Scene Five: September 27, 2007:
Including and Engaging people with body modifications: What's the point?
Body modifications have been around for centuries. Below is a brief history of body modifications in different cultures:
A BIT OF HISTORY
- Earliest evidence of tattooing appears to be found in Iceman dated 5200 years ago
- Mummified remains of ancient pre-Columbian cultures of Peru & Chile
- Ancient mummies in China's Taklamakan Desert, c. 1200 BC
- Native Americans such as the Cree
- Greenland Inuit women, c. AD 1475
- Japanese men in the late 3rd Century AD
"Every known culture has pursued some kind of body ornamentation"—Enit Schildkrout, Chief Curator, Museum of African Art, NY.
In many cultures tattoos have been used to mark nobility or high status. This includes ancient Greece, ancient Briton, Rome, and New Zealand.
The Japanese "body suit" of tattoos was created in the 18th century in response to an edict permitting only the Imperial family and the wealthy to wear rich or elaborate clothing.
In other cultures, tattooing was used to designate criminals, e.g., the Han Dynasty (202 BC-AD 220).
In 787 AD Pope Hadrian banned tattooing and the Catholic Church suppressed tattooing for centuries as a defilement of the human body.
In Africa and Australia where darker skin made tattoos less visible, they tended to practice scarification instead.
Scene Five was the fifth session of the 2007 NW Diversity Learning Series, Life Theater - Inclusion and Engagement: Challenging and Expanding My Diversity Competency: Moving Beyond My Comfort Zone. The Series, held in Seattle, WA, is organized by The GilDeane Group, publishers of DiversityCentral.com.
Presenters were Donna Stringer, President, Executive Diversity Services, Seattle, WA, and Jamie Barber, corporate employee, Seattle, WA,