Old African scarification knives from Congo

[gp]

Originally Posted by Battara

I have seen scarification up close on Nigerian fellow students (a sign of not ever being a slave nor their family).

Interesting to see the tools used. Must be crazy painful though.

"a sign of not ever being a slave" even more; it showed their "belonging" such as tribe, position and membership to a (secret) society

[Kmaddock]

Originally Posted by gp

"a sign of not ever being a slave" even more; it showed their "belonging" such as tribe, position and membership to a (secret) society

Hard to see how it is a secret membership when you are displaying your membership so openly though

Regards
Ken

[gp]

Originally Posted by Kmaddock

Hard to see how it is a secret membership when you are displaying your membership so openly though

Regards
Ken

...not secret for the Congolese ( wrong word as there are so many tribes in what is called Congo) and or other Africans but secret for the colonial "masters" who in their "superiority" prejudice often either ignored or underestimated these cultures...and hence didn't understand these signs

Similar like the green tattoos of the North African women did not mean anything to the French and Spannish but would tell you a lot about the specific woman

[gp]

Originally Posted by gp

...not secret for the Congolese ( wrong word as there are so many tribes in what is called Congo) and or other Africans but secret for the colonial "masters" who in their "superiority" prejudice often either ignored or underestimated these cultures...and hence didn't understand these signs

Similar like the green tattoos of the North African women did not mean anything to the French and Spannish but would tell you a lot about the specific woman

Originally Posted by Kmaddock

Hard to see how it is a secret membership when you are displaying your membership so openly though

Regards
Ken

just thinking, don't we in the EU and the Anglo-Saxon world have not also "secret" organisations people know about but only which only members the details...

think of f.i. Skull and Bones... , or less "heavy"some tie-wearing folks in the UK and Eire showing their belonging to Oxbridge, Eton-ic kind of schools which might bring priviliges in the concerned folks future ...Or as you live in Ireland, if your name is tied to a grandparent who had a certain status not only during the Troubles but since the eary 1920-ies...from either side