An offshoot of Maori tattooing for health is tattooing to preserve youth. Maori girls tattooed their lips and chin, for this reason. When an old Ainu lady's eyesight is failing, she can re-tattoo her mouth and hands, for better vision.
Each tattoo session begins with a prayer to the tattoo gods that the operation might not cause death, that the wounds might heal soon, and that the designs might be handsome. In the past few decades, people of westerners began looking for tribal tattoos of their own origins and created a new form of tattoo commonly known as neo tribal. Many old school American tattooists will tell you...
Historically getting tattooed was seen as a rite of passage into adulthood. A belief goes that if a girl can't take the pain of tattooing, she is un-marriageable, because she will never be able to deal with the pain of child birth. If a boy can't deal with the pain he is considered to be a bad risk as a warrior, and could become isolated from the tribe.
