Kalinga tattoo

How did a 106-year-old woman in the rural Filipino mountains become one of the most famous tattoo artists in the world? We travel north to Kalinga to meet the ButBut tribe—and discovers an ancient tradition indelibly inked into our culture

Grace Palicas on Instagram: "Still with the J. Beginning of the back piece to be follow #batok #mambabatok #tattoo #ink #blackworktattoo #backtattoo #indigenousart #indigenousartist #filipino #filipinoculture #buscalan #butbuttribe #kalinga #philippines #gracepalicas"

Pantarei on Instagram: “Honoring and getting inspired from different tribal cultures, kalinga of@the Philippine in particular🖤Tribal designs are real gifts, that…”

From My Modern Met At 102 years old, Whang-Od Oggay (who also goes by Whang-od or Maria Oggay) is helping to keep an ancient tradition alive in the Kalinga province of the Philippines. She’s the country’s oldest mambabatok, a traditional Kalinga tattooist. Each morning at dawn, Whang-Od wakes to craft a mixture of ink from pine soot and water in preparation to apply hand-tapped tattoos on the bodies of people from around the world. Although many come to see her, their journey is no small…

The body is a canvas. The one and only Whang Od, a ritual tattoo artist of the Butbut tribe of the Kalinga in the northern Philippines.…

Article © 2005 Lars Krutak INSET: Members of the Tatak Ng Apat Na Alon tribe. Photography © Joe Ash. Two gangsa gongs with human jawbone handles, ca. 1900. HIGH UP IN THE TERRACED rice fields of

Read what happened yesterday . Our day started early. We woke up at 5:45AM to get ready, to pack our bags because we were heading to Saga...