Apo Whand Od - Tattoo Artist [5 min read]

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Tatoo, from the root word Tatow, also known as Tatu, Tatau, Tataou which all mean to strike or to stamp.

Almost as old as written civilization, tattooing has been around for couples of centuries. These intricate markings, pattern with designs are made by puncturing the skin. Inserting and leaving the indelible pigments beneath it. Making a pattern that as a whole creates a picture a word or an idea.

Tattoos may be a lot. From a single stroke of inspiration, a symbol or origin perhaps, a sign of belief, a word to describe and so much more.

Maria Oggay, or famously known as Apo Whang Od, is a full blooded Filipino traditional tattoo artists.

The oldest known tattoo artist in the country of the Philippines. In fact, the last one of her generation in the world.

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Thirteen to seventeen hours north from the capital city of Manila, lies the vicinity of Kalinga. It is one of the remote areas in the mountains of the Luzon province in the Philippines.

Here, a village elder and considered one of the chiefs, lives and work in the small village of Buscalan.

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Born in Tinglayan, Kalinga, Philippines in February 17, 1917. Makes her a hundred and one years old two weeks as of this writing.

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Her secret to making it to 100th? "I don't eat canned goods, foods with oil, foods with preservatives," Apo Whang Od says. "I only eat organic foods like leafy vegetables and beans."

She describes her life as simple, not so fortunate but in a happy and healthy situations.

She has been a tattoo artist since she was 15 years old. A+ for consistency!

These however, was not just started by her or her older generations, the trade for hand-poke tattooing dates back as early as 12,000 BC.

Before the Westerns, Spanish covered the bodies of our ancestors with tattoos. Spaniards called it the Pintados which meant "painted".

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Since Apo Whang Od is the last living mambabatok, or one they call tattoo master.

She is covered in ornate designs, tattooed by her father when she was 12 years old.

The visitors, including my personal friends finds her witty, cheerful, and at times, a silly elder.

One time, she had an adoration to a certain foreign couple, she told them to go up in the hut and do the deed to bring luck in their relationship. :P

Also, when Apo is in a good mood, she fancies giving someone a pat on the buttcheek using a stick or jokingly pat a chubby men's belly.

On her bad temper moments, she hates being hurried and gets easily irritated by the noise around her.

The young men and women of Kalinga consider themselves as ambaru or beautiful when they have body tattoos.

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She uses a hand tapping technique called "Batok". With the help of Orange's or Suha/ Pomelo's thorn and bamboo stick .

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The ink is a charcoal and of water mixture.

The sound the bamboo being tapped on the skin creates both pain and music to the ears.

She has learned to master her craft by tattooing fearless headhunters over the past years, almost a century now.

Although headhunters has long since ceased, she continues to tattoo her visitors.

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During Apo Whang Od's earlier days, people use pigs as a payment for the tattoo service. Now, locals and tourists pay in cash depends on the size of the tattoo.

Most, if not all visitors consider it worthy to provide extra pay and ending up paying double the amount.**

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Earlier in her life, she used to work in rice fields for her family to provide food on the table since their village is surrounded by mountain of rice fields also known as The Rice Terraces.

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Each village of Kalinga used to have one tattoo artist, but now she is the only one in the tribe who carries the practice.

Her greatest belief is that her tattoos are not just accessories. It will be with her when she dies unlike other beads and gold earrings.

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PROCESS

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1. Tattooing starts by drawing the design with a piece of straw.

2. Soot, mixed with water is used to make the ink or merieka.

3. An orange or Pomelo's thro is attached to a piece of bamboo laced with inked on it's tip.

4. A short stick is used to push the bamboo in order to force the thorn to prick and break the skin. They called this tattooing tool, lufkan.

5. The hand-tapped method pierces the skin at approximately 90 to 120 taps per minute.

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BELIEFS

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Elders of Apo Whang Od's tribe, suggest to have tattoos while one is still young and single.

Aside from the issue of age and pain tolerance, their people believed that once a woman gets married, she must stop having tattoos because the purpose of having a tattoo back then was to attract a suitable partner.

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If a married woman tries to get a tattoo, it was a belief that it hurts more than what is expected.

