Body Arts: Marking, Hair and Cosmetics

For most part of Yoruba history, na the body be the main tin wey dem take dey show person identity, and dem dey write am direct on top the body. Tribal mark for face dey show person lineage and often the town wey the person come from, so dat if stranger enter market, people fit look the pesin face know where im come from. Dem dey plaite or barbing hair for styles wey get name, wey dey show age, marriage status, occasion, and sometimes political side. Na the head be the center of all dis tins, because for Yoruba thought, head no be like any ordinary body part. Almost all the facial marks don vanish now, e finish inside two generations, and the hair styles dey survive now as commercial business wey don change form.

The head as the foundation of body art

Yoruba thought dey separate orí òde, wey be the outside or physical head, from orí inú, the inside head, wey be the seat of person destiny and the portion of àṣẹ wey dem give dem, and behind the two of dem na ọ̀kè ìpòrí dey stand, the primeval material wey dem take make the inner head 1. Na make Yoruba sculpture dey give head one-quarter to one-third of the whole body height, and na why body art concentrate for the head. To plait hair, put mark for face, and shave head for ritual, na tins wey dem dey do to the part of person body wey matter pass.

The proverb wey people dey always quote na say person no dey plait or cut another person hair without permission from the owner of the head 2. The meaning of "owner" here no be about who get am as property; the head na person own destiny and nobody else get right over am.

Ìlà: tribal mark for face

Wetin e be. Ìlà, wey mean line or stripe, na the cut marks wey dem dey put for face, mostly when person still be small baby. Na specialist practitioner, wey dem dey call olóolà, dey make am, using razor or other sharp blade, and dem dey rub charcoal dye inside the cuts make the blood stop and make the skin no close flat, so dat as e heal, the line go show well and dark 2. The name for the practice na ìlà kíkọ, wey mean mark-writing, and the metaphor correct well-well: dem write on top the face.

Wetin e dey do. The main class of marks na lineage marks, wey every child wey dem born into patrilineal family get right to receive, to confirm say dem be full clan member 2. Because families dey settle together for towns, and because some patterns belong to particular towns and kingdoms, the marks also show where person come from. For region wey get plenty small-small polities wey dey frequently fight war, and for nineteenth century wey mass slavery and displacement happen, face wey people fit read be serious practical help: e dey identify family, identify allies, and e make am possible to trace person wey dem capture or displace back to im home.

Ọlanikẹ Ọla Orie linguistic analysis argue say the patterns wey dey recorded no just happen by chance, but dem get root for Yoruba number symbolism, so the stripe patterns form proper structured system instead of just local decoration 3. Na dat work be the most rigorous published study about the formal structure.

Patterns wey get name. The common types wey dem dey list na Àbàjà, Pélé, Gọ̀mbọ̀ or Kéké, Owu, Nupe and Gbẹ̀rẹ̀ 2. Àbàjà connect with Ọ̀yọ́ and im basic form na three or four horizontal lines for each cheek. Pélé get three long vertical lines for the cheeks and e connect with Ilé-Ifẹ̀. Gọ̀mbọ̀, wey dem also dey call Kéké, get plenty straight and curved lines about half an inch from each other for cheeks on both sides of the mouth, with four long vertical lines wey dem draw from scalp curve enter four perpendicular lines for each cheek, and na mark of Ògbómọ̀ṣọ́ 2. Patterns dey mix and vary, and Samuel Johnson book The History of the Yorubas, wey im write for late nineteenth century, draw sketches of the stripe patterns wey remain main reference till today 3.

Another small category wey separate na marks wey dem make for other reasons: medical cuts to put herbal medicine under the skin, and marks wey dem put for child wey dem believe say na àbíkú, spirit-child wey dey repeatedly die and born again, make dem fit identify the child if im return.

Kólò na decorative body marks, cicatrisation wey dem dey put for torso and body, especially for women, wey dey for beauty and romance instead of identity. E be separate practice from ìlà and e don decline even more completely, to the point say e almost no get documentation for living practice today.

The decline, wey almost finish everything. Tribal mark for face drop sharp-sharp from late twentieth century, and the reasons plenty, no be just one 2. Christian and Islamic condemnation, wey label the practice as pagan tin. The end of the conditions wey make am useful, since national ID cards, school records, and city life don take over the work of identity wey marks bin dey do. Medical fear about blades wey dem no sterilize, especially with the risk of HIV transmission. Fashion change, as people come dey see marks as village tin and backward, and dem dey laugh people wey get am. And law prohibition: Nigeria Child Rights Act of 2003 ban tattoos and skin marks for children, wey wipe out the whole basis of the practice, since na babyhood dem dey give the marks 2.

