Veiqia designs were geometric and similar to those printed onto
barkcloth or incised onto decorated weapons, such as clubs.
[3] The designs are meaningful and express cultural identity through their forms.
[11]
It also had a significant impact on communities outside the Fijian island group, who copied the styles. According to one Samoan tradition, it was two women from Fiji who travelled to Samoa, beginning the practice of
malu.
[14] Legend states that the women were the
conjoined twins,
Taema and
Tilafaiga, who were the daughters of
Tokilagafanua, the shark-god, and his sister
Hinatuafaga, the Moon.
[10]
In another version, Taema and Tilafaiga travelled to Fiji, where they learnt the art of tattooing from two men Tufou and Filelei, who told them to "tattoo women, but not men", but on the return journey the twins made a mistake and reversed the phrase, leading a tradition of male tattooing in Samoa, known as
Peʻa.
[15]