The Surma Tribe of Ethiopia, History, Culture & Facts

The Surma tribe, or Suri, is an indigenous community located in Southwest Ethiopia and parts of South Sudan, renowned for their distinctive lip plate custom, especially among the Suri and Mursi subgroups. They are agro-pastoralists residing in a secluded region of the Upper Omo Valley.

Native to what is now Southwest Ethiopia and a small portion of South Sudan, the Surma people are famous for their distinctive lip plate art, especially among the Suri and Mursi subgroups. They call a secluded section of the Upper Omo Valley home, and they engage in agro-pastoral practices.

The Suri, Mursi, and Me’en are the three (3) ethnic groups that currently make up the Surma. They are located in the southwest region of Ethiopia and currently number around 187900. The Mursi, who reside near the Omo Valley, are the most well-liked of these three ethnic groups, who all share a common culture. The fact that their women wear huge clay plates on their lower lips is said to be the reason for their popularity. After cutting the lower lips, the young Surma girls inserted a wooden plug. Until the lips can eventually stretch sufficiently to admit a wooden plate, each plug is periodically replaced for a wider size. Curiously, in order for the plate to fit properly, two or three of their lower teeth must be extracted. Some ladies are able to wear plates up to 30 centimetres wide.

Why do these women do this is a mystery. In this tribe, a woman with a plate in her lip is the main attraction. Their attractiveness increases with plate width. To attract more attention from the other sex, the younger females literally dress in colourful plates. It is implied that the women eat with these plates dangling from their stretched lips since they typically wear them while serving their husbands meals or even during important ceremonies.

Although several local hypotheses have been proposed, the main explanation for why and when this lip-cutting custom began cannot, regrettably, be traced back to that time. The Surma women use these lip-plates for prestige as well as attractiveness, which may be in contrast to modern women who apply lipstick to beautify themselves and enhance their appearance. To put it simply, the girls choose to wear them rather than being coerced into it. It is said that women with broader lip plates make better spouses, thus greater money is paid for their hand in marriage. The Surma men pay the bride’s family as dowry (cows as well as Kalashnikovs).

Many weeks or months are typically spent away from the hamlet caring for the herd of cattle by the young male warriors. They just consumed milk and anima blood during that time. The procedure involves making a tiny incision on the cow’s neck, puncturing a vein, and then extracting the blood. They also paint their nude bodies with white clay. This is done to appear fierce and command respect. This body painting is also extremely important during traditional tribal festivities, such the well-known Donga fight, in which men demonstrate their fighting prowess and strength with long sticks.

It’s also possible that the chief’s children paint their faces to set themselves apart from other kids in the hamlet.

The women are in charge of the households. The ladies are free to use the profiles they have gathered from farming anyway they see fit, and they control their own lands. By the age of eight, the younger boys (Tegay), who are not yet warriors, begin to become Rora (junior warriors). The young males must undergo a protracted initiation process that could take twenty to thirty years. This could entail starvation for a few days or being lashed until bleeding. A group of men gathers to make decisions for the community in the event of any situation, and the Komoru, the tribes’ ceremonial leader, chairs the meeting. Usually, the women don’t voice any opinions throughout these sessions.

The sky deity Tuma is revered by the Surma people. They make offerings and prayers to their god through the medicine men, and they believe in ancestor spirits. The rain-maker is another intriguing yet significant Surmi role. Hereditary means are used to pass on the position that only men can hold. Once his services are required, chips are collected from a particular tree, masticated, and then the resultant juiced mixed with clay are smeared on a man, shortly after which it’s expected to rain.

The Shocking Life of Africa’s Extreme Tribes (Ethiopia)