Isolated in the Pacific, some 1200 miles due west of Peru, are 12 volcanic islands known as the Marquesas. About 2,000 years ago they were colonized by Polynesian voyageurs that had already brought the art of tattooing to a high level of sophistication.

During the latter part of the eighteenth century the Marquesas were occasionally visited by explorers, traders, and whalers in need of provisions. None stayed long, but deserters and mutineers sometimes remained on shore until they could be picked up by another vessel.

When the Russian explorer Ivan Fedorovich Krusenstern arrived in the Marquesas in 1804 he found two Europeans living among the natives. They were a Frenchman, Jean Baptiste Cabri, and an Englishman, Edward Robarts. Both men had lived in the islands for several years and had been tattooed in the Marquesan fashion. Krusenstern employed them as guides and interpreters, and George Heinrich von Langsdorff, the German naturalist who accompanied Krusenstern, used them as informants when he wrote the first published account of native life and customs.

Langsdorff was interested in Marquesan tattooing because it was far more extensive than that of other Pacific islands. Most Marquesans were completely covered, including hands, feet, and faces, with intricate geometrical designs.

W.G. Tilesius von Tilenau, was an artist who accompanied the Russian expedition, made the first drawings of tattooed Marquesan natives. For almost a century, von Tienau’s illustrations were widely reproduced and were an invaluable record of authentic Marquesan tattooing as it was before contact.

Willowdean Handy studied the tattoo art of the Marquesans for many years and wrote three books describing her adventures: Tattooing in the Marquesas, Forever the Land of Men, and Thunder from the Sea.

Tattooing in the Marquesas contains photographs and many drawings of ancient designs. In addition, Handy summarized the information collected from interviews. Forever the Land of Men is an autobiographical account of her experiences in the Marquesas.

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