The pattern wey dem dey report all the time na say people wey carry marks choose not to give am to their own children, based on clear view say the time for tribal marks don pass 2. Dis one na tradition wey end because the people wey get am decide to stop am, no be only by force, and e mean say the knowledge dey go with the last generation wey carry am. Educated Yoruba adult today fit often name the marks wey their grandparents carry, but dem no fit read pattern wey dem no know before.

Two tins dey wey person suppose talk without emotion. The practice cause real pain to small babies wey no fit give consent and e carry real risk of infection, and the end of the practice no be loss for dat side. But e also store one advanced system of lineage and town identity, and dat whole body of knowledge dey lost now, wey be different kind of loss wey the first side no fit replace.

Hair

The two techniques. Yoruba hairdressing divide into ìrun dídì, hair wey dem plait flat to di scalp without adding anything, and ìrun kíkọ́, hair wey dem wrap with thread or with thin plastic rubber so dat sections go stand out from di head in stiff shape forms 4. Dem dey make di two in styles wey get name, and na specialists dey do di two, wey historically na women wey dey work for compound or market.

Named styles. Ṣùkú dey among di ones wey people know pass: dem dey pull di hair up from all direction come gather am into raised bun or crest on top di crown of di head, wey dey give tall, royal shape 4. E get plenty different types wey get name, including ṣùkú elégbè, ṣùkú onídìdì, ṣùkú fúlà and ṣùkú ológèdè 4.

Kòróbà take im name from di Yoruba word for basket or bucket, and dem dey plait di hair make e fall go outside and down around di head in di shape wey di name describe 4.

Adé Ọba, king crown, dem dey plait am make e resemble crown and record show say for past times na only king wives dem reserve am for 4.

Ìpàkọ́ ẹlẹ́dẹ̀, wey literally mean di back of pig neck, dey describe style wey dem plait go back from forehead reach di back of di neck.

Wetin hair mean. Style dey show stage of life, marriage status, occasion and social standing, and particular styles dey belong to particular conditions: styles for bride, styles for mother of newborn twins, styles for woman wey dey mourn, styles for priestesses of particular òrìṣà 4. To shave head get im own meanings, for mourning, for initiation and for infants. Because person no fit dress their own hair for inside this styles, hairdressing na naturally social sometin, and di plenty hours wey e dey take dey part of wetin make am wetin e be.

Di twentieth century change this tradition instead of make e end am. Threading and cornrowing continue, chemical relaxing with wigs and weaves enter from mid-century, and di natural hair movement of di 2000s go front bring traditional styles back deliberately and with full awareness. Di J. D. Okhai Ojeikere photo archive, wey dem make for Nigeria from 1968 go front and wey dem dey exhibit internationally now, systematically document pass one thousand hairstyles and na di single most valuable picture record of di tradition; Ojeikere na Bini no be Yoruba, but e photograph extensively for Lagos and across southern Nigeria.

Cosmetics

Di everyday cosmetic materials no plenty and dem dey share am across ritual and ordinary use, wey be di main point itself: di same substances wey dress body for party dey dress am for shrine.

Osùn, camwood, wey dem grind from di heartwood of Baphia nitida into red powder and mix with oil or water, dem dey rub am for skin as cosmetic and protectant, dem dey use am well well for infants and new mothers, and dem dey use am dress ẹrẹ̀ ìbejì and other shrine figures. Im red na di colour of heat, of Ṣàngó and of vital force.

Efun, white chalk or kaolin, di counterpart to osùn, cool where camwood dey hot, associated with Ọbàtálá, wey dem dey use mark body in worship and for infants.

Tìróò, antimony or galena wey dem grind fine fine, wey dem dey apply to di eyes and lids of infants, both as cosmetic and sometin wey dem understand say dey protect di eye.

Ìlàrí and adì, palm kernel oil and other oils, wey dem dey use dress skin and hair.

Aró, indigo, wey dey stain skin as well as cloth, wey dem dey use make things dark and form pattern.

Aṣọ, cloth itself, suppose count as body art instead of separate department, wey be Abiodun argument for di chapter wey take title from di proverb say we dey greet cloth before we greet di person wey wear am 5. Di gèlè, di tied head wrap, na di clearest example: na architecture wey dem build on top head for occasion, dem dey judge am with di same criteria like any other made thing, and im whole purpose na to elaborate di part of di body wey carry person destiny.