olrotimi:

had a friend whose popsy tore the better 2/3rd of his face.this is all rubbish

if it had been me saying this,arnold1 would have killed himself, thank God it's coming from Rotimi

depends on the kind of tribal marks, hey ogidi, i dey irving texas too, what part you dey?

well it was fashionable once a bit like how people like piercings and tatoos nowadays

young ladies will put lil 'pele' mark on temselves

and theres some related to vodoo

so i guess it depends

Every country has its own culture and traditions that until now still being practiced and preserved. It can only be understood, considered or appreciated when we open our minds to learn it.

When i finish my research paper on the topic i will post them here.
I am from Lagos, from a royal family of White Caps - Aromere,
i will say that after spending over 20 years in Nigeria and 13yrs in America,
Germany, Korea, Japan, and also Afghanistan as a college student, and a professional
in the field of Communications, Media, and Anthropology. I observed that some people
confuse COLONIZATION with MODERNIZATION.
Some African Americans in the USA have returned to Africa to wear the marks, it is a
mark of pride, a way of life, if worn it signifies originality and a representation of a people
who have a culture long before the BC era.

NijoRah:

When i finish my research paper on the topic i will post them here.
I am from Lagos, from a royal family of White Caps - Aromere,
i will say that after spending over 20 years in Nigeria and 13yrs in America,
Germany, Korea, Japan, and also Afghanistan as a college student, and a professional
in the field of Communications, Media, and Anthropology.  I observed that some people
confuse COLONIZATION with MODERNIZATION.
Some African Americans in the USA have returned to Africa to wear the marks, it is a
mark of pride, a way of life, if worn it signifies originality and a representation of a people
who have a culture long before the BC era.

Where are your findings or are you still doing your research?

NijoRah:

When i finish my research paper on the topic i will post them here.
I am from Lagos, from a royal family of White Caps - Aromere,
i will say that after spending over 20 years in Nigeria and 13yrs in America,
Germany, Korea, Japan, and also Afghanistan as a college student, and a professional
in the field of Communications, Media, and Anthropology. I observed that some people
confuse COLONIZATION with MODERNIZATION.
Some African Americans in the USA have returned to Africa to wear the marks, it is a
mark of pride, a way of life, if worn it signifies originality and a representation of a people
who have a culture long before the BC era.

Aloy+Emeka, your post reads like an ostentatious C.V (especially the "royal family of white caps", brilliant!). Be honest, you're trying to apply for a job with that blurb, aren't you? And college in Afghanistan!?!? Wow! No wonder you're out of work

Looking forward to your "research paper" along with any other homework you wish to share.

Tribal marks are barbaric and tortous. Scarification should be stopped it hurts chidren. Yoruba people wake up scarring your children for life is bad.

old thread but still relevant. i wonder whether  the originator wanted to learn or to  throw the cat among the pigeons.
well he can start by checking up the real meaning of the word mutiny.
the issue is an anthropological one ; these marks in various forms are found all over nigeria. they are quite common in northern nigeria among the igalas,kanuris and many others e.g mamman vatsa,abacha and tafawa balewa.
for those interested in yoruba history there are different accounts of the origins of these marks but they seem to serve the purpose of identifying an ingroup from an  out group i.e. identify your enemies. useful during the slave trade and other tribal wars across what is now called yorubaland. it is noteworthy that at these times few people called themselves yoruba but would identify themselves as ijebu,ekiti,egba,ondo ,anago,awori. etc.
this yoruba identity is new and for some ,notably ijebus, not totally acceptable. those marks which appear to cause the most uproar are more common in northern yoruba land which borders northern nigeria and had a long history of military conflict with the fulanis. i have seen similar marks among many northerners
perhaps that played a role in their evolution. awolowo  and abiola e.g did not have those marks.
today fewer people have them but there are still some hotspots. hopefully the practice will die out because it is no longer useful not because it is bad or evil in my opinion.

.

These particular kind of marks might have something to do with imitating the appearance of certain animals that were held in high esteem:

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-582176.192.html#msg7956336

there are all kinds of explanations which without any written documentation are speculative just like speculating on the purpose of circumcision male/female in africans . we did not have any covenant with jehovah
regarding the ife mask i think that is a red herring. ife people do not have marks like that and there is no evidence to show it depicts a human being and not a deity or some kind of make-up

aribisala0:

there are all kinds of explanations which without any written documentation are speculative just like speculating on the purpose of circumcision male/female in africans . we did not have any covenant with jehovah
regarding the ife mask i think that is a red herring. ife people do not have marks like that and there is no evidence to show it depicts a human being and not a deity or some kind of make-up

With regard to circumcision, I think you could actually find out the purpose of the circumcision just by asking people/elders of the particular African societies where it was practiced.


