{{Short description|Marks made on the face for identification or beautification in Yoruba culture}} [[File:Africa Ife Head 1 Kimbell.jpg|thumb|Bust of an Ile-Ife king of the 12th/13th Century with tribal marks]] 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 and are usually inscribed on the body by burning or cutting of the skin during childhood.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lefèber|first1=Yvonne|author2=Henk W. A. Voorhoeve|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7Y0bCWpg-U8C&pg=PA53|page=53|title=Indigenous Customs in Childbirth and Child Care|publisher=Guinevere Van Gorcum|year=1998|isbn=9023233662}}</ref> The primary function of the tribal marks is for identification of a person's tribe, family or patrilineal heritage.<ref>Orie (2011), p. 1.</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/10/marked-life-tribal-marks-attractive-repulsive/|location=Lagos, Nigeria|title=Marked for life? Are your tribal marks attractive or repulsive?|author=Chioma, Gabriel|date=18 October 2014|access-date=3 June 2015|newspaper=Vanguard}}</ref> Other secondary functions of the marks are symbols of beauty, Yoruba creativity and keeping mischievous children alive (ilà Àbíkú). This practice was popular among Yoruba people of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. During the trans-Atlantic slave trade, tribal identification and facial stripes became important.{{cn|date=December 2021}} Some repatriated slaves later reunited with their communities by looking at facial stripes.<ref>Usman, A., & Falola, T. (2019). The Nineteenth Century: Wars and Transformations. In ''The Yoruba from Prehistory to the Present'' (pp. 159-240). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Nigeria Country of Origin Information (COI) Report|url=https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/51bf06554.pdf|date=2013}}</ref>
However, the use of tribal marks is fading in Yoruba land due to colonialism and modernization.
==Background== [[File:Nigeria A Yoruba from ibadan, asset ScrbaJsJZWIq9c4JDF9iu4uW.jpg|thumb|A Yoruba boy (probably a teenager) from Ibadan with Oyo facial marking.]] In traditional Yoruba societies, every child is born into a patrilineal clan called idile baba in Yoruba language. The clan share clan names (orile), poetry (oriki), taboos (eewo) and facial marks (ila). The facial marks on the child assigns the child full clan membership rights. The children with facial marks are called Okola. Families or individuals lacking the normal features consistent with the tribe are not considered as acquiring full standing as agents in Yoruba society. They would also lack the capacity for meaningful behavior, such as greeting, stating and commanding.<ref>{{cite web|last=Bello|first=Abiodun|url=http://newtelegraphonline.com/tribal-marks-a-peoples-identity/|title=Tribal marks, a people's identity|publisher=New Telegraph|date=10 February 2015|access-date=19 May 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150522014534/http://newtelegraphonline.com/tribal-marks-a-peoples-identity/|archive-date=22 May 2015 }}</ref> Each tribe of the Yoruba ethnic group had different inscription patterns which appears 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.<ref name="book 1">{{cite book|last1=Ember|first1=Melvin|last2=Ember|first2=Carol R.|title=Encyclopedia of Medical Anthropology|year=2004|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|volume=1 (cultures)|isbn=0306477548|page=1032|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nrMRezmNrPcC&pg=PA1032}}</ref> The tribal marks could be inscribed on the breast, arm, lap or buttocks, but they are usually on the face.<ref name="The Punch 1">{{cite news|last=Famutimi|first=Temitayo|title=Civilisation pushes tribal mark makers out of job|url=http://www.punchng.com/special-feature/civilisation-pushes-tribal-mark-makers-out-of-job/|date=24 December 2014|access-date=19 May 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150521044753/http://www.punchng.com/special-feature/civilisation-pushes-tribal-mark-makers-out-of-job/|archive-date=21 May 2015 |newspaper=The Punch}}</ref>
