Online

It appears the Robley's book on Maori Moko is online. This is an old classic, but is a bit biased in the presentation of the material.  http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-RobMoko-t1-body-d1-d2.html

An interesting article on the appropriation of Maori cultural material, including Maori-inspired tattoo is at http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0608/S00054.htm

Another good, but very brief article is at http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=3532027

And here's a link showing moko used somewhat inappropriately (on several levels) in commercial advertising in France: http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/fashion/44467. 

A nice article interviewing several Maori is at http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10563758  

Mokomokai, the Maori tattooed heads that fortunately are now largely being returned from various collections, are discussed at http://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-star-times/features/feature-archive/212741 also http://traffickingculture.org/encyclopedia/case-studies/mokomokai/

The top hula halau (traditional hula schools) compete every year in a fantastic event in Hilo-- Merrie Monarch. This year is the 50th anniversary of the event.  It will stream live online April 4, 5 & 6th at  http://www.k5thehometeam.com/  The Festival official site is http://www.merriemonarch.com/home Some previous competitors videos are still posted. Check out the Kahiko!  http://www.k5thehometeam.com/category/194391/video-landing-page?clipId=6952314&topVideoCatNo=236859&autoStart=true is impressive, as is http://www.k5thehometeam.com/category/194391/video-landing-page?clipId=6952314&topVideoCatNo=236859&autoStart=true

On Maui, the annual Celebration of the Arts is coming up March 29 & 30th at the Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua.  this is a wonderful event and many of the events & activities are free of charge.  See http://www.celebrationofthearts.org/

If you are interested in Polynesian prehistory & archaeology, Lisa Matisoo-Smith's work is worth following.  Lisa's early research was looking at Polynesian migration via rat DNA, since Polynesian rats don't inter-breed and they came on the canoes with the earliest settlers. Her recent research in collaboration with Jose Miguel Ramirez is examining ancient DNA on skeletal remains on Isla Mocha, off the coast of Chile. Polynesians DID make it much further east than we had assumed! See http://www.otago.ac.nz/profiles/otago015779.html

TRAVEL AND TATTOO SCHEDULE:

I am home on O'ahu for awhile teaching a class on the history of Polynesian tattoo at Windward Community College.  You can reach me at tattoo@lava.net or call (808) 734-8677. Please remember Hawai'i is 3 hours earlier than CA.  I will be back in CA in May/June (please sign up no later than April 1st for an appointment) and have openings in Long Beach, Oceanside and the east SF bay area.  I'll be back in CA again, and will also be working for a brief period in early August in Vancouver, BC.  

till March 23            Home on O'ahu
March 23-31           Maui
April 1 - May 14      O'ahu
May 17 - 29             LA
June 1 - 9                 Oceanside
June 15-30               SF East Bay Area
July 5- 30                 Home on O'ahu
Aug 5 - 12                Vancouver, BC
Aug 17- 27               LA
Aug 31 - Sept  8       Oceanside
Sept  14 - 18            Felton, Santa Cruz
Sept  21 - 29            East SF Bay Area

To my regular CA clients: Give a call as I'm starting to schedule, as always, in the sequence that you signed up.  Call me at 808 734-8677.  While I'm on Maui (Mar 23-31) I will not have the capability to do scheduling, as it's all in my desktop computer. If you've been signed up for awhile, let's get you scheduled soon!

Artist Jordan Souza will be with me for a portion of my time in LA in May. You can see Jordan's tattoo art  throughout his various Facebook pages or on his new site:   http://www.PolynesianTattoo.net  Jordan specializes in Maori tattoo as well as other Polynesian styles, but also does excellent color, gray  and representational art. He is also experienced in Japanese style. Jordan's deposit policy is the same as mine, please see http://www.thepolynesiantattoo.com/schedule.htm  You can contact him directly re. scheduling at 808-387-9967. Please leave a BRIEF description of what you have in mind and your phone number.

Aloha,
Tricia http://www.ThePolynesianTattoo.com