What is scarification and branding?
The procedure, known as scarification, is a form of extreme and permanent body modification that is offered in many tattoo and piercing stores across the country and is gaining popularity. It involves a process in which one’s skin is cut, etched, burned or branded into a design to create a inkless tattoo-like scar.
How is scarification important to the Dinka tribe?
The main point of African scarification is to beautify, although scars of a certain type, size and position on the body often indicate group identity or stages in a person’s life. Among the Dinka of Sudan facial scarification, usually around the temple area, is used for clan identification.
Is scarification the same as branding?
Safe scarification is performed on the same layer of skin as tattoos: the dermis, just below the epidermis. Scarification can happen either by branding—which involves pressing a heated metal design into the skin—or by cutting, which uses sharp objects to carve into the skin.
What is the process of scarification?
Scarification is done either by cutting repeatedly with a scalpel, using a cauterizing tool, or by “strike branding,” which is much like cattle branding. After cleaning the area and stenciling on the design, the artist begins cutting or burning the skin until reaching the right depth and width.
Do you get numbed for scarification?
Since scarification is practiced by scarification artists rather than medical personnel, only a topical anesthetic can be used to dull the pain of the scarification process.
What does scarification symbolize?
Scarification was a sign of strength, courage and bravery. This procedure is understandably painful and took long to heal, so going under it without howling was a brave thing, and crying would be embarrassing yourself and your family. The more scars one had the more respected one was in one’s culture.
Where is scarification most common?
Over the last seven or eight years, Pitts said, scarification has become remarkably widespread in the U.S. and Australia and across Europe, from London to Prague. Scarification is done either by cutting repeatedly with a scalpel, using a cauterizing tool, or by “strike branding,” which is much like cattle branding.
Why was scarification important to the Kaningara tribe?
For the Kaningara men, not only does it signify strength, masculinity and dedication to the tribe, but it is an exclusively male practice that emphasizes the importance of brotherhood. These rituals symbolize the expelling of the mother’s post-partum blood.
Who are the Kaningara of the Blackwater River?
THE KANINGARA OF THE BLACKWATER In the Middle Sepik River region, several thousand people speaking more than 250 languages are knitted together in systems of trade and cultural interaction. One of these groups is the Kaningara who inhabit a single village on the Blackwater River, a major tributary of the Sepik.
Where are the initiation ceremonies held in Kaningara?
But the most fascinating of all of these ritual events are indisputably the initiation ceremonies for young men held in the haus tambaran or “Spirit House” which is forbidden to women. Like spirit houses elsewhere in the Sepik, the Kaningara haus tambaran is located at the physical center and highest point of the village.
Who are the Kaningara people of the Middle Sepik River?
In the Middle Sepik River region, several thousand people speaking more than 250 languages are knitted together in systems of trade and cultural interaction. One of these groups is the Kaningara who inhabit a single village on the Blackwater River, a major tributary of the Sepik.
