THE Yoruba tribal marks are scarifications which are specific identification and beautification marks designed on the face or body of the Yoruba people. The tribal marks are part of the Yoruba culture inscribed on the body by burning or laceration of the skin, usually done at birth. The primary function of tribal marks is identification of a person’s ethnic group, family or descent. There are secondary functions of the marks, like symbols of beauty, Yoruba creativity and keeping miserable children alive (Ila Abiku). This practice was popular among the Yoruba people of Nigeria, Benin and Togo during the transatlantic slave trade. Tribal identification and facial stripes became important. Some repatriated slaves later reunited with their communities by virtue of facial stripes. Also in traditional Yoruba societies, every child is born into an ancestral clan called Idile Baba in Yoruba language.
The clans share clan names (orile) oriki (poetry), taboos (eewo) and facial marks (Ila). The facial marks on the child give the child full clan membership rights. The children with facial marks are called Okola. The tribal marks could be inscribed on the breast, arm, lap or buttock but they are usually on the face.The pele type is comprise three longitudinal lines inscribed on the cheeks. Pele comes in different variants, which include pele Ijebu and pele Ijesa. It is peculiar to people from Ile-Ife.
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Moreso, we have Owu tribal marks consisting of six incisions on each cheek and peculiar to the indigenes of Owu, a historical city in Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun State. The Gombo style also known as keke consists of multiple straight and slanted lines about a half of an inch, inscribed on the cheeks close to the mouth. Indigenes of Ogbomoso in Oyo State are usually identified by the Gombo or keke style of Yoruba tribal marks.
Abaja Alaafin is unique to the indigenes of Oyo, Nigeria. The use of tribal marks as a means of identification and beautification among the Yoruba is no longer a norm and some states have enacted certain laws against it. The prohibition of tribal marks is an integral part of the state child rights law. A law that imposes a fine or one-month imprisonment or both if violated. According to the law, “No person shall make a skin mark on a child. A person who makes a skin mark on a child commits an offence under this Act and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding N5,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding one month or to both.” Though this ancient practice was meant for identification during wars and to check incest and intra marriage among related families, the effects are long-lasting. The effects could be psychological, emotional and social. The scars may not heal properly and thus disfigure the face. A girl may even find it hard to secure the desired suitor for marriage. Others may be inhibited in their life pursuits due to some social stigma and thus become suicidal. The scars might even develop keloids, which are some painless swellings that are so disfiguring and it brings serious psychological problems in later life that may even affect the child socially.
In South-West Nigeria, many adults with tribal marks had the marks given to them when they were infants. It is done with hot knife laced with ash by tribal marks’ specialists amid heart wrenching yells from the children. These marks are like a blemish in contemporary society and children always grow to hate them, but it’s time we stopped violating our children. We should stop abusing our children physically. The world has become a global village with cultures influencing each other dynamically. No kid deserves to be robbed of the right to choose whether or not he/she wants tribal marks. Giving tribal marks to infants and children is to abuse those children, make them victims of a historical and cultural practice that fails the test of reasonableness in contemporary times.
- Fafure, a student of Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo
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