Living tradition, Myanmar
Mindat, Chin State
The hill town in southern Chin State where the last generation of women with tattooed faces still live.
Mindat and nearby Kanpetlet, in the hills of southern Chin State in western Myanmar, are among the last places where women with traditional face tattoos can be met. Among several Chin peoples, including the Muun and Dai, girls were once tattooed on the face in their early teens. Most women who carry the marks today are elderly.
Patterns by people
Designs differ by group. Muun women around Mindat carry dotted lines across the face and a pattern often compared to the letter B, while other groups covered the whole face with fine lines or added marks on the forehead. The ink was made from soot and plant matter, pricked in with thorns or needles over days. Accounts of why it began differ, from beauty and identity to deterring raiders.
Decline and visitors
Christian missionaries and the national government both discouraged facial tattooing in the mid-twentieth century, and it was banned, though some women were tattooed in later years. Before the conflict that followed the 2021 military takeover, a stream of tourists came to photograph tattooed women, raising debate about consent and payment. The area has been affected by fighting since 2021.
Guides of Mindat, Chin State
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Tattooing in Myanmar: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Face tattoo: Gottfried Lindauer, Public domain, source