Wooden Lip-Discs of the Mursi
At some point in time, places such as Africa, Mozambique, Brazil and others have been the home to tribes of people that practice in the art of body-modification - in particular the piercing and stretching of the bottom lip via the use of a wooden plate.
Although many of these tribes such as the Sara women of Chad and The Makonde of Tanzania and Mozambique, ceased this ritualistic act several decades ago, others like the women of the Surma (Suri) and Mursi tribes in Ethiopia still have plates made of wood or clay inserted into their bottom lip.
At about fifteen or sixteen years of age a girl of these tribes will go through a procedure where an incision will be made in her bottom lip. A wooden plug is then inserted in the pierced hole to stop the wound from closing up. When the hole heals around the wooden plug (this usually takes two to three weeks) the plug is removed, making way for a small wooden disc about four centimetres in diameter, which stretches the hole. This process is then repeated with each disc slightly larger than the next.
Each lip-disc is handcrafted by the girl who will be wearing it. The girls take much pride in this craft and decide on the final diameter of the piece themself. The average size of a final disc is about ten to fifteen centimetres. Photo-documentation has shown however, that a much larger-sized disc is not uncommon with some girls adorning a lip-disc with a diameter of about twenty five centimetres.
Although there are many misconceptions and beliefs as to why the Mursi adorn these lip-plates, Mursi expert, David Turton has discredited many of these through years spent with the tribe studying them. The fact is there is no definitive explanation as to why this act is implemented. When asked why, members of the tribe simply explain that it is their custom. A custom which has been with them throughout generations and still sticks to this day.
As a tradition passed down through the generations, the insertion of lip-discs holds great significance to the Mursi identity. Not having a lip-disc, for a Mursi woman, could mean being mistaken for a member of the Kwegu tribe, a group of hunters that live along the banks of the Omo. Having a stretched lip but no disc plate holds greater threat however as this is the tradition of the Bodi a neighbouring tribe who are constantly involved in wars with the Mursi. With this in mind, the wooden-lip discs of the Mursi can be seen as a rite of passage, a symbolic tradition signifying that the wearer has passed her adolescent years and moved on into adulthood. It is also a way of communicating their identity. Similar traditions such as stretched piercings, surgical implants and tattooing have, in recent times, become quite popular within the modernised western world. Many people belonging to certain sub-cultures take pride in these practises and wear them almost as if to signify the sort of life they lead or simply for the aesthetic appeal.