Truly Tribal: Contemporary Indigenous Tattooing (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781773638096)

Dion Kaszas is a Nlaka'pamux ancestral skin marker and born-again Coyote. He has been at the forefront of Indigenous tattooing in Canada since 2012. Within this role, he trains and mentors the next wave of revivalists. He has curated two major exhibitions highlighting Indigenous ancestral skin markers and their ancestral practices, including Body Language: Reawakening Cultural Tattooing of the Northwest, at the Bill Reid Gallery, and True Tribal: Contemporary Expressions of Ancestral Tattoo Practices, at the Museum of Vancouver. In 2024, he launched the Transformative Marks podcast, which journeys through the world of Indigenous tattooing, amplifying the voices of ancestral skin markers, Indigenous tattoo artists, and cultural tattoo practitioners. In 2019, he began developing Nlaka'pamux Blackwork, a contemporary customary practice rooted in his ancestors' visual language and his understanding of ceremonies that celebrate and enhance the lives of all human beings. Dion's ancestors marked their skin for a multitude of reasons, each a spiritual act intended to guide and influence the wearer's life path. These reasons included coming-of-age ceremonies, marking spiritual quests, and beautifying themselves. Today, he tattoos so the coming generations have a living, vibrant tattooing tradition informed by their ancestors' teachings, methods, and imagery.