==Style== thumb|Facial marks
===Pele=== The Pele style of tribal mark is a three vertical line inscribed on the cheeks.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://realnewsmagazine.net/lifestyle/killed-by-modernity/|title=Killed by modernity|work=realnewsmagazine.net|date=20 September 2013 |access-date=12 April 2016}}</ref>
Pele have different variants. The variants include; ''Pele Ife'', a three vertical line inscribed on the cheek. It is peculiar to the Ile-Ife people. ''Pele Ijebu'' and ''Pele Ijesha'' are other variants of Pele. Both variants are three short vertical lines inscribed on the cheeks.<ref name="D.Adeleke2011">{{cite book|author1=Abraham Ajibade Adeleke Ph. D.|author2=Abraham Ajibade Adeleke|title=Intermediate Yoruba: Language, Culture, Literature, and Religious Beliefs|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DSwJCton8GgC&pg=PA174|date=February 2011|publisher=Trafford Publishing|isbn=978-1-4269-4909-8|pages=174–}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2018-10-29 |title=The Symbolism of Tribal marks in Nigeria |url=https://guardian.ng/life/the-symbolism-of-tribal-marks-in-nigeria/ |location=Lagos, Nigeria|access-date=2022-12-21 |newspaper=The Guardian|language=en-US}}</ref>
=== Owu === Owu tribal marks consist of six incisions on each side of the cheeks and peculiar to the indigenes of Owu, a historical city in Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun State, Nigeria. The Owu tribal mark was inscribed on the cheeks of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, who was a former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://thenationonlineng.net/tribal-marks-my-id-card-obasanjo/|location=Lagos, Nigeria|title=Tribal marks my ID card - Obasanjo|access-date=12 April 2016|newspaper=The Nation}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2018-10-29 |title=The Symbolism of Tribal marks in Nigeria |url=https://guardian.ng/life/the-symbolism-of-tribal-marks-in-nigeria/ |location=Lagos, Nigeria|access-date=2022-12-21 |newspaper=The Guardian|language=en-US}}</ref>
===Gọmbọ=== The Gọmbọ style, also known as Kẹkẹ, consists of multiple straight and curved lines about a half of an inch apart inscribed on the cheeks on both sides of the mouth. Indigenes of Ogbomosho in Oyo State are usually identified by the Gombo or Kẹkẹ style of Yoruba tribal marks.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2018-10-29 |title=The Symbolism of Tribal marks in Nigeria |url=https://guardian.ng/life/the-symbolism-of-tribal-marks-in-nigeria/ |location=Lagos, Nigeria|access-date=2022-12-21 |newspaper=The Guardian|language=en-US}}</ref>
===Abaja=== Abaja can be both a basic and also a complex style. In its basic form, it is either three or four horizontal stripes on the cheeks. The Abaja style also consists of twelve horizontal lines, six lines per cheek. It is often referred to as "Abaja Alaafin Mefa Mefa". This tribal mark is unique to the indigenes of Oyo, Nigeria.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T5v11UywUbwC&pg=PT198|title=Yoruba Traditions and African American Religious Nationalism|publisher=UNM Press|first=Tracey E.|last=Hucks|date=16 May 2012|isbn=978-0826350770}}</ref> The Abaja style of Yoruba tribal mark was inscribed on the cheeks of Lamidi Adeyemi III, the Alaafin of Oyo. <ref>{{cite web|url=http://thevoicesa.com/our-articles/the-yoruba-trabal-marks |title=The Yoruba Tibal Marks |work=The Voice |last=Ibironke | first=Amanda |date=23 January 2014 |access-date=19 May 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150521194420/http://thevoicesa.com/our-articles/the-yoruba-trabal-marks |archive-date=21 May 2015 }}</ref> Other Yoruba tribal marks include Ture, Mande, Bamu and Jamgbadi.<ref>{{cite web|author=Mayaki, Victoria Ozohu| url=http://allafrica.com/stories/201103070786.html|title= Nigeria: Tribal Marks – Our Lost Heritage|work=All Africa|date=5 March 2011|access-date=19 May 2015}}</ref>
