Why did Olive Oatman have a tattoo?

Olive and Mary Ann were both marked with blue tattoos on their chins, a tattoo that all Mohave women wore. Tattoos were a way of identifying people in the afterlife. “[They] pricked the skin in small regular rows on our chins with a very sharp stick, until they bled freely,” Olive would later write.

Is there an Olive Oatman movie?

The Blue Tattoo tells the harrowing story of this forgotten heroine of frontier America. Orphaned when her family was brutally killed by Yavapai Indians, Oatman lived as a slave to her captors for a year before being traded to the Mohave, who tattooed her face and raised her as their own.

Where is the Oatman Massacre Site?

The Oatman Massacre is the location of the 1851 ambush of the Oatman Family as they traveled along the Gila Trail (also known as the Southern Emigrant Route). The attack occurred on a volcanic bluff, overlooking the Gila River in a remote stretch of desert about 26 miles west of Gila Bend.

What’s the story of the Oatman Girls?

Olive Oatman was a fourteen-year-old girl whose family was killed in 1851 in present-day Arizona by Native Americans, possibly the Yavapai, who captured and enslaved Olive and her sister. A year later Mojave Indians adopted the two girls.

What does a chin tattoo mean?

The chin tattoo has different meanings depending on what tribe you are from in California. This indelible marker of identity denoted coming of age, status within the tribe and tribal affiliation. Historically the tattoo was given during a puberty ceremony and could be modified after significant life events.

Did Native Americans tattoo their slaves?

The tribe did not care if their slaves could reach the land of the dead, however, so they did not tattoo them.

Where is the Oatman family grave?

“The Oatman Massacre Gravesite is located Township 5 South, Range 9 West, Section 11, Lot 2 on the south side of the Gila River.

Is the Captivity of the Oatman Girls a true story?

A dramatic true story of captivity on the American frontier. Six family members were murdered on sight, one boy was left for dead, who escaped afterward, and two young girls, Mary Ann and Olive, were taken captive.