Mursi people

Mursi people
One of the most original and eccentric branches of the Ethiopian native peoples known as “Nara Surma” is the Mursi. They are pastoral transhumants who raise cattle on the high plateaus bordering the Omo river in the Gamo Gofa region. The tradition is to leave the Omo valley during the rainy season beginning in May or June and to move on to the higher plateaus. They are Nilotic/Omotic origins. They remove the lower inclsor teeth and don’t practice circumcision.
make room for the future lip plate for which Mursi women are well known.
They use the plate to discourage slave traders, to prevent evil from entering the body, and to indicate the number of the cattle required by the wear’s family for her hand in marriage. The bigger the plate the more the cattle.