A 105-Year-Old Tattoo Artist Is Teaching Girls to Ink for Independence

[Judi Lynn]

Filipino tribal tattooist Fang-od Oggay has built an economy on the back of skin art.
BY LYNZY BILLING MARCH 2, 2022

After a grueling hike through the jungle, traversing valleys and vibrant rice terraces to the top of the mountain where the teetering village awaits, visitors, tourists, and fans arrive sweaty and gleeful at Buscalan village, Kalinga, in the Philippines’ far north.

Buscalan, which has narrow dirt walkways, limited electricity, and no cell phone service, is the most popular destination in Kalinga Province. Tourism to the village has increased significantly from an estimated 30,000 in 2010 to 170,000 in 2016.

Fang-od Oggay emerges from her wooden hut in the distance, and there is a literal rush towards her. Everyone wants a glimpse of this quirky, fastidious centenarian.

She is known worldwide as a living legend and the last tribal tattoo artist to hold the title of Mambabatok—the name given to traditional tattooists by the Kalinga ethnic group for thousands of years.

More:
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/fang-od-oggay-kalinga-tattoo-philippines/

[multigraincracker]

1. Got mine about 50 years ago.

If I wanted another one, I'd have to go with that old painful method as with a pacemaker I can't be that close to the modern tattoo gun.

She looks great.

[3Hotdogs]

3. I wish I looked that good when I was 50.

[Warpy]

4. She really does look great, probably all that stair climbing she's had to do over the years

Also, it looks from her own ink that she wasn't responsible for all the horrible ink Pacific WWII vets sported that put me off tats for life back in the 1950s, even though I knew that fat and sagging had probably affected the original design.

I hope this lady passes on her traditional designs for a long time and that all the bad inkers that used to congregate outside US bases have all gone out of business.