Facial fingerprints

Across Africa, there are many tribes practicing scarification in order to identify the tribe they belong to. In Benin, the Bétamarribé tribe are widely known because scarification is deeply rooted in their tradition. It is still practiced to kids around the age of 3-4 when they receive a unique intricate series of lines cut into their faces with an iron tool. According to the elders a child without these markings is not “human” and doesn’t belong to the Betamaribé tribe in the eyes of the ancestors.

Nowadays this tradition is slowly changing: some families avoid the practice on children due to the risk of contracting blood-borne disease. Furthermore, people moving to bigger cities face a higher stigmatization and a lack of opportunities in administrative jobs.