Indigenous Filipino woman becomes Vogue cover model at age of 106

The newest cover model of the latest issue of Vogue Philippines is making history. Apo Whang-Od, also known as Maria Oggay, is an indigenous Kalinga woman and legendary tattoo artist. She's also 106 years young.

Hailing from a small mountain village called Buscalan, the centenarian is known for her traditional tattooing technique, called batok. Using a sharp stick and charcoal soot, Whang-Od has been practicing her art since she was a teen, the magazine reports.

The story outlines how Whang-Od's popularity helped keep her town on the map, drawing tattoo fans and tourists to her rural outpost. She's also trained her grand-nieces — Grace Palicas, 26, and Elyang Wigan, 23 — to follow in her footsteps as a mambabatok.

“Apo Maria ‘Whang-Od’ Oggay symbolizes the strength and beauty of the Filipino spirit,” Vogue Philippines wrote in a tweet. “Heralded as the last mambabatok of her generation, she has imprinted the symbols of the Kalinga tribe signifying strength, bravery & beauty on the skin.”

Though Whang-Od nowadays only gives her three-dot signature sign-off on her grand nieces' tattoo work, she told Vogue she plans to keep up her art as long as she can.

“When visitors come from far away,” Whang-Od she told the outlet in the Butbut language, “I will give them the tatak Buscalan, tatak Kalinga for as long as my eyes can see.”

This article was originally published on TODAY.com