African tribal tattoos are more than just a form of self-expression; they carry messages steeped in cultural significance that span across generations and nations. From the intricate design elements to the specific symbols used, these tattoos can tell stories about a person's identity, beliefs, and life experiences. Tattooing in Africa dates back thousands of years, from inked symbols of fertility on women in ancient Egypt to tattoos symbolizing tribal hierarchy. Detailed documentation is hard to come by because of the time period and number of tribes, but tattooing both on the body and the face holds a fixed place in Africa’s history.
All African tattoos are considered lived experiences, and not always for body adornment or ornamental purposes. It is a shared experience, tying the person to their tribe or people. Because there were a plethora of meanings that were embodied within the sacred art forms of the skin, African body art moved far beyond the Western construct of “art” itself.
This article takes an encyclopedic look at tattooing practices throughout Sub-Saharan Africa and includes the island of Madagascar. It should be noted that this article is by no means complete as there are many other groups that practiced tattooing throughout the regions described here.
Tattoos vary across regions of Africa and each tribe/people have different types of tattoos that they choose to brand themselves with, all with different meanings.
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The Practice of Scarification
For many African cultures, they turn to scarification rather than tattoos for their body adornment. This process of scarification or tattooing was seen as a huge triumph of bravery and courage, an initiation process or a rite of passage.
During the Age of Exploration, Europeans became aware of the relatively extreme forms of body art practiced in Sub-Saharan Africa. One of these was scarification, a body modification procedure that offered a sculptural quality to the skin.
The Yoruba peoples acknowledge the painful nature of scarification and use the process as a symbol of bravery. For the Yoruba tribe, tattoos and scarification were used for both beautification and a representation of courage for the individual. Rather than being made via tattoo or paint, Yoruba facial markings, which convey identity and lineage for Yoruba people, are made via scarification.
For these reasons, Yoruba tattoo masters were highly sought after and were held in great regard. They were called oniisonon or “skilled designer” or “one who creates art.” Renowned tattooists were praised for their speed, skill, dexterity, and technique.
Outer appearance may either hide or reveal one’s inner, or spiritual self. The Yoruba prayer, “may my inner head not spoil the outer one” cautions one to conceal and control negative tendencies because they can affect outer appearance and, therefore, can draw hostility from others. Conversely, positive attributes such as courage should be displayed openly, for Yoruba assess an individual’s personality both from physical appearance and behavior.
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Among the Yoruba people, facial markings (kolo) convey “audacity, perseverance and resolution, but also feelings (e.g.
There are several varieties of body markings and scars among the Yoruba of Nigeria but kolo are pigmented cicatrices that look and feel like raised keloids.
Most Yoruba motifs were derived from nature and featured cowrie shells (esa), lizards (alangba), palm trees (igi ope), arrows (ofa), ostrich (ogongo), vulture (igun), dove (adaba), chameleon (agemo), centipede (okun), butterfly (labalaba), corn cobs (agbado), and the “moon of honor” (osu ola). Other motifs were taken from the material world and encompassed dancewands (ose) of the Thunder God Sango, Islamic writing boards (walaa), arm amulets (apa tira), a king’s crown (ade oba), staffs of authority (opa oye), game boards (opon ayo), anthropomorphs, the tattooist’s Y-shaped blade (abe), and even scissors, airplanes, wristwatches, and personal names in recent times.
Other Yoruba incisions were medicinal in nature, but instead of inserting soot or lampblack into these wounds body artists, priests, and village healers administered a variety of herbal remedies. Typically speaking, the location of such treatments corresponded to local ailments so, for example, short vertical marks placed beneath the eyes of children were incised to prevent them from trembling, a condition believed to have been brought to the living by spirits.
Yoruba scarification chart
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Fulani Tattoos
One of the largest tribal groups that inhabitant the western Sahel region (from Senegal to Chad) are the Fulani, who are variously known as the Peul, Fula, Fulbe, or Felaata. These nomadic herders are gradually on the move throughout the year, searching for new pasture and water sources for their vast herds of cattle.
