The Suri tribe of is one of the oldest tribe to have ever existed in the Ethiopian culture. They live in a remote, innaccessible part of Maji and Bero-Sasha provinces in the Kefa region of Ethiopia.
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Women of the Suri tribe may have their lips cut at the age of 12, 15 or 16. A small clay plate is then inserted into the lip. As the year goes by, small plates are replaced with larger ones which cause the lips to stretch. It is believed that the lip plates were originally used to prevent capture by slave traders. The mode through which the act is performed is extremely painful. Most women in the tribe have their bottom teeths removed and lips are pierced, then stretched, to allow the plates to be inserted.
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On the other side of their story, the size of the lip plates determines the amount of dowry a father would get if the daughter should marry. With this, most parents fix larger plates in their daughter’s lips to enable them get more cows as dowry. Cattle is very important to the Suri people and since they believe it brings good status. Women and children in the tribe also often decorate themselves with white clay patterns, and flowers on their heads.
