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But the Catholics may have been mistaken, explains Galliot, who collaborated with Mallon on a history of tatau.

In reviewing historic documents, Galliot discovered that a local shrine was linked to the legendary sisters, Taema and Tilafaiga, who are credited with bringing tatau to Samoa.

That connection, says Galliot, was “a point that none of the missionaries had actually figured out.”

“Tattooing is still something important in a man’s life or in a woman’s life in terms of marking their belonging to the community,” Galliot says.

In addition to the many ships gathered on the choppy waters of the North Sea there is a tiny figure in the bottom left-hand corner of the painting of a man sketching in a small galliot beneath the stern of the Royal Prince, the English ship, as it surrenders.