Hey! I’m looking for references to iñeri and kalina’go motifs (Lesser Antilles) to inspire a tattoo. I’m also interested in Taino, Kali’na and Arawak references in general.
If, for example, you have any references to archaeological finds in Martinique, Dominica or Saint Lucia, that would be ideal.
Or serious illustrations of indigenous peoples, produced by Europeans at the time – though I doubt any are sufficiently accurate.
Or, of course, any traditional imagery that has clearly survived or been reimagined by locals in your area!
On that note, I recently saw a Franco-Dominican tattoo artist studying Saladoid pottery in an attempt to recreate ancient Caribbean designs. The movement is called “Akwasak” and is very cool, but it draws inspiration from truly ancient motifs in order to represent a broader cultural area.
This obviously has its advantages, but I’d like to carry out some parallel research, and ideally using more recent and precise iconography.