The Mursis, women plateau

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The Mursis are semi-nomadic inhabitants of southern Ethiopia, living on the western outskirts of Mago National Park, on the banks of the Omo River. They form one of the last peoples of Africa whose women wear labret (the plateau form is also called labial plate or labial disc.The labial plate can measure up to 25 centimeters in diameter.
An insert of the same type can adorn the lobe The wearers of this finery are called "trailing men" or "women trays." This ornamentation is described as mutilating because it distorts the mouth by accentuating the prognathism (facial configuration according to which one of the two jaws is more salient than the other) and running nets of saliva), hence their name "women plateau".

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The Mursis live in a remote area of Ethiopia.

They reign as masters and live in perfect symbiosis with the environment. They form a homogeneous group, governed by age-old dogmas and ancestral rituals.

They have little interaction with the other peoples of the region and fiercely fight with lances and Kalashnikovs, the theft of cattle and the raiding of women by other peoples on their territory.

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They regularly quarrel with the Hamers (East Africans living in southwestern Ethiopia in the Hamer Bena Woreda, a fertile area of the Omo Valley in the Nations Region. nationalities and peoples of the South), from which they are separated by a large territory of arid scrub and they maintain tense relations with their cousins the Bodi.

In order to develop aggression, shape agility and endurance, and enhance the masculinity of future warriors, the Mursis stage battles, the dongas.

The participants draw on the body, with white paint, symbolic motifs that provide them with the protection of supernatural forces.

Mursis attaches great importance to intra-tribal harmony. They cluster in villages far from the swampy shores of the Omo River, where the tsetse fly is less prevalent. They only bring their cattle to drink in the river when absolutely necessary, to limit the ravages caused by the development of sleeping sickness. Their huts are thatched and small.

The Mursis, like the majority of local people, fear the waters of the Omo, because, in addition to the strong current and whirlpools that discourage the best swimmers, the thick brownish silt of the river camouflages hippopotamuses, crocodiles fond of flesh human and evil spirits. Only the Batchas, a people living in the northernmost region of the Omo Valley, are able to brave these dangers and take the role of smugglers on small craft dug into tree trunks.

Women's ornaments

The establishment of the lower labial ornament called dhebe in women occurs before the age of 10 years: after extraction of the lower incisors, the lip is perforated and a wooden peg put in place; the orifice is enlarged from year to year by the introduction of larger and larger cylinders, until a large clay disk decorated with engravings is put in place. We do not know precisely the origin and function of this practice but texts say that the piercing of the lip was accompanied by the piercing of the hymen.

Some anthropologists claim that this mutilation was intended to make unsightly women to protect them from slavery raids. Today, the function is only symbolic since only women of high caste are entitled to wear them. The size of the tray is commensurate with the dowry required by the family of young girls to marry, dowry made up of cattle and goats and a firearm.

The port is not permanent, but limited to the moments of presence of the husband and son or important meetings. Apart from these occasions, the set is not used in everyday life.

This custom of the labial disc is found among the Surmas. It should be pointed out that the Dizi, a neighboring Nilotic people, do not marry surma women but agree to give theirs in marriage to the Surmas for a dowry.

It is not the only ornament of women, who also wear necklaces made of shells or pearls and shave their skulls. On the other hand, men and women pierce their ears where similar discs or wooden washers are inserted and carry scars on their arms, stomach or chest.

In men, these scarifications commemorate an act of bravery and inspire respect for the members of the group. Women wear scarification on the shoulder that constitutes their tribal identity card while necklaces, bracelets and breast paints betray a desire to please, especially at the time of the donga, when the fighters have acquired the right to covet a companion.

Male ornaments

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The body paintings that men draw between themselves on the body and face reflect a surprising creative potential. These ephemeral chalk-based works change according to the social events of the tribe; thus, during ritual fights, the makeup of the face is intended to intimidate the opponent.

To shave completely is, in Mursi men, a sign of elegance. The most coquettish ones epilate even the eyelashes.

The donga

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Donga is the name of a pretty cruel tournament that takes place at the end of the rainy season, the most anticipated moment by young singles. It is an opportunity for men who want to marry to prove their courage in front of the whole tribe.

The rules of these duels where the fighters face each other armed with poles remain extremely simple: it is necessary to give a severe correction to his rival by avoiding to kill him, blunder which is punished.

The winner who has eliminated all his opponents is carried in triumph to an audience of young girls. One of them will choose the hero for a husband.

(Text source)

(Text source)