5,000-year-old tradition catching on in Westmoreland

Sometimes it just takes time...

By Merry MacKinnon

The Bee, May 3, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009

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Khan, who emigrated from Pakistan in 1982, started her Henna Body Art business eight years ago at Portland Saturday Market, but she had learned the skill of ornamenting skin with henna dye when she was a child. In her native country, henna is painted primarily on women’s feet and hands, since women traditionally keep the rest of their bodies covered, as Khan continues to do herself.

But, in the United States, Khan has decorated American models for photo shoots, and even paints elaborate designs on pregnant women’s bellies for baby showers and brides-to-be tummies, at bachelorette parties. “It’s for blessings,” she explains.

Men also seek out Khan’s artistry, sometimes requesting custom work, or selecting designs – such as Celtic, that are less flowery and more masculine, Khan says. “They like that it’s temporary,” she adds.

The impermanence of the natural dye also helps convince mothers, whose children might be begging for tattoos, to bring them instead to Khan. “I've painted two-year-olds to 50-year-olds,” Khan says.

Throughout the world, individuals are now being ornamented with henna. “People think of it as a tattoo, and others are interested in the traditional aspects of it,” she observes. “For us, the point of henna is it gives blessings to the bride, to the families, and to the people who do it.”

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