Tag: Maori

Picture of the Day: President Moon Gets A Maori Nose Greeting

| December 4, 2018
Moon in New Zealand
Moon in New ZealandSouth Korean President Moon Jae-in rubs noses with a Maori dance performer during a welcome ceremony at the official residence of Governor-General Patsy Reddy in Auckland on Dec. 3, 2018. He arrived the previous day for a three-day state visit to New Zealand. (Yonhap)

New Zealand Military Approves Full Facial Tattoo for Maori Servicemember

| January 10, 2017

I have met people of Maori descent who serve in the US military.  I wonder what the Pentagon’s reaction would be to someone of Maori heritage wanting a facial tattoo for cultural reasons?:

After serving 20 years in the Navy a combat specialist has become the first to be allowed a full facial Maori tattoo.

Rawiri Barriball was granted clearance in December to wear the moko after having to apply for it under navy law, NZME reported.

“I’ve always felt I was gonna get it, I just wanted to achieve a few things first and one of them was doing 20 years’ [service],” he told NewsHub.  [Stuff.co.nz]

You can read more at the link, but I have spent quite a bit of time in New Zealand and it is not uncommon to see Maori with a facial tattoo.  However, I saw very few Maori have facial tattoos as large as Mr. Barriball.