Apatani tattoo
The facial tattoos (tippei) and wooden nose plugs (yaping hullo) once worn by Apatani women of Ziro, Arunachal Pradesh.
Also: tippei, yaping hullo
Apatani women of the Ziro valley once wore a tattooed line from forehead to nose tip and several lines on the chin, made with soot and a needle of thorns, along with wooden plugs in the sides of the nose. Accounts of why differ: one says it was to deter raiders from neighbouring groups, while community members also describe it as a mark of identity. The practice ended in the early 1970s, and only older women still carry the marks.