Cicatrization is a scar formation at the site of a healing wound. Scarification, a form of cicatrization, is a permanent form of body modification that affects the texture of the skin by cutting through layers to purposefully create a scar. This process can include a number of techniques, including cutting, scratching, or burning. This was practiced at large globally in pre colonial societies/civilizations and still is in small communities today. 600,000 Africans during slavery, were sent to Guinae(Bissau) down to Angola between 1600 and 1830. During this time period on plantations some Africans would escape in the Amazonian rainforest, where they would be known as maroons and live amongst each other called marronage. The tradition of scarification continued to be practiced in marronage. We can see this amongst the maroons of Suriname and French Guiana, specifically in the Saamaka and Ndyuka tribes.
1 - Maroon woman from Langatabiki, Suriname by Willem van de Poll, 1947
2 - Maroon man from the Cottica region, Suriname by Eugen Klein, 1910
3 - Maroon Fashion History By Sally Price
4 - Maroon woman in Suriname from Ndyuka tribe with ritual scarification (1952), photographer unknown.
5 - Maroons from Suriname by Augusta Curiel, 1911
6 - Aukan woman in Suriname by Augusta Curiel, 1915
7 - Ndyuka artifacts are on permanent display at MPM.
8 - Ndyuka artifacts are on permanent display at MPM.
