Read My Face

The Maori are a people in New Zealand. To them, designs on a face tell a story. One side of a man’s face tells about his father’s family, and the other side tells about his mother’s family. Women also wear these designs. But they do not have as many as men.

Maori face decorations are permanent. Artists cut the designs into the skin. Then they put color into the cuts to make blue-black marks.

The process takes a long time and is very painful, yet the Maori accept the pain because the designs are signs of belonging to the group.

The Maori wear permanent designs on their faces. The designs tell about a person’s family.