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I started to strip away any negative emotions and trauma that I built up from my past experiences. As I grew older, I began looking within my beautiful culture for myself. When I went back home, I was teased for being too much of a "city girl.” This made me feel like I did not have a place anywhere in this world. Living in the city, being Native came with negative connotations that included bullying and harassment. When I was younger, I was ashamed of being Native. They express different ways to honor my ancestors and family. They allow me to express my soul and culture to the rest of the world. Sarah gave me my iqsraq (cheek) markings and the six dots outside of my tavluġun for my birthday last year. Sarah Ayaqi Whalen-Lunn gave me my tavluġun (chin tattoo) when I just had turned 20. They represent a sense of freedom I've only ever felt at home in Utqiaġvik - freedom to explore, freedom from Western beauty ideals, and freedom from outside pressures.
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#SMITH CHART TATTOO FREE#
Traditionally, some say that cheek tattoos were meant to ward off evil spirits and promote fertility, but for me, they're associated with my upbringing, which is when I felt most free in the world. When she was finished, I felt proud, lighter and freer. She asked me to imagine all my stresses and anxieties leaving my body with each poke of her needle and I did. When we got there, Holly gave me a big hug, started telling me stories and joking around, and she immediately put my nerves at ease. My best friend from home, Margaret Alice, accompanied me. Holly has always been an inspiration and a mentor to me as an Iñupiaq woman. I reached out to Holly Nordlum, asking her about Inuit cheek tattoos, and set up an appointment. I felt lost, like I needed a cultural grounding. I was going through a rough time in my life, stressing out about my career path, my identity as a Native woman, and my contributions to my community. Holly Nordlum did my traditional hand-poke tattoos in May 2019 at her Anchorage studio. And trying to honor that.” Holly Mititquq Nordlum “I think we do a lot of talking now about tattooing and what it was traditionally…not in the last 200 years, but in the beginning. The revitalization of traditional tattooing practices is a powerful movement of Indigeneity and decolonization and an expression of cultural identity and sisterhood. Generations of people experienced deep trauma resulting from the loss of culture and way of life under colonization. In the 19th and 20th centuries, Christian missionaries arrived in Alaska and forbade many important cultural practices, including Indigenous languages, dances, and tattoo. Receiving tattoos was a ceremonial rite of passage that marked important events in a woman’s life, such as the transition from girlhood to womanhood, or the birth of child. Inuit tattoos throughout the Circumpolar North region historically were made by women, for women. Traditional Inuit tattoos are signifiers of cultural belonging and are not intended for use or appropriation by those outside the culture. At the same time, tattoo traditions from Polynesia, Japan, and places throughout the US have made their way to Alaska and can be seen in the inventive styles of local tattoo artists working at shops throughout the state. Colonization suppressed traditional tattooing, but a new generation of Indigenous women are revitalizing and restoring the practice. Inuit tattoo has been practiced in Alaska for millennia by Iñupiat and Yup’ik women. Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Anti-RacismĪlaska is home to diverse cultures and tattooing traditions.Performing & Literary Art + Creative Practice.