Symbolic Meaning Of Scarification In Yoruba Culture

*For many years, facial scarification has held many different symbolic meanings unique to individuals. The face is a very prominent and important symbolic feature that is often used in many cultures to symbolize important areas of that culture. Many groups alter or add features to the face and or to their body to symbolize either different characteristics of that individual and in some cases to identify that person within their group or cultures. Some ways of doing this is through the practice of facial piercings, tattooing, and scarification. In this presentation I will be talking about the different symbolic meanings of Scarification including identification, beauty, social and cultural of the Yoruba people. *One tribe that utilizes both …show more content…
Stripes and labels are considered the most common tradition of Scarification among the Yoruba (your-ruba) tribe. These tribal or facial marks are specific marks that come in various shapes and sizes usually found on the face. * The image shown above illustrates the tribal marks found on different ethnic groups among the Yoruba nation. The picture in the top left corner shows the Pele, a tribe in the Yoruba nation, which consists of a series of four horizontal lines, about a quarter-of-an-inch-long that is made on the cheeks by both sides of the mouth. While in the bottom right hand corner the Ogbomoso (Awga-bow-moe-so) tribal marks are shown. Natives have multiple straight and curved lines either horizontal or vertical on both sides of the face. Other groups within the Yoruba nation only have curved lines on both sides of their face. Sometimes, even a specific mark has variations or versions of the lines. For example, in the Pele tribe there are two other variations of the Pele scarification techniques: the Pele Ekiti (Ekk-iti) uses a series of vertical lines about a quarter-of-an-inch horizontal long on the face and the Pele Akoko (Akk-oh) uses a series of either vertical or horizontal lines that are about the same size in length on the sides of the …show more content…
In the image above there are pictures of children with different scarification marks. Scarification is done at this age because the child does not have a say on the decisions of tribal marks that are put on their body and is unaware of what is happening. In often times either the mother or father will scar their children’s faces as an indication that they are their parents. If the child’s parents leave before the start of scarification, a close family friend will do this ritual. *Facial scarification is done by either razor blades or sharp knives that are cut into the face as shown in the image above. A black paste usually made from grinded coal is put into the open wound to stain the facial marks and to stop the bleeding. This excruciating process not only gives the people an “identity” but also is done to make men look stern in battle and for women it is a way of