What does it mean to get a Samoan PE A or malu?
What does it mean to get a Samoan PE A or malu?
The traditional female tattoo in Samoa is the malu. In Samoan society, the pe’a and the malu are viewed with cultural pride and identity as well as a hallmark of manhood and womanhood. Pe’a is the traditional tattoo design for men that spans from the waist to the knee.
What is malu in Samoan culture?
Malu is a word in the Samoan language for a female-specific tattoo of cultural significance. The malu covers the legs from just below the knee to the upper thighs just below the buttocks, and is typically finer and delicate in design compared to the Pe’a, the equivalent tattoo for males.
Who can get the Samoan malu?
Young Samoan men were usually tattooed between the ages of 14-18 and the process is thought of as a coming-of-age ritual. The female Samoan tatau is called a malu and covers from the mid-thigh to the knees and is not usually as dense as the pe’a.
What does a malu signify?
The word malu means protect, shelter, security. Malu also means house. The woman is therefore seen in Samoan culture as the protector and shelter of of the children, the family, and the village. She is the giver of bloodlines.
What is the purpose of a malu?
What do the rock’s tattoos mean?
Meaning: The Rock’s tattoos come down to three things: family, protecting his family, and having an aggressive warrior spirit. It would be difficult to put into words, the meaning of the ink as a whole.
What is the meaning of the malu in Samoa?
The symbolism depicted on a tatau or malu represents a covenant between a Samoan and his or her way of life. It is “O Mea Sina”. It is sacred.
Where do Samoan women get their Malu tattoos?
The malu is a simpler and delicate design then that of the pe’a. These tattoos are rarely seen because the design spans from the upper thighs to below the knees. During Samoan ceremonial dances the women would display their malu during the traditional siva dance.
Why do taupou have Malu on their legs?
In those not-so-Christian days, when a taupou danced, her skirt was always hiked up HIGH to show what she was working with, and apparently, pasty pale legs were not the deal. This is the reason, says Tanuvasa, that these ladies’ legs were decorated with the malu.
What do you call a Samoan with a malofie?
Once a tauleale’a receives a malofie, he is now known as a ‘ sogaimiti ‘. This word is often misused, especially amongst younger Samoans today. I hear a lot of them refer to the tattoo itself as a sogaimiti, but please be clear: the ink is the malofie.