I think the
style of the poem is pretty much straight forward, her opinion or view of young
people of this generation, for example so many young males have tattooed or
sleeves on their legs and biceps, and I think the writer is trying say that
most of the young males seem to showcase their tattoo as a part of their
culture, representing who they are and where they come from, so I think this
poem talks about identity and staying true who you are.
Another view
where it says Da bois write tatz, all up dea ahmz, an down dea thighz, across
dea backz, tappin experience, into dea skin like genealogy, - I mean the sound,
which kind of like a slang; I think what
she is trying to say is that some people with the tatau takes it for granted,
for example some people may think being a Polynesian gives them the right to
have traditional tatau or patterns on their skin, because what I’ve noticed
with so many people in our generation they mostly get tattoos just for fashion,
and have absolutely NO knowledge or
understanding of the tatau or tatttoo.
For example
having a malu or pe’a, the person must understand the meaning of the tatau, the
person also have to get permission or a blessed from the family, and must be
ready to take the title of sogaimit- meaning serving the aiga, community,
village and church. For a person to be tattooed in the traditional tatau they should
be able to know what it means and what they represent. It is embarrassing and
disrespectful seeing people getting tattoos without knowing the meaning and the
important of the tatau. As a young Polynesian or Samoan girl living in a different country with so many different ethnics and having to speak the second language in everyday of my life, is some how challenging. Having to experience new ways of living life; e.g. studying, worrking, trying to fit in small societies. Being a brown Island girl is very complicated in life, I guewss what I am trying to say is that us Polynesian girls have expectations from families and communities that we have to live by. For example, obeying rules within the family and accept all responsibilities within church, villages and communities. Similarly to responsibilites given to a person recieving tatau or pe'a. For example every single patterns of teh tattau repsresents th culutre and its traditions, the responsibilities and the beliefs. But fo young pacific islander girls and womens, we tend to be forced in volunteering ourselfs in so many commitments because of our culture and our tradition of Fa'asamoa, respecting and obeying the alders or looking after older siblings children. But being true to who you are and your identity will carry you through all the challenges in life.
For the malu and pe'a- I believe that it should be strictly tattooed on people with the knowledge of the tatau and the Samoan culture, the way the traditional of tatau will carry on to our new generation. Seeing young people wearing traditional tatau is shocking especially this generation, because I have witnessed so many people in Samoa getting tattoos but the hard one was witnessing my mother and my little cousin getting tattooed. Because some people they don't have a choice but to get tattooed because of the chiefly title their father holds. What I'm trying to say is that tatau should be sacred and respected and not used as a fashion or taken for granted by so many young people. Because most of us girls/ boys in Samoa don't have choices. I myself is lucky enough to have a choice of not getting a malu because my father is the high chief of our village. The main reason why I chose not to get a mainly its because I don't have enough knowledge about the malu and the different meaning of each symbols and patterns. Because having to wear a malu for the rest of my life and knowing so little about it is a disgrace to me and especially to my father and my family.
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