==Use of tribal marks today== The use of tribal marks as a means of identification and beautification among the Yoruba tribe is no longer a norm and some Yoruba states have enacted certain laws that prohibit the use of the marks.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2020-08-29 |title=The Eradication Of Tribal Marks In Nigeria |url=https://guardian.ng/life/the-eradication-of-tribal-marks-in-nigeria/ |location=Lagos, Nigeria|access-date=2022-12-21 |newspaper=The Guardian|language=en-US}}</ref> Violators of the law are liable to fines and/or imprisonment.<ref>{{cite book|pages=86|author1=Falola, Toyin |author2=Ngom, Fallou |name-list-style=amp |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3YKMAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA86|title=Facts, Fiction, and African Creative Imaginations|publisher=Routledge|year=2009|isbn=978-1135212896}}</ref> In Oyo State, for example, 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 for violation.<ref name="Star Africa">{{cite news|last1=|title=The kick against aged tribal marks in Nigeria|url=http://en.starafrica.com/news/the-kick-against-aged-tribal-marks-in-nigeria.html|access-date=19 May 2015|publisher=Star Africa|date=15 June 2013}}</ref> According to the law, "No person shall tattoo or make a skin mark or cause any tattoo/skin mark to be made on a child".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tribune.com.ng/news2013/index.php/en/editorial/item/12411-tribal-marks-in-modern-nigeria |title=Tribal marks in modern Nigeria: The burden, the anguish |author=Adeoye, Doyin |work=The Tribune |access-date=19 May 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150521160445/http://tribune.com.ng/news2013/index.php/en/editorial/item/12411-tribal-marks-in-modern-nigeria |archive-date=21 May 2015 }}</ref> Various pigments are typically injected into the dermis to create tribal markings. The most effective removal technique is a q-switched laser.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Okogba |first=Emmanuel |date=2017-03-21 |title=Bill to prohibit tribal marks passes second reading in Senate |url=https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/03/bill-prohibit-tribal-marks-passes-second-reading-senate/ |location=Lagos, Nigeria|access-date=2022-12-21 |newspaper=Vanguard|language=en-GB}}</ref>
== Significance of tribal mark in Yoruba culture == Some tribal marks are associated with the thrones of certain towns, so that whoever becomes the king is expected to have the tribal mark that is associated with this traditional office. For example, it is still very much expected in Iseyin, Oyo State, that any new king will have the Pele tribal mark.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nigeria |first=Hyve |date=2017-12-29 |title='Tribal marks, our identity, our pride' |url=https://www.hyve.ng/2017/12/29/tribal-marks-identity-pride/ |access-date=2022-07-18 |website=News, Live-Stream and Amusement - Hyve Nigeria |language=en-US}}</ref>
==Prominent Yoruba people with tribal marks== * Ladoke Akintola * Olusegun Obasanjo * Lamidi Adeyemi III * Ayo Ladigbolu * Ayo Fayose * Adegboyega Dosunmu Amororo II * Christopher Alao-Akala * Salihu Moddibo Alfa Belgore * King Sunny Ade * Brymo * Olaniyi Afonja * Afeez Aremu * Lamidi Adedibu
==See also== * Ichi (scarification) * list of States of Nigeria located in Yorubaland
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==Sources== * {{cite journal |last=Orie|first=Olanike |date=2011 |title= The Structure and Function of Yoruba Facial Scarification|journal=Anthropological Linguistics |volume=53 |number=1|pages=15–33 |doi=10.1353/anl.2011.0000 |jstor=41472238|s2cid=143120168 }} {{subscription required}}
==External links== * {{Cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/07/20/nigeria.scarring.ceremony/|author=Purefoy, Christian|title=Tribal scars custom drying up in Nigeria|work=CNN|date=21 July 2010| access-date=19 May 2015}}
{{use dmy dates|date=June 2016}}
Category:Yoruba culture Category:Skin conditions resulting from physical factors Category:Cultural trends Category:Body modification Category:Body art Category:Scarification