Two Samoan women, some say were twins and joined at the hip, were banished to Fiji because of some wrong doing. While in Fiji they were introduced to tattooing. At some point they were washed up against rocks and were separated, hence the tattooing is concentrated on the thighs.

The two girls then swam from Fiji back to Samoa carrying with them the implements to do tattooing. On the way they sang a song “Tattoo the women and not the men”.

They arrived at Falealupo on the western end of Savaii where they saw a huge clam at the bottom of the sea. After they had dived for the clam, one of the girls asked “How does our song go?” and the other replied “Tattoo the men and not the women”.

Hence the art of tattooing was born in Samoa. While the art was suppressed by the missionaries for some time, today Samoa is one of the world leaders in this traditional art form.