Tribal Tattoo Designs accounts for nearly a third of all tattoo design search requests, and the term "tribal" of course covers an astonishing array of tattoo design possibilities, from the traditional tribal tattoos of indigenous and aboriginal cultures, to the latest in graphic design for the body.
While today it is possible to find some incredibly breathtaking tribal tattoo designs, you'll be hard pressed to experience the full, authentic art of the tribal tattoo experience in commercial America. Now, electric tattoo machines and high tech, high quality inks have replaced sticks, styluses, bone needles and plant dyes of the modern tattoo's ancient ancestors. Modern tattoo artists have replaced the shaman and medicine folk of old.
Most likely, the very first tattoo happened on accident. All it takes is a few rowdy primitives playing around the fire. It wouldn't take long for someone to fall in, get poked with a charred stick and later heal before they'd realized that they were on to something. The news probably spread as fast as the fires that prompted the invention. As a matter of fact, it is rumored that the first tattoos were of the sun or flames in honor of the sun god(s).
See also: Maori Tattoos, Haida Tattoos, Tattoo History Museum
