Tribal Marks; a look in the Igala Tradition

Though facial scars or tribal marks can be found across Africa, they are becoming increasingly restricted to people in the rural regions.

The Nigerian government has moved to outlaw the practice, but many states have yet to approve the law. Many human rights organizations argue that the scarring of children is abuse.

In Igala tradition, infants from some parts of the kingdom, like Ankpa receive three deep horizontal cuts on each side of the face, slightly above the corners of their mouths, as a way of identifying each other. However, this practice is becoming less common.

Across the Igala kingdom, Tribal marks were also used to help identify children lost to the slave trade or civil war as a way to protect them from dangers. In some other regions or family settings, tribal marks or facial scars are used as a way of identifying family members and to indicate those who share the same ancestral origin. In the traditional religion, it is however believed that tribal marks, given to infants during purification rites, are signs to protect them from evil spirits and dangers.

For some who already have tribal marks, they have grown to appreciate it and people admire them for the beauty the marks bestow on their faces. But for so many others, the scars have turned their faces ugly.