If you thought the Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC) was mostly just a luau, you’d only be scratching the surface. Don’t get ...

Etched into her skin from the wrists up to her nail beds, the markings are no ordinary tattoos, but symbols of traditional "tatau" found among the people of the Polynesian island country Samoa.

Then begins the long, slow process of thinning and widening the material. Taatoa taps the bark with a traditional Samoan mallet, working from the centre to the edges, spreading it a few ...

Skin Stories follows traditional Samoan ceremonies, where body tattoo, or pe'a, is being revived after it was discouraged by Christian missionaries. Wrapping the body from mid torso to the knees ...