Sally Anderson says her moko is a symbol of triumph over adversity.

A controversial Pākehā life coach has removed images of her facial moko from some of her branding after a backlash from Māori.

Sally Anderson had a moko kauae (chin tattoo) done by Auckland artist Inia Taylor several years ago and says it represents her turning a corner in her life after surviving a gang rape by the Mongrel Mob as a teenager in the 1980s.

She is married to Roger Te Tai, who has a full facial moko, and says she has strong connections to Māori.

She once said in an email: "I believe I should have been born black...I bridge all races, creed, colour, and genders in a way no other practitioner can."

Taylor said on Facebook he was disappointed with Anderson's "flaunting and commercialisation" of her moko.

CAMERON BURNELL/STUFF Artist Ngahina Hohaia believes moko kauae should be for Māori women only.

Anderson declined to comment. After speaking to Taylor, she has agreed to remove the personal page of her website that referenced her moko and has taken steps to remove it from social media branding.

Anderson and her company, Evolved Leadership, were the subject of a Stuff investigation in April in which former members of her coaching community accused her of a bullying coaching style and taking large sums of money from people who saw little return.

READ THE GURU SERIES:

* Investors bankrolled Sally Anderson's life coaching businesses, but the money was all spent

* How Sally Anderson tried to become the next Tony Robbins

* The cost of Sally Anderson's self-improvement education

* Former members of Sally Anderson's community say it felt like a cult

Artist Ngahina Hohaia, who has a master's degree in Māori visual arts from Massey University and herself has a moko kauae, hit out at Anderson's moko.

The resounding message to Māori moko artists tattooing Pākehā was "don't do it," Hohaia wrote on Facebook.

"Don't defile our taonga tuku iho (cultural property) ... don't take what belongs to our women by birthright of whakapapa and give it to Pākehā".

In another post, Hohaia said the issue was not about Anderson's character or story - "she can have whatever story she wants" - but was about moko kauae speaking to being Māori.

"It's not hers to have, and not for [Taylor] to have given away."

Several people supported her view, including musician Ariana Tikao, who said moko kauae should be reserved for wāhine Māori.

"There have been so many ways that Māori women have been affected by colonisation, so it does make me feel sad to hear that others can feel OK about taking this taonga. There are so many other ways that people can show support or affiliation without appropriating ...these taonga as their own," she wrote.

Taylor joined the conversation, saying he was approached by Te Tai about a ta moko for his wife.

"Then I was told she was Pākehā, I had strong reservations but after many calls and discussions I realised that the only reason to deny her would be that of race. At the time I wasn't prepared to be racist."

Taylor said there was a long history of Pākehā being gifted and wearing moko and his teacher, Paulo Suluape, had put pe'a tattoos on non-Samoans. "That was controversial in his day".

SUPPLIED Pip Hartley of Karanga Ink in Auckland turned down Sally Anderson's request for a moko kauae.

He said he took full responsibility for the decision to create Anderson's moko "but don't condone her recent use of it".

Taylor wrote that he'd recently been asked by several transgender Maori for moko kauae and didn't know how to respond - "I welcome any discussion on this matter".

Another Auckland tattoo artist, Pip Hartley, posted a message she said she received from Anderson in 2014, asking if she would consider doing her moko kauae.

Anderson said 60 Minutes wanted to film the moko being applied.

Dally Anderson and her husband, Roger Te Tai, had their moko done around the same time.

Among her reasons for wanting a moko, Anderson wrote, were that she was "being called" and "I believe it is the ending of something and the beginning of something, a symbol of triumph".

She said that she could have committed suicide or become "addicted to the mental health system" after her rape but had instead transformed thousands of people's lives.

"I know I am a healer, a light worker, someone who bridges the gap between light and dark," she wrote. "I believe I am a bridge between indigenous cultures and mainstream."

She said she and her husband intended to run indigenous workshops with Maori, Aboriginal and American Indian people.

"Roger who is more versed in Māori protocol than anyone I know understands its significancy [sic] and is totally supportive," she wrote.

"I appreciate it is controversial for a pākehā to wear a moko on the chin but this calling is bigger than who I am in my human form."

Hartley told Stuff she turned Anderson down because she didn't feel comfortable tattooing non-Māori on the face, and also questioned her reasoning.

"It was a hard decision, I was still forming my own tikanga around it. I will tattoo non-Māori on the body but when it comes to moko kauae I think that's reserved for people of Māori whakapapa.

"Otherwise it gets diluted and opens up the floodgates because people from all around the world think it's OK to wear it without any proper understanding."