Viriamo

Tattooed woman from Easter Island

Viriamo

Born| c.1840-c.1940

Rapa Nui

Died| c.1950

Rapa Nui

Occupation| Cultural leader
Known for| One of the last tattooed people of Rapa Nui

Victoria Veriamo a Huki a Parapara, also known as Viriamo (c.1840 - c.1940) was one of the last surviving Rapa Nui people to have been tattooed using traditional practices, along with Ana Eva Hei. She was a cultural informant who shared information about indigenous Rapa Nui culture with European visitors; the same knowledge she also shared with her son Juan Tepano, who in turn also functioned as a cultural informant.

## Tattoos

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Viriamo, back view by Walter Knoche, 1911

The artist who created the designs on her face and body was likley to have been Tomanika Vaka Tuku One, who was also a catechist.[1]:35 With geometric stripes on her forehead and a adze-like design on her cheek, Viriamo's body was also decorated.[1]:36 Her back was decorated with the ao motif, which symbolised a paddle.[2]

Rapa Nui tattoo tools

The tattoos of the Rapa Nui people were a subject of research by European colonisers and Viriamo's body art was recorded by several people. It is likley that she is the 'chefess' recorded by Julien Viaud in his writings.[1]:36 Her back tattoos were drawn by J. Linton Palmer in 1853.[1]:36 Photographs of her were published in The Mystery of Easter Island by Katherine Routledge.[3]

## Legacy

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By 1930, she and Ana Eva Hei were the only two people on Rapa Nui to have traditional tattoos.[2]

When time Alfred Métraux visited the island in 1941, she was "the only living person" to have "witnessed the functioning of the ancient culture".[4] As a cultural informant, she shared information about the island's indigenous culture, such as tangata manu (a bird man cult), with visitors.[5][6] She also shared information about indigenous deities, such as Tare and Rapahango.[7]

## Personal life

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Viriamo was born close to the Rano Raraku quarry.[8] She was married three times. Her second husband was Vaka Ariki, with whom she had five children.[1]:39 A son from her thrid marriage was cultural informant Juan Tepano.[9][1]:39 Tepano told Métraux on his visit that much of his knowledge that he shared came from his mother, who at that time could no longer speak.[10]

## References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Viriamo.

1. ^ a b c d e f Kaeppler, Adrienne L. (2018). The iconic tattooed man of easter island: an illustrated life. Santa Monica, CA: EISP Foundation Mana Press. ISBN 978-1-7324952-0-3.
2. ^ a b "SACRED SKIN: EASTER ISLAND INK | LARS KRUTAK". www.larskrutak.com. 2012-11-23. Retrieved 2024-09-30.
3. ^ "The Mystery of Easter Island". digital.library.upenn.edu. Retrieved 2024-09-30.
4. ^ A., J. C. (1941). "Review of ETHNOLOGY OF EASTER ISLAND". The Journal of the Polynesian Society. 50 (1(197)): 48–51. ISSN 0032-4000.
5. ^ Van Tilburg, Jo Anne. "Mechanics, logistics and economics of transporting Easter Island (Rapa Nui) statues." (1996).
6. ^ Rapa Nui Journal. Georgia Lee. 1993. p. 113.
7. ^ Museum, Bernice Pauahi Bishop (1971). Bernice P. Bishop Museum Bulletin. Bishop Museum Press. p. 317.
8. ^ Howes, Hilary; Jones, Tristen; Spriggs, Matthew (2022-06-21). Uncovering Pacific Pasts: Histories of Archaeology in Oceania. ANU Press. ISBN 978-1-76046-487-5.
9. ^ Kjellgren, Eric (2001). Splendid Isolation: Art of Easter Island. p. 30.
10. ^ Bulamah, Rodrigo (2017-07-27), "Alfred Métraux: Between Ethnography and Applied Knowledge", Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Latin American History, doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199366439.013.452, ISBN 978-0-19-936643-9, retrieved 2024-09-30