Perhaps one of the most heavily tattooed of all Fulani groups are the Wodaabe. In the 19th century, these nomads fled Nigeria to avoid the pressures of British colonial rulers and Muslim chiefs and migrated north to the plains and savannas of Niger where they roam a vast territory that extends across several international boundary lines. As one elder reported, “Here we are free to follow our traditions.
In the Fulfilde language spoken by all Fulani tribes, Wodaabe means “people of the taboo.” This moniker is appropriate because the Wodaabe are governed by a series of customary laws and behaviors passed down by their ancestors that emphasize humbleness and modesty, patience and fortitude, hospitality and physical beauty.
Men also seek to repel bad luck through the use of many forms of talismans worn in pouches or placed in their turbans. Wodaabe tattoos also reflect this magic because many symbols are associated with fertility or are employed as charms (toggu) to increase a man’s or woman’s beauty.
As noted, the Fulani are famous throughout West Africa because they are nomadic cattle herders who cover great distances in the dry season in search of water for their herds. Perhaps this is why Peul men are intricately tattooed so they might impress those women they meet during their long journeys through Benin, Burkina Faso, and Niger.
The aesthetics of Fulani tattoos vary from subtribe to subtribe. In Mali, women’s tattooing resembles the bold and dark mouth tattoos of the Ainu of Japan and completely surround and cover the lips in a circular pattern. Fulani markings are called socou-gol and are pricked into the lips with needles by a throdi or female tattooist. Traditionally, only the lower lip and gum were tattooed with a pigment of charcoal mixed with shea butter when a girl reached puberty.
Other Tribal Tattoo Traditions
The Tsemay are an Omo Valley people of southern Ethiopia that practice tattooing which is called do-ey. Payment was a chicken, goat or some quantity of sorghum beer (depending on the size, form, and amount of tattoos), and that she was tattooed by a woman. In the old days, the neighboring Hamar who practice incredible forms of scarification believed that the Tsemay had karsama or lethal magic so they rarely attacked them.
Among the Barabaig (also Datooga) of Tanzania and Karamajong of Uganda, these “goggle” tattoos surround the eye sockets of both men and women and are usually pigmented. The tattooist picks up a fold of skin and cuts the tip removing the skin from the body. A charcoal pigment mixed with cow urine is rubbed into the incisions resulting in small bumps that delicately encircle the face over time.
Further south, many Bushmen tribes of Namibia and southern Angola cut the skin during initiation or when setting out on a hunt for large game. Using a stone knife or sharp arrow head, an old medicine man made a cut between the eyes of the patient and inserted into it a carbonized pigment with magical ingredients that included the pulverized remains of specific animals.
The Kwengo Bushmen placed additional tattoos on important muscles. Special substances were rubbed into the cuts to make the owner more successful on the hunt. For example, the fat from the lower reaches of a slain deer or eland provided the hunter with speed and endurance and were rubbed into the cuts placed on the thighs. If these substances were introduced into marks on the right arm, they strengthened the force of the arm while it tensioned the hunter’s bow.
Among the Sekele, old men tattooed a successful hunter in return for an offering of game in order to give him good luck in finding the next buck.
The Bini or Edo people were the original founders of the Benin Empire (1440-1897) of southwest Nigeria. One century ago, no male Bini citizen of the Kingdom without tattoos could exercise his prerogative of membership in the palace societies. In fact, no one except tattooed Bini, Europeans, and people from Ufe from which the royal family had originally come, was allowed to enter the palace.
Among the Bini, any competent person - male of female - could tattoo, usually an osiwu (“one who sculpts tattoos”) that was called forth to operate. The profession was a hereditary position and some also specialized in autopsies and circumcisions. Like in other parts of Africa, long and fine tattoos were incised with a scalpel (abee) or knife-like instrument. Pigments were derived from charred asun (Randia coriacea) leaves that produced a dark blue-black color.
