NAKOA News

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...

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...

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...

Marlo Lualemana Marlo created the Polynesian tattoo art for Ola cuff bracelet. Born and raised on Oahu, and a professional hula dancer for 10 years, Marlo now lives and works as a tattoo artist in Northern California. Her start as a tattoo artist was unorthodox.  She drew a custom tattoo design...

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 “Eugenius” 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...

 Teva Lowy Teva was born in Hawaii from Tahitian and Seychelles parents, but his art is firmly rooted in Tahiti. He learned tattooing from his friend Teni (aka “Gringo”), one of the most well-known Tahitian tattoo artists, along with his Marquesan cousins. Teva travels to Tahiti every year to spend...

Kuaika Quenga Born and raised in Maui, Kuaika has become a successful award-winning tattoo artist. But he didn't start out that way.  In fact, he was on a dangerous path early on before he found his calling as a Hawaiian tattoo artist at the age of 15. “I started hanging out with the...

Xavier Saint Amand “I was the first artist of color to open a tattoo studio in Paris,” says Xavier Saint Amand proudly. Born in Guadeloupe, Xavier studied Tahitian and Marquesas tattoo art under the internationally renowned Tahitian tattoo artist Julien in Montpellier, France. Polynesian tattoos quickly turned into a passion...