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"HAND TAPPED"

In April 2016, I traveled to American Samoa as part of the Marine Corps Forces Pacific Band to participate in their Flag Day Ceremony and surrounding events. This annual ceremony attracts quite a bit of attention, leaving no vacancies at any of the hotels on island. Fortunately, we were honored guests and made our reservations well ahead of time. What I had not planned on, was getting a Tattoo.

Wilson is an Internationally known Tattoo Artist from American Samoa. I'm pretty sure he has more to his name than just "Wilson", but that's what he calls himself, and that's what everyone knows him as. While I had some "Liberty" on the island, I scheduled a session with the master. It was quite a bit different than other tattoo sessions I've had. Tattoos are a big deal in American Samoa. It's common for children to start getting "inked up" at around age 16. The culture is quite a bit different there, than that of the Continental United States. Tattoo isn't some sort of fad to them... It has roots that go deep into their ancestors culture in the islands.

"So what had happened was"... Several of the Marines in the Band had been to American Samoa in previous years, and had already got some ink from Wilson. When I mentioned getting a tattoo myself, one of my fellow Marines made the arrangements. The next day, Wilson picked a couple of us up from the hotel in his beat up pickup truck. When we got in, I remember thinking, "Is this really a good idea"? It seemed sketchy at best. After 30 minutes of driving, we arrived at his house, which was pretty well off the beaten path. There were a couple of his protégé's waiting when we arrived. Their main duty is too hold the subject down and stretch the skin while Wilson works.

"So where's the tattoo gun?".... Yeah, about that... Wilson does "Hand Tapped" tattoos. The best way I can describe how it works is you have one stick hitting another stick that has a piece of bone that's been filed down with a sharp jagged edge and dipped in ink. The bone penetrates the skin, and leaves some ink below the surface. The design is really the Artist's choice. When I asked how it all works, I was just asked where I wanted the tattoo, and how big I wanted it to be. After that, we just talked for awhile. Wilson gets to know you, and a bit about your story. And that's what your tattoo is... It's a bit of a story about who you are and about your life.

"So did it hurt?" YES!!! It absolutely did... I look pretty calm in the video, but I remember thinking that if I knew it would have felt like that before hand, I probably wouldn't have gotten it. That said, I'd probably get another one if I ever made it back to American Samoa.