![Freshly applied jagua tattoo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Freshly_applied_jagua_tattoo.jpg)
Jagua tattoo is a temporary form of
skin decoration
Body art is art made on, with, or consisting of, the human body. Body art covers a wide spectrum including tattoos, body piercings, scarification, and body painting. Body art may include performance art, body art is likewise utilized for investiga ...
resulting from the application of an extract of the fruit ''
Genipa americana
''Genipa americana'' () is a species of trees in the family Rubiaceae. It is native to the tropical forests of North and South America, as well as the Caribbean.
Description
''Genipa americana'' trees are up to 30 m tall and up to 60 cm d ...
'', also known as ''jagua''. This fruit has been used for body ornamentation and medicinal purposes in many areas of
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
for centuries. It has recently been introduced in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
and
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
as an addition to henna body art, also called
mehendi
Mehndi () is a form of body art and temporary skin decoration from the Indian subcontinent usually drawn on hands or legs. They are decorative designs that are created on a person's body, using a paste, created from the powdered dry leaves of ...
, mehandi, or mehndi in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. (The term "henna tattoo" is often used as a generic term for
temporary tattoos
A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, and/or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several Process of tatt ...
.)
The jagua tattoo method involves the surface application of a dye which then sets within a few hours, staining the upper layer of skin, or epidermis. The body sloughs off this layer of skin continuously and eventually, the tattoo fades and disappears.
The term "tattoo" is more commonly associated with the permanent surgical insertion of pigment underneath the skin, as opposed to pigments applied to the skin's surface. Both mehndi (henna) and jagua tattoos stain the top skin layer. In the case of jagua the color develops and darkens over several days until blue-black.
While henna tattoos are associated with Indian, African, and Middle Eastern cultures, jagua body art was invented by circum-Caribbean tribes and
indigenous peoples of the Amazon region.
The fruit
''
Genipa americana
''Genipa americana'' () is a species of trees in the family Rubiaceae. It is native to the tropical forests of North and South America, as well as the Caribbean.
Description
''Genipa americana'' trees are up to 30 m tall and up to 60 cm d ...
'' is a species of ''
Genipa
''Genipa'' is a genus of trees in the family Rubiaceae. This genus is native to the American tropical forests.
Description
Tall trees, without any spines, prickles or thorns; with large opposite leaves of almost leathery texture, smooth or ha ...
'', native to northern
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
(south to
Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal
, national_motto = "Fi ...
), the
Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
and southern
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, growing in profusion in
rainforest
Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...
s. It is commonly called huito; the alternate name jagua may refer to other species of ''Genipa'' as well. To the
Inca
The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, (Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The admin ...
, it was known as ''hawa'' or ''wituq''. In the British islands of the West Indies, it was called the ''marmalade box''.
It is a medium size tree growing to 15 m tall. The leaves are opposite,
lanceolate
The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular o ...
to oblong, 20–35 cm long, and 10–19 cm broad, glossy dark green, with an entire margin. The flowers are white, yellow, or red, with a five-lobed corolla 5–6 cm diameter. The fruit is a thick-skinned edible
berry
A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit, although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples are strawberries, raspb ...
5–8 cm diameter.
Indigenous uses
Native tribes in the Amazon traditionally use the juice of the jagua fruit for body ornamentation. Certain tribes, such as the Matses Indians of Peru also insert it underneath the skin to create permanent markings on the body. Additionally, the fruit is used for a host of purported medicinal purposes. Peoples known to use the jagua fruit (currently or in the past) include: The
Zapara,
Shuar
The Shuar are an Indigenous people of Ecuador and Peru. They are members of the Jivaroan peoples, who are Amazonian tribes living at the headwaters of the Marañón River.
Name
Shuar, in the Shuar language, means "people". The people who speak ...
,
Tsachila,
Emberá-Wounaan,
Yucuna
Yucuna (Jukuna), also known as Matapi, Yucuna-Matapi, and Yukunais, is an Arawakan language spoken in several communities along the Mirití-Paraná River in Colombia. Extinct Guarú (Garú) was either a dialect or a closely related language.
...
,
Kuna
Kuna may refer to:
Places
* Kuna, Idaho, a town in the United States
** Kuna Caves, a lava tube in Idaho
* Kuna Peak, a mountain in California
* , a village in the Orebić municipality, Croatia
* , a village in the Konavle municipality, Croatia ...
,
Yuqui
The Yuqui are an indigenous people of Bolivia. They primarily live in the Santa Cruz and Cochabamba Departments of eastern Bolivia.
Name
"Yuqui" has been used by Spanish-speakers since the colonial period. A possibility is the word derived from ...
,
Tikuna
The Ticuna (also Magüta, Tucuna, Tikuna, or Tukuna) are an indigenous people of Brazil (36,000'')'', Colombia (6,000), and Peru (7,000). They are the most numerous tribe in the Brazilian Amazon.
History
The Ticuna were originally a tribe that ...
,
Yagua
Yagua are an indigenous people in Colombia and northeastern Peru, numbering approximately 6,000. Currently, they live near the Amazon, Napo, Putumayo and Yavari rivers and their tributaries. As of 2005, some Yagua have migrated northward to ...
,
Arakmbut
The Harakmbut (Arakmbut, Harakmbet) are indigenous people in Peru.
They speak the Harakmbut language. An estimated 2,000 Harakmbut people live in the Madre de Dios Region near the Brazilian border in the Peruvian Amazon. ,
Ka'apor
The Ka'apor are an indigenous people of Brazil. They live on a protected reserve in the state of Maranhão. They were the subject of a book by anthropologist Dr. William Balée in an exhaustive study of their ethnobotany lifeways and the histo ...
,
Canelos-Quichua
The Canelos-Quichua, also known as the Quichua of Pastaza, is an Indigenous people of Ecuador. They are a Lowland Quichua (Runa Shimi) people, inhabiting the province of Pastaza on the banks of the Curaray, Bonbonaza, and Pastaza rivers, in Per ...
,
Amazonian Kichwas
Amazonian Kichwas are a grouping of indigenous Kichwa peoples in the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest, Amazon, with minor groups across the borders of Colombia and Peru. Amazonian Kichwas consists of different ethnic peoples, including Napo Kichwa ...
and
Shipibo-Conibo
The Shipibo-Conibo are an indigenous people along the Ucayali River in the Amazon rainforest in Peru. Formerly two groups, the Shipibo and the Conibo, they eventually became one distinct tribe through intermarriage and communal ritual and are c ...
.
[Fabius, Carine. ''Jagua: A Journey into Body Art from the Amazon.'' Los Angeles: Kouraj Press, 2009. Print. ]
Western uses
"Jagua tattoo" is a term used by people in the body art industry to refer to a form of temporary tattoo, which is created using the juice or extract of the ''Genipa americana'' or jagua fruit. Designs created with jagua appear blue/black in color on the skin and resemble a real tattoo (henna tattoos are reddish-brown in color). Depending on a variety of factors, the stain on the skin lasts one to two weeks, fading gradually as the skin exfoliates. Some henna artists use the jagua tattoo preparations as an additional temporary tattoo option, and some professional tattoo artists use it to give their customers the option of 'trying out' a tattoo before using permanent ink.
Several companies selling temporary tattoo kits have introduced products made with jagua as a base.
See also
*
Body painting
Body painting is a form of body art where artwork is painted directly onto the human skin. Unlike tattoos and other forms of body art, body painting is temporary, lasting several hours or sometimes up to a few weeks (in the case of mehndi or "h ...
*
References
{{reflist
Body art
Indigenous peoples of Panama topics
Indigenous culture of the Amazon