the upheavals of the earth during volcanic events in New Zealand) current Moko is similar to modern-day skin tatooing. The highlight of the seminar was when a native Maori disrobed down to his underwear to point out the various tatoos on his body, including his buttocks, and their meaning. The NG Explorer's Hall museum was supposed to be open late so that guests coming to see the seminar could view a new exhibit, Whales Tohorā, but evidently someone didn't tell the them that and the exhibit was unfortunately closed. so Jane I spent a half hour walking around the area and unexpectedly saw the White House (see picture below) which was neat....especially when we saw snipers walking around on the roof. That's called turning lemons into lemonade.
a very elegant and engaging speaker and took the audience throught the historical origins of Maori tatooing, or Moko as it is referred to. Unlike the tatoos we're more familiar with in America, the Maori tatoos signify one's genealogy and play important roles in their culture. Whereas the tattoos appearing in pictures of 19th century New Zealanders were etched into the skin to create scarification ridges and grooves (representing the upheavals of the earth during volcanic events in New Zealand) current Moko is similar to modern-day skin tatooing. The highlight of the seminar was when a native Maori disrobed down to his underwear to point out the various tatoos on his body, including his buttocks, and their meaning. The NG Explorer's Hall museum was supposed to be open late so that guests coming to see the seminar could view a new exhibit, Whales Tohorā, but evidently someone didn't tell the them that and the exhibit was unfortunately closed. so Jane I spent a half hour walking around the area and unexpectedly saw the White House (see picture below) which was neat....especially when we saw snipers walking around on the roof. That's called turning lemons into lemonade.
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