The Mursi, also known as Mun, and the Suri tribe live in one of the most isolated areas in southwestern Ethiopia. According to the 2007 national census, the Mursi numbered around 10,000. Of these, only 848 lived in urban areas, with the rest mostly settled in rural areas in the Debub Omo region, near the border with South Sudan and surrounded by mountains along the Omo River.
The Mursi live in the lower Omo Valley, while the Suri live in the upper part. The rugged terrain and difficult roads make the Mursi a desirable destination for tourists. The native language of the Mursi is Surmic and they belong to the Surmic ethnic group along with the Me'en and Kwegu tribes. Of the three priestly families of the Mursi, the Kimorte family is the most respected compared to the Garikuli and Bumai, as they are considered the most sacred.
The Mursi women's lip plate wearing, while seemingly strange and even a bit scary, is a unique cultural feature.
Standards for women's beauty
According to Mursi custom, around the age of 12-13, girls with relatives will help to cut their lips, lengthening their lower lip so that they can fit a plate. First, they cut a part of the lower lip and insert a wooden peg. Over the next few weeks, the wound will heal and the peg will be replaced with a larger one. This process of stretching continues with the pegs getting bigger and bigger.
According to Mursi custom, around the age of 12-13, girls will be helped by relatives to carve their lips, lengthen their lower lip so that they can place a plate and
Once the hole in the lower lip is wide enough, the girl is given the first wooden or clay disc, which is about 4cm in diameter. Over the course of a year, progressively larger discs are inserted, and the woman is free to decide how wide she wants the disc to be.
The final plate can be between 8 and 20 cm in diameter and some women even have their lower teeth knocked out to make room for the plates. The clay plates, called dhebinya, are made individually and are decorated with various designs. The final plate worn by a woman can be white, dyed red or black. Unmarried girls wear wooden plates called kiyo.
According to Mursi custom, around the age of 12-13, girls will be helped by relatives to carve their lips, lengthen their lower lip so that they can place a plate and
Married women must wear the plate when serving food to their husbands and during important ceremonies such as weddings, battles, etc. When the husband dies, the plate is thrown away. The hole in a woman’s lip is believed to have a direct impact on the lives of the entire tribe: the health of the livestock, the fate of the children, etc.
The bigger the plate, the more open the lips, the more attractive the woman is considered, and the more dowry she will receive when married.
Although the process of wearing a lip plate is painful, for the Mursi women, it is a journey to achieve perfect beauty. They believe that the lip plate is not only an ornament but also a symbol of maturity, social status and the unique beauty of a Mursi woman. The larger the lip plate, the more respected the woman is and the more dowry her family will receive at the wedding. This is a long-standing tradition, passed down from generation to generation and has become an integral part of the cultural identity of the Mursi tribe.
Many potential risks
The tradition of wearing lip plates, while deeply rooted in Mursi culture, goes against modern health and beauty standards. Constantly manipulating the body to achieve a certain beauty standard can have many health consequences, from cosmetic damage to serious infection risks. Constantly stretching the lips to wear large plates can cause complications such as infection, swelling, and even lip lacerations. Many Mursi women face deformed, drooping lips, which seriously affect their health and daily life.
Wearing discs has a great impact on women's health.
The origins of the Mursi’s strange lip plate tradition remain a mystery to researchers. One theory suggests that, during the slave trade, Mursi women deliberately altered their appearance to make themselves less attractive to traffickers. Wearing large lip plates made them stand out and difficult to recognize, thus protecting themselves from brutal kidnappings. However, this is just one of many theories, and the true origins of this custom remain a mystery. In a way, lip plate wearing is a manifestation of the complexity and diversity of human culture.
Although it is an ancient custom, it still leaves many bad consequences.
Today, some young Mursi women no longer follow the custom of wearing lip discs. However, a segment of Mursi women still wear lip discs and consider this custom as part of their tribal heritage, as well as a cultural identity to attract tourists.
