Malu is a traditional Samoantattoo applied to women.[1] Themalu covers the legs from just below the knee to the upper thighs just below the buttocks, and is typically finer and more delicate in design compared to thepeʻa, the tattoo worn by men. Themalu takes its name from a particular lozenge-shaped motif of the same name, usually tattooed behind the knee, in thepopliteal fossa. It is one of the key motifs not seen on men. According to Samoan scholarAlbert Wendt and tattooistSua Sulu'ape Paulo II, in tattooing, the termmalu refers to notions of sheltering and protection.[2][3] Samoan women were also tattooed on the hands and sometimes the lower abdomen. These practices have undergone a resurgence since the late 1990s.[4]
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, only the district paramount chief's daughter was eligible to wear themalu, which was applied to these young women in the years following puberty. Women with themalu were expected to perform key ceremony tasks and represent their families and villages on ceremonial occasions. However, in 1930, anthropologistPeter Buck observed that "...the tattooing of a girl is often used as an opportunity for a student to try his prentice hand. This is also rendered possible by the fact that there is no fusita (fine mat) passed or any of the ceremony that marks the tattooing of the male. It is often sufficient reward for the novice to have the opportunity of practice and to be well fed during the period occupied by the operation...For the daughter of a high chief, who is to become the village taupou, it can be readily understood that an expert artist would be requisitioned and his reward greater."[5]
Ceremonial roles are still important inSamoan society and are restricted in similar ways to particular people with the correct qualifications and cultural knowledge, but the significance of themalu has shifted. From at least the 1990s, there has been less emphasis on chiefly qualifications, and women of a variety of backgrounds and ages have been tattooed with themalu. However, themalu is not important to all Samoans, or the only symbol of an individual's commitment or participation in Samoan cultural life. In the Samoan congregations of some churches, men and women have been discouraged from getting tattooed.[6] In New Zealand and Australia, themalu is increasingly important as a symbol of Samoan cultural identity rather than only a signifier of a person's ability to carry out specific Samoan ceremonial roles.[7] The contemporary meanings and significance ofmalu are often vigorously contested; in recent years this has become especially noticeable in social media forums when tattooists and tattooed people share photographs of their tattoos. It is clear from these public debates that the changes in meaning for all forms of Samoan tattooing are being made by the people who wear the images as much as by the tattooists who create them.[8]
There are also accounts of non-Samoan women receiving themalu. One relates to an American named Elsie Bach who worked as a Peace Corps volunteer in Samoa in the 1970s. She developed strong relationships with families in the Samoan community, and received amalu and amatai (chiefly) title in acknowledgement. As Samoan tattooists have travelled and worked in the United States and Europe, women from other ethnic backgrounds and nationalities have been tattooed with themalu or elements of it.[9] This practice is controversial and is sometimes criticised ascultural appropriation by Samoans.[10][11]