Maori visitors with face tattoos hesitant to travel to Hawaii

Maori visitors with face tattoos hesitant to travel to Hawaii

If you ask Ihirangi Heke what he does for a living, he might say his job description is on his face. Inked on Heke’s skin lies the Maori creation story, where sacred axes severed the embrace between Papa­tuanuku, the earth mother, and Ranginui, the sky father, bringing light and life into the world. “Those two axes are drawn on each side of my jaw because when my jaw moves, it’s meant to represent the equivalent of those arms being removed, so t…