It was said that in ancient times no Bini man would marry a woman without tattoos. This custom was verified in more recent times by the small number of men and women who continue to carry the designs of their ancestors. For example, one Bini woman reported that she received her tattoos at age thirteen, just after her first menses. Five years later her torso was tattooed prior to marriage. Her parents arranged for the “surgery,” but her future husband provided her with an “incision feast” to commemorate the event.
The Amharic people of the northern Ethiopia have a rich tattooing tradition that perhaps stretches back to 330 A.D. when their people converted to Christianity. Many wear the distinctive “iron hand” cross as a tattoo on their sternum or foreheads that resembles the sun and acts as a talisman to ward off evil spirits or permanently mark their devotion to God. The neck is similarly crossed with rows of interconnected cruciforms. Symbolically, the “Tree of Life” of the early Christian tradition is generally believed to be the originating element of these crucifix tattoos, although some scholars suggest another source.
The Dukkawa of central Nigeria are yet another tattooed tribe. Little documentation exists on their traditional tattooing traditions.
The Fang are a forest-dwelling people who live in area of 112,500 square miles spread across the international boundaries of Cameroon, Gabon, the Congo, and especially Equatorial Guinea. In the 1950s, the eminent Catalan primatologist Jordi Sabater Pi (1922-2009) began documenting the tattooing practices of the Fang, which later led to a beautifully illustrated work co-authored and co-designed by his son Oriol in 1992. In the early 1950s, Fang tattooing was already in decline and Sabater recorded many ancient patterns that were only seen on the faces and bodies of the very old.
Sabater interviewed and illustrated hundreds of tattooed Fang elders in the 1950s, but even at that time many of his informants could not recall the precise meanings of the marks they wore. They were simply “traditional” or imitations of particular animals that dwelled in the jungle.
The Fang practiced two types of tattooing: relief tattoos (mamvam) that were a form of pigmented scarification, and flat tattoos (mevale) that were pricked with a comb-like tool into the skin. The former variety of adornment was already quite rare in Fang territory when Sabater began his investigations, but he was able to study old 19th century reliquary sculptures that were decorated on the chest and abdomen with special tattoos dedicated to ancestor worship.
The ethnologist Günther Tessman witnessed several tattooing sessions during his early Fang Expeditions (1907-1909) and also photographed them. He said that particular clans specialized in tattooing and that “only one in hundreds of men” were skilled enough to perform it. He continued that the operation of knife-cut tattooing was performed in the village meeting house without ceremony.
Berber Tattoos
The traditional Berber (Amazigh) face tattoos are a social phenomenon that was an integral part of the Berber customs and traditions. It punctuated the lives of individuals and commemorated the most important episodes in the lives of men and women and their community.
How the face tattoo was made differs from place to place. The most common was to cut the skin with a blade (healing tattoos usually used a knife) or a needle then rub with the kohl ash. In the spring, wheat shoots are picked, chewed and then crushed to extract a green juice. Kohl was traditionally used as one of the methods as this was mined in Morocco it was easily accessible.
Women have always played a leading role in the transmission of customs, ethics, and the learning of certain rites. By changing their status, by leaving home more frequently to access work and civic life, women have contributed to the gradual loss of ancestral customs and the simplification of rites.
Most Berbers have adopted the Islamic religion for over a millennium, so the practice of tattooing was reduced a long time ago because it’s against the ethics and Muslim orthodoxy as Islam forbids tattooing, even though it’s not mentioned in the Quran. Despite the prohibitions, the practice of tattooing lasted commonly until the 60s, and still nowadays is practiced in some areas where the culture is still conserved, especially in the desert and Atlas Mountains. In most areas however, henna is used as a non permanent alternative.
