Tribal Marks: A Yoruba Perspective According to source, tribal marks came into Nigeria during the colonial era when the colonial masters were capturing people and taking them to foreign countries for slavery, people started giving their family members marks to locate them if ever they were captured and to recognise them when they are freed. These permanent marks are ways of identification passed on from family to family, members of the same village, identification of royal lineage and people from the same lineage. Different lineage or town/village have different tribal marks, some with similarities and some totally different. Since tribal marks are used mainly to differentiate ethnic groups, they vary. There are marks on the cheeks, forehead, on the temple, under the chin and so on. There are vertical lines, horizontal, both vertical and horizontal, slanted lines on both cheeks. These marks are in patterns based on the ethnic group of their bearer and have different meanings and different names. Yoruba tribal marks is one interesting feature of Yoruba physical appearance; although no longer common or in vogue, it is fast disappearing due to extant laws, and international campaign. Tribal mark is a specific mark which comes in different shapes and sizes, commonly found on the face; which gives it another name of “facial marks”. There are various tribal marks, by different ethnic groups within Yoruba nation: Ijesa (a town in Osun state) people are known by “pele.” Pele, is a-four-horizontal-line; an-inch-long mark made on the cheeks on both sides of the mouth. The Ondo natives of Ondo State are identified by half-an-inch-vertical lines on both sides of the nose down to the mouth (marks are thick and long) called “Soju”. Another tribal mark which can also be found in Ondo state is called “Jaju” which is just a single horizontal line on both sides of the face. Other Yoruba ethnic groups have different types of facial marks; Ogbomosho natives of (Oyo State) are identified by multiple straight marks drawn from the head which curves on the lower chin straight to the corner of the mouth on both sides of the face called “Gombo”. Also prone to Ibadan, Oyo town and the Ogbomosho People (all these three towns are located in Oyo State) is a tribal mark called Abaja. Abaja is made up of four horizontally drawn lines with two or more vertical lines standing on the topmost horizontal line. Other Yoruba tribal marks includes: Ture, Bamu, Keke etc. Tribal marks are mostly given to people at a very young age most especially when they are babies. This is because at that age, the child doesn’t have a say on decisions to giving him/her tribal marks. The people who make these marks use either razor blades or sharp knives to cut the face and they have native dye, pigmentation or black paste usually from grinded charcoal dust which is put into the open wound to stain the marks, stop the bleeding and to heal the wound. 1