Before now, occupation such as making tribal marks on faces or bodies of interested people had brought both fame and wealth for those who engaged in it. However, while those who had lived on it are already making a detour to other means of livelihood, some who have tribal marks on their faces wished they never had them. YINKA ADENIRAN examines the situation and how the once-cherished cult
According to a Yoruba legend, the tribal marks were once given as a form of punishment, but they were later seen as a sign of beauty.
Experts maintain that the origin of the tribal marks is centred on the story of a slave who lived in the king’s palace. The king, who had many slaves, caught one of the female slaves fornicating with one of the palace guards. The king was angry and in order to punish this slave, he inquired from his youngest wife the kind of punishment that could be meted out to the slave. The queen said the slave should be taken somewhere and tortured with sharp objects such as knife or razor on her face and locked up for seven days.
A waning cultural practice
Adelani Alabede, a farmer in a remote Amosun Village in Akinyele Local Government Area of Oyo State sat dejectedly on his settee gazing at nothing in particular. His mind is in a flux. He could not comprehend how and why situations just changed almost irredeemably.
In his late 60s his source of livelihood has become so shaky so much so that he could not afford three meals a day. For him, poverty has set in.
Alabede reminisced how the occupation of incising marks on people’s bodies made him both rich and famous. He also recalled how he used to go from place to place to give tribal marks on people who esteemed it either as a way of beautification or having great regard for their cultural norms. But currently, he barely receives invitation from people for the job he loved most. As a result of this, his family’s economic well-being is in a shambles as he could not make ends meet.
The more he thought about the situation, the more confused and depressed he became. He wished the situation was different.
When things went awry with the tribal marks job, he took to farming which is not as lucrative as that of giving tribal marks. He had no option than to return to the job he has done for years to shore up his family’s financial base.
He never believed that a job that brought him so much fame and fortune would ever become irrelevant and would soon be extinct.
Alabede had earlier given a thought to the fact that with the rate at which people are embracing western civilisation, his job which is rooted in culture might be in survival battle with modernism. What he could not decipher is the suddenness of its reality.
Alabede had taken to farming as a part-time job and only plant some food crops at a subsistence level.
Alabede inherited the skills of making tribal marks and circumcision from his late father.
As the name implies in the Yoruba-speaking communities, ‘abe’ connotes a small surgical blade-like material used to make the mark on the skin before applying some powdered materials made of leaves and herbs.
‘Alabede’, literally refers to the ‘arrival of the person who goes from place to place (with abe) for the purpose of helping interested people to make tribal marks and or circumcision’, especially for kids.
The signs were rife and the warnings of eventual loss of clients were imminent in the face of modern trend and increasing aversion for tribal marks, especially among the people who were becoming more exposed and informed. Awareness on the dangers of sharing sharp objects and the spread of HIV/AIDS has intensified.
Distinctiveness of tribal marks
Each tribe of the Yoruba ethnic group had different inscription patterns which appear in different sizes and shapes at different locations within the face or body. The location and position of the mark’s inscription depends on the tribe and culture. The tribal marks could be inscribed on the breast, arm, lap or buttocks, but they are usually on the face.
Among the people of Ibadan, tribal marks remain a thing of particular pride, especially among the indigenes in the core areas of the township. The marks, to them are meant to serve different purposes.
For example, it is used to differentiate one royal family from another as is the case with the Mefa Omo Oba, a six-line drawn on both cheeks of the descendants of Iba Oluyole – the founding father of Ibadan.
There is also another one known as Abaja awon Basorun, a four-horizontal line drawn on the left cheek with three vertical lines drawn on the right cheek and which is peculiar to children of the descendants of Basorun in Ibadan. The pele also cuts across different families in Ibadan because of the way it beautifies their faces.
Tribal marks as cultural pride
In a chat with Southwest Report, Alabede recalled how, many years back, when people take pride in the tribal marks on their faces. He noted that even parents willingly bring their new babies to him for tribal marks depending on the choice of the family, especially the father. He also said some families have certain peculiarities in tribal marks and many of those families use them as forms of family identity and pride.
Aside from facial tribal marks, Alabede also engages in inscribing names, dates and signs on any part of the body.
