fromthefloatingworld:According to the mythology of the Ainu people, tattooing was brought to earth b
fromthefloatingworld:According to the mythology of the Ainu people, tattooing was brought to earth by Okikurumi Turesh Machi, the ancestral mother of the Ainu and sister of the creator god Okikurumi. Ainu girls were given lip tattoos as they grew older, customarily by grandmothers or maternal aunts. Completed lip tattoos served to repel evil spirits from the body, indicate that the woman was ready for marriage, and assure her place among her ancestors in the afterlife. In addition to facial tattooing, braid-like designs were tattooed to the arms or hands for protection against evil spirits and disease. -- source link
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