Ujawe initiation tattoo design of the belly button. Omie tattoos are known as sor'e and were an integral and sacred component of the culture as they delineated ancestral bloodlines and...
Ujawe initiation tattoo design of the belly button. Omie tattoos are known as sor'e and were an integral and sacred component of the culture as they delineated ancestral bloodlines and clan affiliations. Designs were tattooed during the Ujawe, an initiation rite carried out in an underground site known as a guai. Pubescent children lived in seclusion in the guai until they reached sexual maturity and were ready for initiation into womanhood or manhood. men's entire bodies were tattooed while only the faces of women were tattooed. the first missionaries banned this ancient initiation rite but fortunately the Chiefs, who feared that their culture would be lost encouraged the women to paint tattoo designs onto the barkcloth. Because the bark-cloths are worn n the body the barkcloth itself has become like a second skin - and a potent symbol of the strength of Omie culture and its will to survive. This particular design of conjoined concentric circles is known as vinohu'e and was originally tattooed around the belly button and representing the fruit of the sih'e tree. This is a yellow fruit found in the rainforest and often eaten by cassowaries. In the time of the ancestors during warfare the Omie male warriors has no food in the forest, far from the villages so they survived by chewing the sihe fruit, swallowing the juice and spitting the pulp out.