In regions where city standards are struggling to be adopted, the nomads, and the semi-nomad are living in harsh conditions and roaming the country according to the harvests, water and pasture.
If a married woman did not have her face tattooed, they used to say it looked like a man’s face. The tattoo was considered to make her more beautiful. The tattoos were also used to indicate that the woman cannot have children or in case of illness. Other symbols were also used each with different meanings relating to protection from bad spirits or as tribal identifiers.
The tattoos represent a belief that supernatural energy is found in all things. The palm tree is a well known facial tattoo. Found between the bottom lip and chin of a woman it correlates with the Goddess Tanit, who is the Goddess of Fertility and the moon to the Amazigh people.
Reasons for Tribal Marking
It is believed that the use of tribal marks on the continent increased during the period of the Atlantic Slave trade. Tribe members being shipped off as slaves to foreign countries were marked to identify them should they ever be rescued or freed - permanent signatures of their heritage. Tribal and clan wars, beauty, witchcraft and superstitious beliefs were also among the reasons for marking.
Modern Africa
Fast forward to 2012 and these reasons are no longer as valid. In Nigeria, an ongoing countrywide petition to ban tribal marks is being lobbied, primarily by human rights activists, and some states have outlawed the practice. The Osun State government introduced a law stating: “No person shall tattoo or make a skin mark or cause any tattoo or skin mark to be made on a child”. The law, obviously targeted at a particular demographic, mainly in rural areas, was fuelled by the increasing number of families marking children to ward off evil spirits as well as other superstitious and spiritual beliefs.
In their village the value and relevance of their cultural adornment is normal and accepted, but what happens when they leave that surrounding? When they leave the village to come to the city, they can never blend in - they become a mobile trailer of the African who refuses to move with the times. One that not only represents a National Geographic stock photo for Westerners, but also one that is far removed from what we believe is a representation of ourselves, the modern African, the African more influenced by Western ideas and definitions than they would like to admit.
Modern Africa isn’t fighting tradition but disputing the historical rules, superstitions and practices that claim to assign us to our tribes and clans. Our traditional attire is evolving, as is our food and our languages, and some of our practices are expiring. In all the ways the West influences us, we subscribe to those trends out of choice; we aren’t defenceless.
Our African traditions didn’t know an advanced Africa was on the horizon.
Here's a table summarizing the key aspects of facial tattoos across different African cultures:
| Tribe/People | Marking Method | Purpose | Additional Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yoruba | Scarification (Kolo) | Identity, lineage, bravery, beautification | Motifs derived from nature and material world; Oniisonon were highly regarded tattoo masters. |
| Fulani (Wodaabe) | Tattooing | Beauty, fertility, charms, ward off bad luck | Nomadic herders; aesthetics vary among subtribes; women tattooists (throdi) in Mali. |
| Tsemay | Tattooing (Do-ey) | Becoming a woman | Payment was a chicken, goat, or sorghum beer; tattooed by women. |
| Barabaig/Karamajong | Tattooing | N/A | "Goggle" tattoos around eye sockets; charcoal pigment mixed with cow urine. |
| Bushmen | Cutting & Tattooing | Initiation, hunting success | Carbonized pigment with magical ingredients; fat from slain animals for speed and endurance. |
| Bini/Edo | Incision (Iwu) | Membership in palace societies | Osiwu ("one who sculpts tattoos"); hereditary profession; charred Asun leaves for pigment. |
| Amharic | Tattooing | Religious devotion, ward off evil spirits | "Iron hand" cross tattoos; believed to originate from the "Tree of Life." |
| Berber | Cutting & Tattooing | Beauty, indication of infertility/illness, protection from bad spirits, tribal identifiers | Used kohl ash for pigment; palm tree correlates with Goddess Tanit. |
| Fang | Relief (Mamvam) & Flat (Mevale) Tattoos | Traditional practices, imitation of animals | Relief tattoos were a form of pigmented scarification; flat tattoos pricked with comb-like tool. |
