Amazigh Women’s Tradition of Facial Tattoos Fades in Morocco
IMILCHIL, Morocco: In the rugged Atlas mountains of Morocco, Hannou Mouloud reminisces about her childhood when her family took her to get her chin tattooed with the traditional markings worn by generations of Amazigh tribeswomen.
At the age of six, Mouloud was told that tattoos were beautiful decorations, a common practice among women in the North African Amazigh groups. The Amazigh people, once known as Berbers, now prefer to be called Imazighen, which translates to “free people.”
Facial tattoos, once a prominent feature in many indigenous cultures worldwide, have now largely disappeared. The decline of this tradition in Morocco is attributed to shifting religious beliefs in recent years, with interpretations of Islam prohibiting body modifications like tattoos and piercings.
Women in the Amazigh tribes would use charcoal to draw designs on their faces, then prick the drawing with a needle until blood came out. They would then rub the wound daily with a chewed green herb to enhance the tattoo’s color.
Abdelouahed Finigue, a geography teacher and researcher, explained that women in Imilchil often had their chins, foreheads, or hands tattooed. Some even received intimate tattoos as a wedding gift to express their love for their husbands.
These tattoos held symbolic meanings for different communities. The circle, for example, symbolized the universe and beauty, reflecting the importance of the moon and sun in local rituals.
However, changing religious attitudes have led to a decline in the practice of facial tattoos among Amazigh women. Fundamentalist beliefs have stigmatized tattooing, with some women facing social pressure and even removing their tattoos out of fear of punishment in the afterlife.