THE TATTOOS
Inspired by Native American Culture
Dream Catcher/Compass
This was my first-ever tattoo. This tattoo started it all and it wasn't on purpose. My mother who loves tattoos wanted to get matching mother-daughter tattoos. How cute right? She wanted to incorporate a compass to represent that no matter what we will find each other, though when she was sending me references I saw one with a dreamcatcher and I immediately loved the idea. This was also the time I was embracing my Native American heritage so what better way to start than with a dreamcatcher, a protectant.
Native American Girl
This was my second tattoo and by far took the longest, the first session was twelve hours. then in the second I got her touched up for another four hours. In total she took sixteen, long but worth it, hours. The importance of her is mainly in her headdress, if you look right in the middle on the pendant there is a bear paw. This is representing my tribe, the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, and the clan I am in, the Bear Clan.
Handprint/MMIW
This tattoo has the most significance and reflects on an issue occurring in the present day. I get many questions on what the handprint means or who's hand it is. To answer, it represents the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women movement, MMIW for short. Native women and children across the United States are two times more likely to experience violence and one in three Indigenous women will be sexually assaulted in their life. These statistics are scary and with this tattoo I hoped to bring more awareness to the issue. I encourage you to look up more information on MMIW or to donate to the many organizations out there trying to help these Indigenous women.
Buffalo
The most recent addition is this half buffalo skull, and alive buffalo. This tattoo has a meaning rooted in Native American culture. Buffalos were very important to Native Americans because they provided many uses food, clothing, and shelter. They were very worshiped and respected. When the United States government and settlers wanted to expand west into Native lands, Their elaborate plan was to kill as many buffalo as possible to get Natives to seize their land. This resulted in thousands, even millions of buffalo to be killed, leaving only 500. The skull represents the buffalo killed and the other side represents the efforts in bringing the population back.
