Main Article Content
Abstract
Human life can be summarized as an ongoing search for self-identity. Individual identity is essential for incorporation in peer groups because human beings are social animals and in order to survive, we need to be part of a bigger society. For these reasons, human cultures have created visual markers that belong to these marked bodies since prehistoric times that tell stories of the self and of communities. Maybe this search for visual markers was the reason why people began scarring, piercing and tattooing their bodies first. The tattooing culture extended its function to suit a broad variety of purposes as civilizations became more complicated and varied. Tattooing transcended from being solely semantic to serving spiritual and aesthetic aims. Tattoos have been used over time as markers that denote passage rites, social rank symbols and birth status, spiritual and religious iconography, battle and hunting achievement insignia, fertility display and sexual virility, love and luck protective talismans, and much more. However, everything about tattooing was not related to significance or creativity. Tattooing was also used violently as a form of marking possession to mark criminals, slaves, outcasts, and minorities. This paper will highlight the use, importance, belief about the tattooing among the Baiga tribe. It will focus on how Tattoo plays a role of communication among Baiga’s.