Tavana Salmon (13 January 1920 – 24 September 2024) was a French Polynesian culture advocate and tattoo artist.[1] In 1982, he began his contributions to Polynesian culture through his tattoo practice.[2]
Biography
Born on 13 January 1920 in Papeete, Salmon had a Tahitian mother and American father. He moved to Hawaii at the age of three and attended school there and performed shows in Waikiki for 17 years. He also appeared in a film, The Bounty, which was about the mutiny on the Bounty. In 1982, he returned to Polynesia to begin his tattoo practice.[3] That year, over 100 people were tattooed, with 150 the following year.[4] At the start of the revival, there were very few people on Tahiti who had the traditional tattoos.[5] He personally tattooed ten people a day for ten years straight.[6] He made appearances in the documentary films Tatau, le renouveau du tatouage (2007)[7] and Tatau, la culture d'un art (2015).[8][9]
Salmon died on 24 September 2024, at the age of 104.[10]
^Galliot, Sebatstien (2019). Le tatouage Samoan - Un rite Polynésien dans l'histoire (in French). Paris: French National Centre for Scientific Research. p. 383. ISBN9782271126900.
^Saura, Bruno (2013). Tahiti ma'ohi Culture, identité, religion et nationalisme en Polynésie française (in French). Papeete: Au vent des îles. p. 532. ISBN9782367340234.
^Ellis, Juniper (2008). Tattooing the World Pacific Designs in Print & Skin. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 275. ISBN9780231143691.
^Kuwuhara, Makiko (2020). Tattoo An Anthropology. Abingdon-on-Thames: Taylor & Francis. p. 290. ISBN9781000323634.