NAKOA News

Many people recognize motifs of contemporary Polynesian tattoos that are frequently used.  The bird (manu), for example, or the shark’s teeth (niho mano).  But in addition to the general interpretations of a motif, an artist can give it specific meanings when they compose a design. Here’s what Hawaiian tattoo artist Megan...

Eugene Ta'ase “I have always been fascinated with Polynesian art and have been drawing for as long as I can remember,” Samoan tattoo artist Eugene Ta’ase says. Eugene started his tattooing career on Maui when he moved there from American Samoa and his interest in Polynesian tattoos quickly turned into...

Tricia Allen  Tricia Allen is extraordinary in both worlds that she inhabits:  She is a blond haole woman who has tattooed over 800 members of the Polynesian community (and over 11000 people in total). She is highly respected and loved by the many Polynesian artists who she has mentored throughout her...

Sulu'ape Si'i Liufau Sulu’ape Si’isi’ialafia Liufau - Si’i to his friends - is the most avid Fisherman we know. Every week, he spends several days out on the ocean fishing.  Check his social media and you’ll often find him posing with a huge fish he’s caught that day. But don’t...

Samson Harp Samson Harps’ history with tattooing goes way back.  He got his first tattoo at the age of 9.  At 12, he built his own tattoo machines from scrap pieces he found and started tattooing his friends. Today, Samson is the highly respected owner of Pacific Rootz Tatoo in...

Sulu'ape Pili Mo'o, known as Mo'o by his friends Mo'o started tattooing at the beginning of the 90's when he learned the meaning of the Marquesan symbolism thanks to Chime, the well known tattooer of Moorea.  Mo'o stayed with Chime for a few years, then moved to Madrid and joined the famous "Terror...

  Che Ka'eo Pilago Che Kā'eo Pilago may be first and foremost a highly respected and gifted tattoo artist, but he is also an athlete, as well as deeply involved in Polynesian cultural practices. “I want to perpetuate the culture,” he says. His athleticism isn’t surprising – he traces his...

Braddah Wills Kaai “I love tattooing, I truly love tattooing,” Braddah Wills Ka’ai says. Wills, as his friends call him, is the founder and owner of Hawaii Tattoo Collective in Haleiwa.  Born and raised on the North Shore of Oahu, Wills draws on his native Hawaiian heritage and culture to...

Megan Jones Born and raised in Maui, Megan Jones learned her craft from Samson Harp, working at Samson's Pacific Rootz Tattoo. She also counts Tricia Allen as an important mentor and influence in her life.   In addition to tattooing, Megan is also an active practitioner of Hawaiian culture, including carving. Tattooing...

During a typical day, you touch your wallet, credit cardholder and bag a lot – nearly as often as your cell phone.  And you put them on lots of different surfaces, and touch them after touching a surface yourself.   Because they’re with us so much, it is important we...

Q - Sulu'ape Akiu "Q" Sale Akiu "Q" Sale is known everywhere as Q (that's how his first name sounds when you drop the A)  He is both a true artist as well as an entrepreneur at heart.  He's also a perfectionist, who even makes his own tattoo machines because nothing else...

Polynesian tattoos are extremely popular today, and for good reason. The art is simply beautiful, and the deep roots and cultural significance add meaning that goes well beyond simply decorating the body. Each Pacific culture had their own very specific styles and tattoo motifs with their own set of meanings....

Since the stunning revival of Polynesian tattooing, many clients of tattoo artists, and even some artists themselves, call the style “tribal”.  However, that is quite wrong.   Pacific Islanders did not live as tribes, and their tattoos had nothing to do with a tribal spirit.  Indeed, the word tribal can come...

Katerina Mauri Moko   “Kia ora koutou katoa, Mauri Moko, Mauri Ora” Kathy was born and raised in Rotorua, Aetoraoa, a town that has one of the richest concentrations of Maori culture in all of New Zealand. From ages 8 till 29, she expressed her heritage by performing kapa haka...

Hano Fernandez Hano Fernandez' clients describe him as a happy man, always ready with a joke and a smile. He grew up on Maui, and has Tahitian, Hawaiian, and Cherokee ancestry among others.  Hano apprenticed with Samson Harp at Pacific Rootz Tattoo and still works there. When Hano is not tattooing, he...