Strengthening Roots: The Journey of Samoan Tattoo Traditions with Tyla Vaeau

Bonus #001 Dion Kaszas here, inviting you into a world where every mark tells a story and every line traces a lineage. As Tyla Vaeau, a profound tattoo artist and Samoan cultural practitioner, joins me, we immerse ourselves into the sacred tradition of indigenous tattoo art. Tyla brings to light the unique ways in which traditional Samoan tattooing not only adorns the skin but also strengthens cultural identity, especially for those in the diaspora. Her voice carries the emotional depth of these practices, how they have withstood the trials of colonialism, and the powerful therapeutic impact they hold in healing from past traumas. Delving into personal narratives, we reveal how these ancient markings go beyond aesthetics, serving as lifelines that anchor individuals during life's turbulent phases.

This episode is a treasure trove of wisdom, as Tyla opens up about the delicate dance of cultural preservation in the face of modern challenges such as cultural appropriation and inclusivity. We navigate the responsibilities of those who wear cultural tattoos, their role as custodians of tradition, and the importance of voicing out when sacred symbols are misappropriated. The discussions also throw light on the inclusive future of female tattoo artists within the Samoan tradition. Wrapping things up, an uplifting message awaits our listeners, acknowledging your unique stories and encouraging the sharing of our collective journey towards cultural reverence and transformation. Join us for this intimate and enlightening conversation that celebrates the resilient tapestry of indigenous tattoo art and its indelible impact on cultural identity.

I hope you have enjoyed this episode, and I am excited to travel the world of Indigenous tattooing with you as we visit with friends and colleagues from across the globe doing the work. This bonus interview is from my extensive archive of interviews, conversations and presentations I have recorded over the past 8 years. 

You can check out Tyla and her work @
https://www.instagram.com/tylatattoo/?hl=en
https://www.facebook.com/tylatattoo/

Check out my tattoo work at:
https://www.consumedbyink.com
Instagram @dionkaszas

Buy me a Coffee at:
https://ko-fi.com/transformativemarks

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

And she had a breakup in a relationship and just being really, really, really low and contemplating all sorts of horrible things, permanently horrible things, and looking down at her to tell and that sort of bringing her back and seeing the mung mung and seeing the frigate birds and knowing that they are always supposed to return home. So we have things that are there to guide us and to navigate us through these trying times.

Speaker 2: 0:35

The Transformative Marks podcast explores how Indigenous tattoo artists, cultural tattoo practitioners and ancestral skin markers transform this world for the better, dot by dot, line by line and stitch by stitch. My name is Dion Casas. I'm a Hungarian Métis and Intercote public professional tattoo artist and ancestral skin marker. I started the work of reviving my ancestral Intlaka book skin marking practice over a decade ago. I've helped, supported and trained practitioners and tattoo artists here on Turtle Island. In this podcast, I sit down with Indigenous tattoo artists, cultural tattoo practitioners and ancestral skin markers from across the globe, bringing you behind the scenes of this powerful, transformative and spiritual work.

Speaker 1: 1:19

So my name is Tyler Vail. I am a total artist and practitioner. I am New Zealand, on Samoan I my villages are Salia, mua in Alepaca and Sopraman Savai. My mom is Paranghi, or New Zealand European, and my dad is Samoan.

Speaker 2: 1:45

You know, when you think about traditional tattooing and tattooing associated with Samoan, why do you think it's important for people, your people, to get this type of?

Speaker 1: 1:58

work.

Speaker 2: 1:58

Considering there's so many a variety of options.

Speaker 1: 2:02

Of options. Yeah, I think our total is integral to our cultural identity. In terms of the traditional um, the tal forms, like the be'a'a'a'a and malo. It's really strongly intertwined with Anga-Ufa Samoan. So the Samoan culture and that's shown particularly through the fact that it has survived unbroken, it's so strongly woven into the fabric of being Samoan. And then, I guess, from a contemporary perspective, which is more machine-totaled, based on traditional Samoan designs, it's important because it helps Samoans in the diaspora, or New Zealand-born Samoans or Samoans living away from their homeland to to connect back to where that heritage comes from.

Speaker 2: 2:59

You know, in Canada and the work that I do with a lot of my friends, the way we frame some of the stuff that we do is around this concept of tattoo medicine. So I'm just wondering if you have any thoughts about that or that resonates with you in terms of the work that you do. Who could explore that with?

