Tattoo gathering coming up
Tattoo artist Lia Marie Beauchamp gives a traditional tattoo at last year’s Traditional Indigenous Tattoo Gathering. File photo
Kanesatake’s Traditional Indigenous Tattoo Gathering is set to return next month, and organizer Karonhienhawe Nicholas is ready to welcome artists from across Turtle Island to the event.
“I want people to get interested, get to know about it, and make it the norm for us to practice this tradition that was almost gone,” she said. “It’s not taboo.”
She said that if last year’s event is anything to go by, the community is set for another year of meaningful connections at the gathering.
“Last year it was so nice, it was nice and quaint and it wasn’t hectic,” she said. “It was just right up my alley.”
The gathering is currently set to be a three-day event held from September 26-28, and artists will be set up at the Kanesatake Youth of Today (KYOT) youth building.
Regulars such as Akwesasne’s Mercedes Tsatsi’tsiahawi Terrance will be returning to tattoo, and Nicholas is currently in the process of securing more artists for the event. She said that this year, she’s also hoping to have an Inuit tattoo artist join the gathering.
She said that it’s exciting to see returning artists excited about the gathering, and a reflection of the vibrant traditional tattoo scene that’s been ramping up across Turtle Island.
“It’s almost like a family, this special family. People have their powwow family kind of thing, and this is another kind of family, because it’s something we’re connecting on together spiritually and traditionally,” Nicholas said. “It’s really special, it’s really unique.”
In past years, Nicholas had been one of a team of organizers, but this year she’s organizing solo. She said that she wants to keep investing in creating this space even if it means doing it without a large team.
“It’s a bonding experience, not just for the artists together, but also for the artists with the people who are being tattooed or marked,” she said. “It’s something that’s a serious bond, it’s nice to share.”
Nicholas herself will be tattooing at the event, and she already has her eye on some designs - though she’s keeping quiet about what design she’s picked until the event.
“It’s special so I don’t want to give it away, but I recently saw what one of the artists had created and heard the story behind it, and it really hit me, because it’s really a part of my story,” she said. “I just thought ‘That’s mine,’ because it’s what brings me and draws me to the things I do.”
She hopes that many others can find that special connection with the markings they choose at the event, and can connect with the practice of tattooing in a traditional way. She said it’s something she has even begun to connect with her teenage children over, having tattooed them with traditional markings in the past.
“A lot of people think it’s taboo for a child that’s, say, under 15, to have a tattoo, but if it marks a rite of passage it shouldn’t be taboo, it should be something that’s marked and remembered and recorded, and this is how we used to do it,” she said.
In the coming weeks, Nicholas plans to organize fundraising events to help support the gathering, covering costs such as food for the artists.
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She’s also open to any artists who might want to have a booth at the event, and she isn’t charging any fees for setting up shop.
“I just want people to be there to enjoy themselves, the experience, their surroundings, it’s something that’s different and peaceful,” she said.
Volunteers will also be needed for the event, and Nicholas encourages anyone interested in helping to message her directly or via email at [email protected].
