Unique full body tattoo

Peacock unique tribal tattoo

Native Americans also used tribal tattooing and very often this was a way of distinguishing one tribe from another tribe. The Native Americans used tattoos when they were going to war - not so much to frighten their enemies but to provide them with protection. In the tribal world, things are not always as they seem and tattooing and tattoo designs were not just mere ornaments, they meant something. They were also a way of defining who was a member of the tribe and who was outside of it. Tribal tattooing was brought to the West by sailors in the nineteenth century who also brought with them the expertise and the special inks and needles of the tribal tattooist.