Sisala Tribe Essay

Sisala is a tribe originating from Ghana and is known for their distinct markings. A lady from Sisala was interviewed by Margaret Ankrah, an exceptional journalist, who told the story of the challenges she faced after being scared. The Sisala woman was not allowed to go into her daughter’s school because she had tribal markings on her face. They said it will traumatize the children. Her markings were seen as barbaric and uncivilized. Everyday she has to face a crowd of people staring at her tribal markings wondering what happened to her. She feels as though everyone judges her by the tribal markings on her face instead of her character (Ankrah 3). This woman is one of many people who undergo scarification. During the process of scarifying, scars are made by the use of blades, glass, or broken coconut shells. Most herbal doctors—the people who perform the scarring—make incisions carelessly which could possibly lead to infection. In order to make a flat scar, herbal doctors will glide

All of these diseases are life threatening, and herbal doctors do not want to stop with the tradition of scarification. This shows how invested the leaders of the tribe are. They are willing to put their village in danger just to preserve the cultural history. Once the government was informed about the negative effects they acted quickly. Laws were made to abolish all types of cutting. J.J. Rawlings, the Ghanaian president at the time, authorized the law to abolish all forms of traditions detrimental to human health in 1989. In Article 39 of the Ghanaian Constitution, it states that any practices that are injurious to a person’s health will be abolished. If this law is disobeyed it is considered a second-degree felony (Irving 33). After the Ghanaians banned this practice others followed. Due to the change in the societal acceptability, many people have a hard time trying to conform to