4 Bernice P. Bishop Museum — Bulletin 



naturally that it also appeared only upon people of advanced years (6, p. 

 130; 13, p. 102-103), a circumstance which undoubtedly led to Captain 

 Chanal's conclusion that the marks had no relation to anything but age 

 (II, p. III). 



While the tuhnna was paid generously for work on an opou. the eldest 

 son of a wealthy man, no payment was asked of the kdioi, a more or 

 less unorganized group of younger sons and daughters, who took such 

 part in the preparations as raiding for food and building the special house, 

 and who slipped in to have designs punctured upon them gratis when the 

 opou was resting or recuperating from the effects of the operation. It is 

 perhaps these ka'ioi to whom Melville (12, p. 49) refers in speaking of 

 the common fellows who were practiced on. Langsdorff was apparently 

 unaware of this custom, for he says that those who could not afford tat- 

 tooing went without : 



The poorer islanders who have not a superabundance of hogs to dispose of in 

 luxuries, but live chiefly themselves upon breadfruit, are operated upon by novices in 

 the art, who take them at a very low price as subjects for practice. The lowest class 

 of all, the fishermen principally, are often not able to afford even the pay required by 

 a novice, and are therefore not tattooed at all. (10, p. 120.) 



With the lower classes noticeably less tattooed than the higher, the 

 conclusion was often drawn by early visitors that this form of decoration 

 pointed out noble or distinguished persons (8, p. 155 and 13, p. 84). 

 Berchon, writing in 1859, avows that all classes were tattooed at that 

 time, but that formerly it was a sign of nobility and distinction. From 

 what is to be gathered today from living informants, this is a miscon- 

 ception, in the main, based on the fact that wealth was in the hands of 

 chiefs and distinguished men. 



Melville (13, p. 102) at one time assigns tattooing to the warrior 

 class, but present information states that the untattooed as well as the 

 tattooed went to war. That warriors, as well as other groups, wore 

 special designs as badges is stated by modern informants as true in a 

 few instances, and is frequently suggested by the early voyagers to the 

 Marquesas. Spirals over the eyes (PI. v, 7) are today described as be- 

 longing to all warriors in ancient times, while spirals called kokoata on 

 cheeks and hips indicated chiefs, as do the tiny pinlike marks (PI. xxxviii, 

 G. d) to be seen today on the inside of the left ankle. After a battle 

 these marks — according to the informants — were sought for by the priest 

 of a victorious army on the ankles of the slain to determine whether a 

 chief had been killed and a great battle fought. Beyond these distinguish- 

 ing marks, living informants make no mention of the badges described 



