Up in the rice terraces of the Cordillera mountain range of the Philippines live the last few tattooed women of Kalinga. Traditional tattooing is seen as archaic and painful by the younger generations
of Kalingas. As an indigenous group that has successfully fought against colonising forces, it is losing its practice of traditional tattooing. Studies 
on the tradition interpreted the practice to show
that men were given tattoos because of brave acts during tribal wars while women were given tattoos to decorate their bodies. Men who attempt to get traditional tattoos without acts of bravery are shunned by the community and are now unable to continue the practice without facing criminal charges from the government.
Women are unconstrained by the same reasons but are struggling to continue the practice because of the pervasive western interpretations of aesthetics that have changed their perceptions of beauty. To the women of Kalinga,
 the ‘batok’ or the tattoo goes beyond beauty and prestige but is symbolic of the traditional values of a woman’s strength and fortitude. The traditional tattoo is an indigenous body art that is now considered a vanishing art along with the gatekeepers of the knowledge associated with it.