This practice seems to have been viewed as somewhat important.Ear Piercing As it was among the Maori folk, at least among the higher-class families. All my notes pertain, I find, to the ceremony as performed over female infants, although males also wore ear-pendants in former times. Pendants were sometimes suspended from a child's neck long before its ears were pierced. The operation was performed when a child was four or five years old. In the case of an infant of a high-class family the piercing might be done by a near relative or by some expert at such work—by the ubiquitous tohunga, perchance.
Occasionally the piercing-instrument was fashioned from human bone, the bone of an enemy; but iwi toroa (albatross-bone) seems to have been more commonly used. In the former case the bodkin-like instrument would be known by the name of the hapless individual who had furnished the bone. The human-bone tools were prized for the purpose of piercing the ears of boys. So it might be asked, "Ko wai rawa te iwi i pokaia ai o taringa?" ("Whose bone was it by means of which your ears were pierced?"). The reply might be, "E! He toroa a ruru" ("Oh, it was an albatross-bone"). The operator would probably receive some form of gift from the near relatives of the child.
- My cartilage doesn’t look great right now because I’ve been sleeping on that side of my head so that I’m not sleeping on the other side. No one panic, they’re fine. They’re a little icky, but they’re fine.
- I got my first lobe piercings when I was 12 and then had the second piercings done when I was 17 and the third (on just my right side) done when I was 18. When I was 19, I had my top cartilage pierced. So, since you’ve known me, I’ve had four holes on that side of my head, I just haven’t worn earrings in them in a very long time.
- In December, I went to get my top cartilage re-pierced slightly lower than where it originally was (I thought it was too high), and while I was there, I met and fell in love with Patti (more about Patti below), and told her about how I had always wanted other piercings in my ears but honestly, I was a bit scared about doing it. Patti was like “oh, you’ll be back”. Patti was right because a few weeks later, on Christmas Eve, I went back and got the second cartilage pierced below it. I have two different size bars in there, and they’ve already been switched out. Again, this is not the best pic of them because they’re a little irritated right now.
- Randomly, if you’ve been around here for a while, then you might remember that my original bottom hole on this side (the one I got when I was 12), ripped all the way through one night the week before Kensington went off to kindergarten. Do you remember that? I was bending over in my kitchen to get tubberware out of a lower cabinet when my earring fell completely through my ear and hit the floor. Followed by a lot of blood. Do you remember? Oh my gosh. I cringe just thinking about it now. I went to the dermatologist and basically for 13 months, I wore mostly studs as it healed. After that, I vowed never, ever, ever to wear heavy earrings again, and I haven’t. If you ever see me wearing earrings, they’re light. They are super light.
Precautions
- Choose the right type of doctor/place/goldsmith.
- Keep the studs/rings handy
- Keep them very very light weight in case of babies.. less than a gram is ideal.
- Have the markings properly.
- Hold the head tightly and distract the kid by making them comfortable first.
- Keep a comfort toy/food close by to get them distracted after the piercing.
- Maintain good hygiene and see to it that the studs/rings are not stuck to baby's clothing initially and cause pain.
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