If there is too much blood while being tattooed, it is a signal to use and wear their special beads as it was said to help stop the bleeding and tattooing can continue.

For Kalingas, tattoos are symbol of one's rite of passage as they go from one stage of their life to another.

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Their journey is marked by the tattoos in their bodies.

These rites are categorized into three stages.

Rites of separation; Best example is upon funeral.

Rites of transition; Pregnancies and

Rites of incorporation; Marriage.

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It was an old belief that when an individual transition from one to another, it causes disturbance and such causes misfortunes. Tattooing deemed necessary to counter the said disturbances.

Apo Whang Od, however saddened by the thought that the sacredness of having a tattoo was now gone as before, men needed to be a successful hunters to be worthy of the tattoos, while women use tattoos to enhance their beauty.

Another belief is that tattoos also protect the person who has it from evil, enemies, diseases, and misfortunes.

For Apo Whang Od, her heart wishes to consider tattoos as a symbol for both beauty and power. Not just a permanent skin accessories.

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HER LOVE STORY

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Apo Whang Od found her true love in the form of her childhood friend and tribe's Butbut Warrior, Ang-batang.

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Unfortunately, it was not to be a smooth sailing love story. His family did not approve of her, and so they fought for their love. The reason the family disagreed was because she was not a pure Butbut ( or a warrior class) . In their culture, marrying a mixed indigenous origin was strongly not allowed which was apparently, Apo Whang Od's case.

He was then arranged and forced by his father to marry another woman of their tribe. To her unfortunate luck, the woman had to be her closest and only best friend in the village.

As the saying goes, first love never dies. Their love for each other never fade and in fact, pushed them to have a secret marriage of their own.

However, the love of her life, was killed during a hunt and her heart never beat the same again for another man.

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HIKING TO INKING

Getting to the location is no piece of cake. Visitors must hike steep heights, narrow paths , and long walks just to reach Apo's location. But the long travel and dangerous trekking could not stop people from all over the world to take the journey just to be inked by Apo Whang Od.

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Having gone through this journey up north, the travelers gain experiences in a different light.

Apo Whang Od's hope was when it is her time to go, the traditional tattooing lives on. For Grace, (who says her grand-niece but some say her granddaughter) and last blood related successor, to continue the practice.

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People learned to cherish and respect Apo's dedication, passion for art and legacy.
Majority of netizens and expats votes for her to claim the place to be acknowledged as one of the country's National Artist.

Another idea some Filipino supporters vouch on is that, since she is engaged in traditional art forms, advocates that she is a better fit to receive the Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan or National Living Treasure AWARD instead.

Stating that both is equal in rank and honor with the National Artist Title.

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The discussion and debate of the said apparently, is still in process.

To pay tribute to Apo, people who look up to her and embrace her talent and service, paints for her, draw and film her.

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For most people, an encounter with Apo Whang Od is a once in a life time experience worth to be included in one's bucket list.

Apo, appreciates all the recognition she and the tradition receives from her single fellow country man to all people across all nations, through every snap of lenses, each rolls of films and every single world written and spoken about their tribe.

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Batok, the traditional art of tattooing of the Kalinga, is truly a treasure.

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May the stereotyping image of male and female gender in terms of having a tattoo would not effect Kalinga's culture. Reason for Apo Whang Od to carry the concern and be worried for the tribe especially Grace to discontinue to uphold the tradition that majority of chances lies through her.

If you have a dream to meet this woman and be tattoed by the last living mambabatok before it was too late, better do it now! Pay humble respect and honor to the tribe who upholds our country's unique tradition.

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The community is genuinely proud of their skills and work of art. The time, money and effort one will spend for this journey will be worth it as everyone trekked down with priceless realizations and discoveries.

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Let me know on the comment section below should you find this interesting for I may stretch the subject by sharing few more informations such us;

• Travel and commute tips. Losing one's way to Buscalan will ruin the excitement.

• Knowing the preparation needed prior getting a tattoo will be of help too.

• It pays to be wise in terms of price range of souvenirs and estimate budget of lodging.

• Discussing the must-bring-stuff to get you well ready for the trip is as important.

Thank you for reading!

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REFERENCES

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