Speaker 1: 3:19

me. Yeah, yeah, yeah, certainly there is a practice of total as medicine. There is and has been used for healing the hand tattoo or the tattooing of the joints is thought to help alleviate arthritis, so we have that practice. There's also a practice relating to using totale to heal birthmarks. So there's those sorts of things as well.

Speaker 1: 3:53

I think, from like an urban, you know, in terms of our urban communities living away from Samoa, definitely tattoo as medicine, in terms of maybe helping to reconcile your identity and perhaps heal past traumas, to really act as a point of reference in today's, you know, busy urban worlds. And I think of, I think of a friend of mine who has Tatao and she was at a really really low point and she had a breakup in a relationship and just being really really really low and contemplating, you know all sorts of horrible things and looking down at her Tatao and that sort of bringing her back and seeing the Ngong Ngong and seeing the frigate birds and knowing that they are always supposed to return home. So we have we have things that, yeah, are there to guide us and to navigate us through these trying times.

Speaker 2: 5:12

So when you begin chatting with somebody, specifically somebody, how you know, how do you know what are the most appropriate design?

Speaker 1: 5:23

you know especially, yeah, what are the most appropriate designs in terms of like you know, the contemporary stuff you need to tell the story, but then also, how do you figure out you know when you go to do?

Speaker 2: 5:42

any of the other stuff.

Speaker 1: 5:44

Yeah, I guess I, in terms of figuring out what the design is or what the symbols will be, I take time to talk about their reasons behind wanting the Tatao and what it is that sort of brought them to me or to this point in their life where they want the markings and, of course, ask about their family and the heritage and what villages they come from. You know, a lot of our designs are shared across Samoas, not necessarily specific to a village, but there are, there can be stories that are relevant, which will have different symbols associated with that. But, yeah, I think a lot, a lot of it is to do with their reasons behind wanting the Tatao and what it, what it will mean for them.

Speaker 2: 6:31

So because there's a, you know, a traditional process of using tools and a process of you know. Now a lot of times you know we use machines. Is there a difference? Is there an importance? Yeah of one or the other. Yeah, what are your thoughts?

Speaker 1: 6:50

about it. Yeah, yeah, I think it definitely depends on what you are receiving. I think if you are getting a better model, that has to be done with the traditional tools. You miss out. Yeah, you lose so much of that experience if you're getting it done with machine and you're doing a disservice to the continuation of those traditions. Really, we're fortunate to have these forms and our traditional methods that have survived the impacts of Christianity and colonisation, and to me it's almost like an insult to that if you go and get those tits are with a machine and so for the machine work. That's really the designs that move away from the traditional forms.

Speaker 2: 7:46

So when you think about your tattooing practice, are there tattoos or clients or experiences that you've had in this work that you do that stand out for you and that you would feel comfortable with?

Speaker 1: 8:03

So at the beginning of this year I tattooed my 76 year old auntie so her is Zawaan and it was her first tattoo and it was just a very simple design based on the model so a contemporary tattoo and she received that as a matching tattoo with her daughter and that was just a really massive experience for us as a family because she has been very anti-tattoos for many years. So it really opened up things for us as a family. In my Samoan side my great grandfather was a Methodist minister, so there's been that really sort of anti-tattooing and the catchphrase it's the spilling of blood for no good reason. That is sort of often said in Christian Samoan circles. So to be able to bring that back to my own family was a really special moment.

Speaker 2: 9:13

It's always interesting for me when I think about that intersection between our indigenous spiritualities and the embodiment of. Christianity. It was always an interesting thing to realize how tattoo has existed in Samoan. It's a really interesting thing.

Speaker 1: 9:42

I just find it fascinating.

Speaker 2: 9:44

Especially when you think about how most Christians think about it. So this is when you think about this work that you do and you think about the impact that these tattoos have on your clients on your community and reconnecting. How do you deal with some of those burdens? How would you even describe the burdens that you would have as a practitioner? And then how do you navigate that?

Speaker 1: 10:26

space. Yeah, it's a big responsibility and it can be quite heavy to be one of the few women or perhaps only Samoan women operating in this space. So it's really important to have good support networks and I have a really strong network of Pasifika women and Maori women that I just feel completely supported by. I've also been really fortunate to have the support of some other Samoan male tattoo artists in the space that is there. That has meant a lot. You can't, you can't. You have to realize you can't do everything by yourself. It's not one person, it takes a village, it totally takes a village. So I've got my village.

Speaker 2: 11:37

It's such an important thing, I think, especially coming from that's perspective. So I appreciate you sharing that. It's important as well, as you know, as we move forward, as how do we make sure that we're supporting?

