Published by ieltsmaterial com

B.
 
Polynesian history has fascinated the western world since Pacific cultures were first 
contacted by European explorers in the late 18th century. The small island of Tikopia, for 
many people - even for many Solomon Islanders-- is so far away that it seems like a 
mythical land; a place like Namia that magical land in C. S. Lewis, classic, ‘The Chronicles 
of Namia.” Maybe because of it —
Tikopia, its people, and their cultures have long 
fascinated scholars, travelers, and casual observers. Like the pioneers Peter Dillion, 
Dumoni D' Urville and John Colleridge Patterson who visited and wrote about the island 
in the 1800s, Raymond Firth is one of those people captured by the alluring attraction of 
Tikopia. As a result, he had made a number of trips to the island since the 1920s and 
recorded his experiences, observations and reflections on Tikopia, its people, cultures and 

---

2 
IELTSMaterial.com 
the changes that have occurred. 
C.
 
While engaged in study of the kinship and religious life of the people of Tikopia, Firth 
made a few observations on their tattooing. Brief though these notes are, they may be 
worth putting on record as an indication of the sociological setting of the practice in this 
primitive Polynesian community. The origin of the English word ‘tattoo' actually comes 
from the Tikopia word 'tatau1. The word for tattoo marks in general is tau
，
and the 
operation of tattooing is known as ta tau, ta being the generic term for the act of striking. 
D.
 
The technique of tattooing was similar throughout Polynesia. Traditional tattoo artists 
create their indelible tattoos using pigment made from the candlenut or kukui nut. First, 
they bum the nut inside a bowl made of half a coconut shell. They then scrape out the 
soot and use a pestle to mix it with liquid. Bluing is sometimes added to counteract the 
reddish hue of the carbon-based pigment. It also makes the outline of the inscribed 
designs bolder on the dark skin of tattooing subjects.