Whatok (Tattooe): The aesthetic expression of traditional Kalinga beauty

Whatok firmly anchored to indigenous values on the skin by creating a visual mosaic rooted in traditional practice. These tattoos not only satisfied the need for display and personal accomplishment; they also embodied religious beliefs about the relationships between humans, animals, spirits, and the ancestors who controlled human destiny and the surrounding world.

Records on the Kalinga Whatok are very inadequate and merely make vague statements, thus this study was primarily conceived to Identify the whatok process and tools used in indigenous tattooing; notate the different Kalinga tattoo designs and determine the cultural significant symbolic implication of the whatok(tattoo) motif. The study employed the descriptive ethnographic approach, unstructured interviews and documentary analysis of the different designs of traditional whatok of the Ikalinga. The study revealed a distinctly cultural ethnocentric deportment. whatok designs in Kalinga are best understood within the context of headhunting. These are visually powerful rendering of symmetry and unity of design, and serve as an archive of culture for the group and most designs are combinations of natural phenomena and artifacts; The design and amount of man's tattoo is proportional to his status as a warrior; Tattoos for women are for aesthetics; and Tattoos are for protection, good fortune, well-being and cultural identity.