Speaker 1: 11:55

Oh.

Speaker 2: 11:58

Helps. All of our practitioners feel supported and yeah, you know. Doing the best work that they can. Yeah, this is a question that puts two questions together. You can answer. So, the first one is is you know what, when you think about this work, what message would you want to send to those who are coming up?

Speaker 1: 12:24

to the future generations. I would say I Care of our traditions, take care of our to tell of our designs, wear them with pride and Don't be afraid to speak out for them. If you see things that you don't agree with and I I sincerely hope that there are more female to tell artists wanting to move into this space and I would say be brave and that you are wanted and you are needed in this space.

Speaker 2: 13:12

The second one is how do you feel or how do you see the work that you're doing being a contribution?

Speaker 1: 13:19

I think my work is a contribution in terms of opening up the space, creating space for Women to be more involved in the process of to tell, not only as recipients but also as practitioners. I hope that I'm creating space for more women to come through and I want to contribute to my community, to Samuans in New Zealand, wanting to reconnect those things who didn't necessarily grow up fast on war, knowing much about their heritage for whatever reason, and I hope that I can serve them and finding that Space that they sit in as well.

Speaker 2: 14:16

So how do you feel when you see people tattooing designs from your culture Now, what would be and they're not from your culture? Mmm, so what would you say about that? But I would say first, one of the things I like to do is like, because there's, as we talked about, there's such a like Theorization, or yeah, but for me it's like how do we humanize? Yeah that's like what they're doing. Yeah so how do you feel when?

Speaker 1: 14:44

you see this.

Speaker 2: 14:45

Yeah, what would be your response? Yeah, how do we move?

Speaker 1: 14:48

Yeah, how do I feel? I Don't feel great. I mean, I'm always sort of sort of taken aback a bit. It depends. It depends to me also, like what the symbols are, because there are many designs that we share with others, but then there are some designs that are specific to someone to tell and that are quite sacred, and so to see those used by people that are not someone, it can be physically painful, I mean it's hard. It also, I mean it can depend on context too, because sometimes it is a someone wanting those muts and they don't have any access to anyone else, they can't travel, you know, three hours by plane to a someone to tell artists, and so they have the designs that they connect with and they've taken them to another artist. So there's different levels to it. But when it's someone not from that culture tattooing another person not from that culture, that's where I question the intention and question the knowledge and understanding behind what they're doing and question why they believe they have the right to be using those designs.

Speaker 2: 16:21

How do we move forward and what should our response be?

Speaker 1: 16:28

I think our response is to educate people, and I don't mean to educate people to tell them what our designs are so they can go ahead and use them, because I don't think that they should be using them. It's to educate people around the significance of receiving cultural markings from someone of that culture and what is shared through that, through receiving someone that has that heritage, that has that connection, and what is lost when you, when you, receive them from someone who isn't. Yeah, and it's about having a voice. But it can be really hard and I've been places where I've seen things that I don't agree with, but because we are so close to that and it's such an emotional response, sometimes the words just get stuck in your throat. Yeah, so it's about finding that voice and having the confidence to speak out.

Speaker 2: 17:33

Yeah, I mean that's you know. When you say that, it makes me think that you know as a collective of indigenous cultural tattoo practitioners we have to start to find ways to facilitate having that voice in those spaces where we don't lose our voice. So, preparing, because we know that shit's going to happen. So how do we prepare? So the last question is fairly open, and it's a question I asked earlier and it's basically, you know, is there anything that you'd like to share?

Speaker 2: 18:18

or you know, maybe you've been through interviews and you know there was one question that you wish somebody would have passed, and it doesn't have to be framed that way either. It's like is there something that you feel you need to share that you've never had the opportunity to share?

Speaker 1: 18:40

It can be really difficult. Speaking about my practice as a female tattoo artist who is not full Samoan. I don't want to ever stand on anyone else's mana or to act like I'm the authority on Samoan to talk. So I guess just that this is a struggle as well and that I own my practice and I'm dedicated to what I'm doing.

Speaker 2: 19:24

Hey listeners, thank you for listening. I hope you enjoyed this episode. I just want you to remember that, no matter who you are, where you're from, what you've been through, what you've done, that you are amazing and beautiful and I'm excited to see you next week. If you haven't already subscribed, please go and do so, and if you have subscribed, I appreciate you following the Transformer of Mark's podcast, and the last thing that I will ask you is to do me a solid and share this episode with somebody that you think will enjoy it. Thanks a lot and see you next week.