“Irrespective of where you are, when you see certain tribal marks on some people’s faces or bodies, you don’t need any soothsayer to tell you where the person is from. You easily recognised people and immediately know their background. Years back, it is often seen as additional form of beauty, as people would take pleasure in touching the marks in appreciation of its beauty”, he said.
He also added that dates of birth are also inscribed on some people’s bodies just as a way of reminding them of the time they were born and who their peers are, as many families lacked proper documentation in the yesteryear.
Hard feelings about tribal marks
Adebimpe Aderibigbe, a civil servant has three separate strokes on each of her cheeks. They are bold and clear. She could not understand why the marks were there. She was later told that the style is peculiar to her family. She recalled that, while growing up, she never forgave her parents because many of her friends in school often make a jest of her and even tease her with the marks, especially those who do not have any on their faces.
She lamented that she had thought about the idea of erasing the marks if she had known how to go about it. But she said she has forgiven everybody as she has no option than to live with it.
Adebimpe noted that she could not imagine allowing any of her children to have tribal mark.
Although Alabede couldn’t stop civilisation from snatching his profession from him, he was sure the skills are still there for him to make use of should anybody be in need of his service. He has no one to blame for the change in the trend but feels so sorry that the profession that has been handed over from generation to generation is at the edge of the precipice.
He stressed that, but for a few people who seek his services once in a while, many would not want their children to have any form of tribal marks anymore, as it is no more fashionable.
He noted that people’s sudden aversion for tribal marks in the late 80s and early 90s was the beginning of the decline in his fortune. He lamented the waning trend in natural and traditional beauties, even as he wondered why nothing could be done about it.
He, however, advocated that efforts should be made by custodians of the culture to tame the waning and ensure that the culture of scarification does not go into extinction.
A popular Nigerian fashion designer who identified herself simply as Epaz recently narrated how her tribal marks almost made her to commit suicide years back.
While narrating her ordeal on her Facebook page, she said she was bullied during her school days because they felt she was ugly.
“Gone are these things; there had been cases where I wanted to commit suicide due to inhibition in educational pursuits due to my tribal marks, as many people said they find my tribal marks repulsive. Even in my school days, they called me all sorts of names because of the severe tribal marks my dad put on my face.
“One of the greatest things that has happened to me was being educated and my ability to communicate in the English language fluently. Otherwise it would have been disastrous for me, so disastrous.
“Some years ago, all I felt was resentment towards my parents for giving my siblings and I such scars in the first place. I can’t count the number of times I’ve been embarrassed by them.
“But, I won’t let these deep horizontal marks on my face hinder me from getting anything I wanted. I have gotten over it now because I have no time for pity for myself again. I love how my friends encouraged me to be bold and love myself just the way I am. Tribal marks or no tribal marks,” she said.
Going into extinction?
Given how useful, fascinating and deeply cultural these tribal marks were, why it is slipping precipitously into oblivion is a matter of serious concern to cultural gatekeepers. Several reasons account for this.
One of the reasons is its health implications. Many of those who carry out tribal marks are said to be archaic in their ways and the tools they use are out-of-date and, in most cases, not well sterilised. This indicates that the child to be given the tribal marks stands the risk of contracting diseases.
The second reason is that, scarring a child for life without his/her consent is something contemporary society frowns at as it is against his or her fundamental human rights. Another reason is that tribal marks used to be an indicator to identify slaves and since slavery has been abolished, it has become a stigma most parents wouldn’t want to pass on to their children.
The blowing wind of civilisation and the great urge to embrace western culture is another reason this ancient practice and old way of identifying people is becoming an outlaw practice in most Nigerian societies. Many human rights organisations argue that scarring of children is abuse and have often associated the practice with female genital mutilation.
However, in recent times, the use of tribal marks as a means of identification and beautification among the Yoruba tribe is no longer a norm as some Yoruba states have enacted certain laws that prohibit the use of the marks. Violators of the law are liable to fines or imprisonment (or both).
In Oyo State, for example, the prohibition of tribal marks is an integral part of the state’s Child Rights Law, a law that imposes a fine or one-month imprisonment or both for violation.
The law states: “No person shall tattoo or make a skin mark or cause any tattoo or skin mark to be made on a child”. This, among others, contributes to the waning trend of tribal marks in Yoruba land.
