African Lip Plugs - Lip Plates

These images depict African lip plugs, or labrets, which in some areas of Afrcia remain in
fashion to this day. (above) A lip plate, also known as a lip plug or lip disc, requires body
modification. The term labret (pronounced LAY-bret) denotes all kinds of pierced lip ornaments,
including plates and plugs.

The  original purpose of lip plugs may  have been to deform, affording women a sort of protection
against Arab slavers. However, David Livingstone asked a chief the reason for them and in surprise the
chief answered; for beauty! They are the only beautiful things women have. Men have beards, women
have none. What kind of person would she be without Pelele? She would not be a woman at all.

In Africa, a lower lip plate is usually combined with the excision of the two lower front teeth, sometimes
four. Among the Sara people, (Lobi) a plate is also inserted into the upper lip (above).

Other tribes such as the Makonde (above) wore a plate in the upper lip only. In many older
sources it is reported that the plate's size is a sign of social or economical importance. However,
because of natural mechanical attributes of human skin, it seems that the plate's size depends
solely on the stage of stretching of the lip.
 
Sometime after birth, mothers would pierce a child’s lip with a thorn. The holes were enlarged
with stalks of grass until they were about two centimeters in diameter and large enough to insert
a plug. Increasingly larger discs were inserted into a pierced hole in either the upper or lower lip,
or both, thereby stretching it. Lip tissue would elongate and conform to the shape of the
implanted objects.

A variety of materials were used in the manufacture of lip plugs, which included wood, ivory,
clay, bone, shiny metal, shell and sometimes crystal. They could be found in round or trapezoid
shapes of various sizes. There were carved rings, as well as simple balls fitted with a flat base
which were inserted to the lower lip.

 
Depending on the tribe, both men and women wore lip plugs in East, Central and West Africa.
Large sized plugs afforded greater status to the wearer. In southern Chad, lip plugs might exceed
6 inches.
Lip plate

The lip plate, also known as a lip plug or lip disc, is a form of body modification. Increasingly
large discs (usually circular, and made from clay or wood) are inserted into a pierced hole in
either the upper or lower lip, or both, thereby stretching it. The term labret denotes all kinds of
pierced-lip ornaments, including plates and plugs.

Archeological evidence indicates that labrets have been independently invented no fewer than six
times, in Sudan and Ethiopia (8700 BC), Mesoamerica (1500 BC), and Coastal Ecuador (500
BC).[1] Today, the custom is maintained by a few groups in Africa and Amazonia.

Usage in Africa

In Africa, a lower lip plate is usually combined with the excision of the two lower front teeth,
sometimes all four. Among the Sara people and Lobi of Chad, a plate is also inserted into the
upper lip. Other tribes, such as the Makonde of Tanzania and Mozambique, used to wear a plate
in the upper lip only. Many older sources reported that the plate's size was a sign of social or
economical importance in some tribes. But, because of natural mechanical attributes of human
skin, the plate's size may often depend on the stage of stretching of the lip and the wishes of the
wearer.

Among the Surma (own name Suri) and Mursi people of the lower Omo River valley in Ethiopia,
[2]
about 6 to 12 months before marriage, a young woman has her lip pierced by her mother or
one of her kinswomen, usually at around the age of 15 to 18. The initial piercing is done as an
incision of the lower lip of 1 to 2 cm length, and a simple wooden peg is inserted. After the
wound has healed, which usually takes between two and three weeks, the peg is replaced with a
slightly bigger one. At a diameter of about 4 cm, the first lip plate made of clay is inserted. Every
woman crafts her own plate and takes pride in including some ornamentation. The final diameter
ranges from about 8 cm to over 20 cm. (The young woman pictured on p 89 of [3] is wearing a
21–22 cm plate.)

Many recent sources (Beckwith and Carter for example)[4] claim that, for Mursi and Surma
women, the size of their lip plate indicates the number of cattle paid as the bride price. But,
anthropologist Turton, who has studied the Mursi for 30 years, denies this.[5] Shauna LaTosky,[6]
building from field research among the Mursi in 2004, discusses in detail why most Mursi
women use lip plates and describes the value of the ornamentation within a discourse of female
strength and self-esteem.

In contemporary culture, Mursi girls of age 13 to 18 appear to decide whether or not to wear a lip
plate. This adornment has attracted tourists to view the Mursi and Surma women, with mixed
consequences for these tribes
Usage in the Americas

In South America among some Amazonian tribes, young males traditionally have their lips
pierced and begin to wear plates when they enter the men's house and leave the world of women.
[8][9]
Lip plates there are associated with oratory and singing. The largest plates are worn by the
greatest orators and war chiefs, such as Chief Raoni of the Kayapo tribe, a well known
environmental campaigner. In South America, lip plates are nearly always made from light
wood.

In the Pacific Northwest of North America, among the Haida, Tsimshian, and Tlingit, lip plates
are used by women to symbolize social maturity by indicating a girl's eligibility to be a wife. The
installation of a girl's first plate was celebrated with a sumptuous feast.[10]

In western nations, some young people, including some members of the Modern Primitive
movement, have adopted larger-gauge lip piercings, a few large enough for them to wear proper
lip plates. Some examples are given on the BME website

List of traditional wearers

Tribes that are known for their traditional lip plates include:

 The Mursi and Surma (Suri) women of Ethiopia

 The Sara women of Chad (ceased wearing plates in the 1920s)
 The Makonde of Tanzania and Mozambique (ceased wearing plates several decades ago)
 The Suyá men of Brazil (most no longer wear plates)
 The Botocudo of coastal Brazil (in previous centuries, both sexes wore plates)

 Aleut, Inuit and other indigenous peoples of northern Canada, Alaska and surrounding
regions also wore large labrets and lip plates; these practices had mostly ceased by the
twentieth century.

 Some tribes (Zo'e in Brazil, Nuba in Sudan, Lobi in west Africa), wear stretched-lip
ornaments that are plug- or rod-shaped rather than plate-shaped.
The Sara women of Chad (ceased wearing plates in the 1920s)

Sara women put the lipplates in both their lips (upper and lower) (photo) to make themselves
unattractive to Arab slave raiders. Nowadays, this habit has disappeared amongst this population.

The only other population known to use lipplate are Suya people of Brazil. This fast disappearing tribe
only comprises today 196 members. In Suya, only men wear wooden lipplates (photo)and also disc
earrings like Sura women. Theirs discs lengthen the circumference of their lips to between 7 to 8
centimeters. These rituals begin when boys reach puberty and, of course, are realized in order to
increase their attractiveness.