Randy Stuff, owner of Wea Ink, is hoping that by opening a tattoo parlor, he will be able to serve Eastern students – and help spread awareness of the Wea Indian tribe, which the business is named after.

The parlor opened Nov. 26,

Stuff said the Wea Tribe has about 200 living members but only has three who can actually speak their native language.

Stuff, 36, born in Columbus, Ohio, is the son of the Wea Chief and has been tattooing for 15 years. Stuff said his tattooing is self-taught.

Stuff’s Indian name is “Kee-Kee-Aesha,” which means “Big Fish.”

“I was like, ‘Big Fish? Are you kidding me?'” Stuff said. “Apparently, I couldn’t be ‘Swift Eagle’ or something like that.”

At the age of 15, Stuff inked his first tattoo on himself.

He tattooed a king snake on his leg, but his mother says that she thinks it looks more like “a worm.”

“Me and my brother always drew on the wall and our mom was like, ‘You’ll never get anywhere doing that.’ But we just stuck to it,” Stuff said. “I guess we were just thick-headed.”

Stuff said his parents were surprised when he first told them he wanted to tattoo for a living.

“I stood up on our Thanksgiving in 1990 and said, ‘I’m going to tattoo.” And they were all like, ‘What?'” Stuff said. “My dad is a retired Air Force lieutenant and then turned Indian chief, which gives people an idea of the kind of family I come from. I guess you could call me the black sheep.”

For Stuff, his Native American background is important.

“The Creator has definitely blessed our tribe,” Stuff said. “I wanted the tribe to be a part of the shop . I was hoping, with this, it will help spark a little bit more in the tribe and give them something to be proud of.”

Once Stuff graduated, he went to Columbus College of Art and Design, but dropped out and became a tattoo artist.

He has been doing it ever since.

Stuff said the decision to open a tattoo parlor in Charleston happened when he was driving through town to get to Casey.

“I saw the castle and I thought to myself, ‘Wow. That’s nice.’ I got to looking around and I noticed that there is nothing to do in this town at all, unless you get drunk. That’s what made me decide to open it up,” Stuff said. “And I saw this college and I saw a chance.”

The Wea Ink building, located at 2448 Ninth St., has been sitting dormant on the street for more than 10 years, Stuff said. It took 8 months for Stuff to get all his supplies, redo the inside, install plumbing and electricity and do everything else to get his business up and running.

Stuff said he did all the remodeling himself by hand.

Wea Ink is not the only tattoo nearby. Others are Burwell’s Body Art, 514 Sixth St.; Finish & Touch Ink, 621 Charleston Ave., Mattoon; and Living Color Tattoos & Novelty, 1622 Broadway Ave., Mattoon.

Stuff operates Wea Ink by himself. It is open from 12 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.

Stuff is offering one free body piercing for every college student who comes in.

“I lean toward photo-realism, but I do whatever the individual wants. It’s not about what I want; it’s about what the customer wants. With me, I treat each tattoo like it is my last,” Stuff said. “There are two things that are forever in your life: death and a tattoo. Once you get a tattoo, it is there after you are dead . I take it to that respect level.”