Passport Masks

Let me preamble my presentation by stating that the topic I have selected to address is wide and diversified in scope and practice among various African tribes and their societies. What I will attempt to do therefore is to present in general terms the underlying commonalities found among the African tribes and societies that use “Passport Masks” as rites of passage or recognition among them making it easy for “sense of belonging” to a particular group or society. Scholars may find this a little vague and confusing, but this is what that makes the subject interesting to investigate and make it an open rich research area in the field of sociology, anthropology and related area of cultural history of African identify in terms of the African arti-facts, sociofacts and menti-facts. Before I define the term “passport Masks” I want to state that these masks or marks could be carved on the individual or made into a symbol to carry. The Jews had the circumcision masks/marks as a must of identify and those who were not circumcised were looked down upon and not regarded as proper Jews. I don’t know how else I can put it for brevity. Jewish circumcision was a religious ritual of belonging. Was it a passport Mask or Mark? I leave that for further debate and discussion.

But African masks/marks on the body carved and carried hanging on the neck wrapped around the waist, around the arm or the leg are looked upon as primitive “ Juju masks/marks considered by the westerner (particularly the Euro-Christian) as useless disfiguration of the body and therefore labeled as harmful to the health of the African. This maybe true, but it controlled African population growth, pre-marital sex and so on. I will be mentioning these in this paper. It place in social orbiting must also be considered. An interesting aspect of the Passport Masks / marks” is that such masks/marks were done by specialized individuals with authority to issue those masks/ marks. For lack of better description, the white man referred to such well established institution as “secret societies” of which the Poro and the Sande/Bondo among most of the West African tribes people are examples which I will high later. Your minds need to be prepare also to accept the fact that these so called secrete bush societies were not societies as such but schools of learning where Masks / Marks were used as rites of passage. A decorated horn tied on the wrist a man like the late paramount Chief Kebbie of Sierra Leone was both a protective masks / marks on the fore head, on the jaw, near the eye etc.

These are Masks/ Marks that one can easily see on the cheeks, forearm, forehead, legs and or on the back of tribes man and women in Africa. They are all significant passport masks. But these are all under threats today as they are condemned by western education without justification. My paper is going to address in brief the place of passport masks in the African tribal life. It is going to be brief and barely descriptive. I will begin with a brief definition. What are Passport Masks/Marks in the life of a tribal African? Who wear them or carry them? What do they signify? Any gender difference on the use and issue of passport Masks/ Marks? Are Africans going to continue with their traditional culture passport Masks /Marks? No society is stagnant and Africa is no exception to cultural changes in the passage of time. It is all part of the great march of civilization influenced by western world through colonization.