Mae is an Indigenous woman in her 20s. Her tattoo is a Mohawk word and concept, “skennen’kó:wa,” with one daisy above and one below the word, located on her upper left arm. “Skennen’kó:wa refers to the Great Law of Peace, and also refers to a concept of great peace found in the harmony of relations across communities, nations, and the world.” She shares, “As a person who is both Mohawk and white, it is an extremely important concept that reminds me of my role to be humble, strive for peaceful relationships, and try to be optimistic about the state of the world.” She designed the tattoo herself, choosing daisies because they are her favourite flower. She selected her upper left arm so that it would be visible to others and wouldn’t hurt as much, as it was her first tattoo.
Prior to the tattoo, Mae had done a lot of unpacking of religious trauma from her Catholic upbringing. She was invited to a Catholic wedding for a high school friend, and she explained that she needed something on her body that was a “middle finger to the church.” She says, “I wanted to bring something with me that said I wasn’t a part of this club, that I am defiant, that I am ok with living in sin for a multitude of things, and that I had priorities that made sense for me.” The tattoo was done a week before the wedding. “I was still healing in the church – that tattoo was working to heal, and so was I.” The tattoo serves to remind her about who she is, and what she “ought to be” according to her Indigenous cosmology. “I think it will continue to play a role in my growth as a human beyond someone who held in a lot of Catholic guilt.”
STORIES FROM THE SKIN 