Tā Moko vs Polynesian
Tā Moko is a regional variant of Polynesian — the Māori facial and body tradition within the wider Polynesian family.
Tā Moko
The sacred Māori tradition of curvilinear facial and body marking carved with uhi chisels, encoding genealogy, identity, and rank.
- Curvilinear koru spirals and double curves
- Carved uhi-chisel grooved line tradition
- Facial moko following the planes of the face
- Mirror symmetry across the centerline
- Negative skin shapes integral to the design
Polynesian
A broad Pacific tattooing tradition of solid black geometric bands built from repeated motifs encoding genealogy, status, and protection.
- Solid flat-black geometric bands
- Repeated enata (figure) and spearhead motifs
- Niho mano (shark-teeth) triangle rows
- Tiki faces and ocean-wave fillers
- Bands wrapping and following body contours
At a glance
| Tā Moko | Polynesian | |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Pre-European–present | Ancient–present |
| Discipline | Tattoo | Tattoo |
| Region | Aotearoa New Zealand | Polynesia, Samoa, Tahiti, Marquesas, Hawaii |
| Family | Indigenous, Austronesian | Austronesian, Tribal |
| Formal traits | curvilinear, spiral-based, symmetrical, negative-space, facial | solid-black, geometric-bands, repeated-motifs, symmetrical, contour-following |
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