Body Marking in African culture

Body markings were and are both temporary and permanent modifications of the body, which transmit complex messages about identity and social status. They emphasize social, political, and religious roles. In some traditional African communities, body markings were like wearing your identity card on your face. It is a mark of pride, and a major aesthetic and cultural component.

Some of the most prominent practices in the African communities include:

Scarification.

Scarification entails the deliberate cutting, branding, scratching, or etching of patterns into the skin ergo creating permanent scars in the desired pattern. It could be done as a rite of passage, for religious reasons, or for social reasons. Scarred designs mark vital moments in a person’s life, such as puberty and childbirth. Some designs, such as the raised dots across the foreheads of the Shilluk in the Sudan, point out a person’s tribal heritage.

Archeologists, people who study the physical remains of past cultures, have uncovered ancient African statues that depict humans with scar patterns similar to those seen on modern tribal members, leading them to believe that the practice is hundreds, if not thousands, of years old.

Teeth Sharpening.

For other tribes, the teeth sharpening ritual was a general part of their custom and any person belonging to such a tribe was expected to have sharpened teeth at an expected age. In parts of Sudan, where indigenous tribes existed, the teeth sharpening ritual was also done for spiritual protection especially when one was seeking spiritual strength or chosen as a spiritual leader.

Other reasons for the teeth sharpening trend is for men to look like animals such as the crocodile as a sign of masculinity.

Lip Plate

The Mursi and Surma people who inhabit the lower Omo River valley are known for this practice. Their women’s beauty is determined by how large their lip plate is. A girl’s lower lip is cut, (The girl has her bottom teeth removed to make space for a lip plate) by her mother or by another woman of her settlement, when she reaches the age of 15 or 16. The cut is held open by a wooden plug until the wound heals, which can take around 3 months. It appears to be up to the individual girl to decide how far to stretch the lip, by inserting progressively larger plugs over a period of several months. Some, but by no means all, girls persevere until their lips can take plates of 12 centimeters or more in diameter.

Gum Blackening

For some of the women of Senegal, West Africa, dark tattooed gums are believed to be more attractive. The tattoo accentuates the teeth, making the women’s smiles brighter and more prominent. This painful custom of beautification is also believed to boost dental health and eliminate bad breath. To get a dark tattooed gum, a black mixture, obtained by burning oil and Shea butter is generously applied to the gums, then a needle-like instrument is repeatedly poked into the gums. This painful process is repeated, until black mixture seeps into the gum.