Pattern Recognition

It is easy to see which social group a human being belongs to if it bears a visual mark which characterises this group and which is instantly recognisable. The face is probably the best spot on the body to place such a visual mark because when you meet someone, you look straight int the face to understand from its expression if the person is friendly or hostile.

In the case of the women of the [Southern] Chin tribe, the tattoo marks tell you immediately a story of belonging as their faces are tattooed entirely black-blue, as in the case of the Ubun [Ubtu, Uppu], or with different patterns made of dots, lines and circles, ranging from raw geometric forms and ornaments to complexly-designed matrixes.

Look into the face of a Laytu woman and your stare can easily get lost in the maze of interwoven patterns. In terms of beauty, craftmenship and sophistication, the Laytu women are certainly the Queens among the Chin.

LIZARD GEOMETRY: The well-lined eyelids of the Laytu women resemble reptile skin, while the pattern of spider webs are imprinted on the cheeks (source: Parkitny, Jens Uwe, ‘Blood Faces’, Flame of the Forest, Singapore, 2007).

The women of the other groups such as the M’Khan, the Ya [N’Gha], the Yindu Dai, the Dai, the Yindu Mowye [Hmoye], the Magan , the Mün, the Sungtu and the Sutu also bear tattoos but none of them come close to the fine art of the tattoos displayed by the Laytu.

At first glance it is clear to other Chin tribes to which clan a woman belongs as each group has its own tattoo style and each clan a unique variation of it. Though the patterns of one group seem to repeat themselves, each design is unique and customised to the individual characteristics of a face.

Apart from signalling belonging to a clan, the tattoo also signals a warning, as in “don’t touch - this is owned property and you are very likely to get into serious trouble for taking away” (as it can be easily identified again).

The pattern and designs used have certainly not been chosen at random but unfortunately in-depth research on the subject has ever been conducted. The British roamed the Chin territory during colonial occupation of Burma but have failed to do any meaningful research on the different tattoo styles, simply because the tattooed Chin women were perceived as “too ugly” and therefore not worth a second thought.

TIGER EYES AND WHISKERS: The Laytu Chin facial tattoo is a perfect camouflage to blend into the wilderness (source: Parkitny, Jens Uwe, ‘Blood Faces’, Flame of the Forest, Singapore, 2007).

As a matter of fact, the world knows all about how Chin men conducted warfare, thanks to the British rulers, but nothing about the significance of the different female facial tattoos. No contemporary research has been done either as it is hardly known that these tribes still exist. Furthermore, access to them is extremely difficult [Remark: at the time I started the project, special permits to visit Chin State was required, until about 2012].

On my several journeys through Southern Chin State and Northern Rakhine State, I have not met any living soul who could explain to me the significance of any of the tattoo ornaments. I only met one “tattoo sayamah” (female tattoo master) that the last time she had done a [facial] tattoo was almost a decade ago. She confirmed that the circle in the centre of the forehead of the Laytu Chin symbolizes the sun. Its perfectly round shape is drawn with a ring cut from bamboo or a coin, and is always the starting point of any new facial tattoo.

The sun has been worshipped since ancient times and it might well be that related ornaments used for tattooing date back to prehistoric times. The meaning of the various symbols have, however, been irretrievable lost over time.

The other-world beauty and the fascination the archaic symbols radiate now survive only on a few faces of the Chin women who live in the remotest of areas in the Union of Myanmar. They are the last of their kind.

Excerpt from my book “Blood faces”, published in 2007, Flame of the Forest, Singapore, ISBN 978-981-4193-38-2