Strange tradition! A tribal woman wears a larger lip plate for a higher dowry

An Ethiopian woman who wears a larger lip plate will receive a higher dowry.

The Surma people of the Suri tribe are known to have a unique tradition of ordering a dowry, requiring the bride to wear a plate over her lips, and the larger the plate, the higher the price of milk.

The tribe is one of eight tribes with a total population of 200,000 living in the Kibish region of OMo Valley, Ethiopia in Africa.

In the Suri tradition, when an adult woman is able to conceive, two lower front teeth are removed and a hole is drilled in the lower lip. They then insert clay or wooden trays in the hole. As the hole expands, a tray is placed there to enlarge the lip and continue until it reaches a plate the size of a full mouth. However, not all plates are the same size, but the standard size is 8 inches (over 25 cm) and the largest plate is 16 inches (over 40 cm).

Such lips are considered by the people of Surma as a symbol of old age, maturity, as well as the beauty of a woman who attracts men to marry her.