International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples

The United Nations General Assembly set 9 August as the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples in 1994, marking the first meeting of its working group on Indigenous populations in 1982. Facial tattooing is one of the traditions that many Indigenous communities are reviving after decades of bans and pressure to abandon it: Māori tā moko in New Zealand, Inuit kakiniit in Canada and Greenland, Iñupiaq chin tattoos in Alaska and the tattoos of Hän Gwichʼin women. For many wearers the marks are a statement of identity, family and belonging.

Guides tied to International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples

Tā mokoMāori facial tattoo, widely revivedKakiniitInuit tattoos, including on the faceTavlugunIñupiaq chin tattooYidiiltooTraditional tattoos of Hän Gwichʼin women