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Tā moko
Māori facial tattoo / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the 1 Giant Leap song "Ta Moko", see 1 Giant Leap (album).
Tā moko is the permanent marking or "tattoo" as traditionally practised by Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand. It is one of the five main Polynesian tattoo styles (the other four are Marquesan, Samoan, Tahitian and Hawaiian).[1]
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d4/MaoriChief1784.jpg/640px-MaoriChief1784.jpg)
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/03/Louis_John_Steele_-_Portrait_of_a_young_Maori_woman_with_moko_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg/640px-Louis_John_Steele_-_Portrait_of_a_young_Maori_woman_with_moko_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg)
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/Gottfried_Lindauer_-_Tamati_Waka_Nene_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg/640px-Gottfried_Lindauer_-_Tamati_Waka_Nene_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg)
Tohunga-tā-moko (tattooists) were considered tapu, or inviolable and sacred.[2]