The Maori people of New Zealand were an ancient indigienous population which was largely displaced by European settlement in the middle of the 19th century. The Maori were known for their ritualistic and highly elaborate tattoos which covered extensive areas of the body including the face. The more elaborate the tattoos, the higher the social standing of their wearers. Perhaps more elaborate and extensive tattos were signifiers of the extent to which the body could withstand the pain of the tattooing process. Elaborate tattoos therefore, inferred a near super human status; the ability to withstand forces that a normal human would not be able to bear. It is not surprising then, that as the designs became more elaborate, they served to camouflage facial features which signify gender. As these elaborately decorated humans reached a God-like status, they ceased to have a need for gender. As superhumans they controlled their own destinies; they could both take life and create it at will, with or without the need for a partner of the opposite sex.