Etaeta

Design Story

This Polynesian half sleeve tattoo was designed for Nick and it represents a fighter and his achievements.

On the shoulder, swimming towards the future, there is a manta (freedom, beauty, knowledge) with an enata and a tiki for protection in this voyage of life.
The stylized lizard and centipede around the enata symbolize health, luck, fighting spirit and tenacity.

The turtle represents his family, protected by two tiki on the front flippers, with chasing birds for support to the loved ones.

The spearheads symbolize the warrior who faces every challenge (the path of Kamehameha) with strength and courage to reach his goals and success (the sun surrounding the shoulder).
To get there it also takes balance (the Marquesan cross) between tenacity, determination (the hammerhead shark) and friendship, sociality (the dolphin).
The braid along this path symbolizes union and the shark teeth are for adaptability.

The mere symbolizes the chief who guides his fellows along this path to prosperity (fish, fish hook and coconut leaves).

The colored image below helps identifying the main elements within the tattoo: