Tag Archives: Omai

Omai: A Tahitian’s Influence on the Reception of Tattoo

4 min read To the Western world, tattoos and deviancy intertwined for centuries since Roman times, but the impact of a Polynesian islander, Omai, re-established a positive reception of inking in 18th-century Europe. James Cook’s crew returned to England from their expedition to the South Pacific with Omai, whose tattoos vowed the London society and […]