I personally think it's also aesthetic, but claiming that the marks distinguish a person as being from a certain group does seem more plausible. . .

my view regarding the tribal marks is the explanation you propose is one of a menu of several others. just for clarification[b] i do not believe that it was for the purpose of distinction [/b] from others i just mentioned it because it happened to be the first on a list which includes your suggestion  and several others. i did not mean to say that was definitely the reason  and hope i did not give that impression.
only that it has been put forward as an explanation   and it is a matter of preference which one anyone chooses to believe.
i take the view that we will probably never know.
regarding getting information from elders as a reliable source of history e.g circumcision. hmm.
i know from personal experience that many elders have very dodgy memories when it comes to remembering land boundaries of their families or communities. i rather suspect that the reason,if any for such a  key ritual would be widely known with unanimity among the yorubas if there was one. ihave never heard any which is quite odd.
well one day i will be an elder and i don't know now i am not sure i will then. i will probably be a source of misinformation
whatever i say will be my opinion.

aribisala0:


regarding getting information from elders as a reliable source of history e.g circumcision. hmm.
i know from personal experience that many elders have very dodgy memories when it comes to remembering land boundaries of their families or communities. i rather suspect that the reason,if any for such a  key ritual would be widely known with unanimity among the yorubas if there was one. ihave never heard any which is quite odd.
well one day i will be an elder and i don't know now i am not sure i will then. i will probably be a source of misinformation
whatever i say will be my opinion.

@ the part in bold

lol, you're probably right, but I'm sure there were some societies where they knew/know why they practiced much of what they did, so not everything will just be an opinion.

some people talk about barbarism that may be so. but these things happen across all cultures and then die out e.g there are the chinese customs of feet binding and teeth darkening which i suggest people should know about.
these days women put balloons in their chests and botox in their mouths i hear one died trying to pump up her nyansh . men, too, are reworking their equipment into vaginas.all of that is sanctioned by contemporary medicine. so let us not judge in haste
personally,i would rather have 4x4 on my face than  trade ronaldo in for a vagina

this nairaland editor is funny which one is womanliness
lol
personally,i would rather have 4x4 on my face than trade ronaldo in for a poonana

Interesting

I strongly condenm tribal marks on unconscenting infants,

If we bother to tell ourselves the truth- "tribal marks aint that chic". Whatever reason it is meant for is out-moded.
    It is a culture that would have made me renounce my tribe if they had made me an effing victim.
    Tattooes can be removed; tribal marks cannot. Not only whites get tattooes; blacks do too. It aint their culture anymore than its ours. Tattoo is a matter of choice; tribal marks; rarely, are.
    F.Y.I. Igbos in the past, circumcised cos of sanitary and purification purposes-a good tradition. Now get over yourself.

I already gave my kids tribal marks. they are proud of it and so am I.

my kids have the will and strength to withstand the pain for the sake of preserving their tribe and culture. Tribal mark symbolise duty towards ones tribe.

Tribal marks are African heritage. They are a sign of creativity and beauty. One thing I have noticed about traditional tropical Africans is that they used their bodies as their artistic canvas. They made their bodies beautiful whereas Westerners make their clothes beautiful.

Scarification is beautiful.

yes its our culture. and who denies that the woman above is beautiful. she IS beautiful.

Are you implying that you were not beautiful OR were not created beautiful when you were born?

faulty logic. are we more beautiful naked or clothed

amor4ce:

Are you implying that you were not beautiful OR were not created beautiful when you were born?

NO. the tribal marks are not for beauty. they are just to show sign of bravery determination and duty and brotherhood towards the tribe. In times of war, they helped fellow tribe members identify their kin and prevent prevent them from killing their own tribe members.

Tribal marking is principally used

PAGAN  9JA:

to show sign of bravery determination and duty and brotherhood towards the tribe. In times of war, they helped fellow tribe members identify their kin and prevent prevent them from killing their own tribe members.

however, in some cases it also acts as further evidence of our superior surgical understanding.

Body art can (even without intending) also be deemed as a form of art; similar to a tatoo.

Amujale:

Tribal marking is principally used

however, in some cases it also acts as further evidence of our superior surgical understanding.

Body art can (even without intending) also be deemed as a form of art; similar to a tatoo.

yes i agree. it is also a form of art. which will be lost to the pages of history, if not conserved.

atleast the adults can take steps towards using these marks, if they dont want their children to, though i advise it to be done at an early age so the child knows its true value.

Stop this whole going-ons about tribal marks: they have never made nobody prettier and will never do. The thing makes people fugly-o joro njo

Its amazing, how people used to think these were so beautiful, and now people think they are ugly. Most Africans who elect people to beauty pageants like Miss Universe end up selecting people who dont even know anything about their country, like Miss Ghana 2011 who didnt even represent the average Ghanian and grew up in Minnesota raised by her white mom.

Furthermore, the women almost never have natural hair, always a long flowing weave. Flaviana Matata will always get my respect as an African woman who was proud of her roots, and she damn near won. They cheated her though, she was a finalist but didnt get picked over one white girl who FELL on the stage.

I think the people complaining about them are the ones who are ugly.

We Africans can be annoying sometimes.What is wrong with tribal marks?All these butterfly and rose tatoos some of our ladies are carrying are European tatoos.What is wrong with carrying ours?

2ndly all the ethnic groups in Nigeria had tatoos including Igbos.Igbos were so quick to embrace Westernization that we lost our tatoo culture.My great grand mother had some tatoo from her neck down to her feet.

Those saying it is ugly have been influenced by the European sense of beauty.In our almost extinct sense of beauty,the tatoos were appreciated.