Suya Indian carves paints and inserts a lip disk

Full unedited video of Suya tribesman carving, painting and inserting a lip disk.

Prior to first contact, (circa 1960) Suya men wore lip discs in their lower lips. The lower lip was pierced and gradually stretched, creating a narrow band of muscle, which held a thick circular disc of light wood that could reach seven or eight centimeters in diameter at maturity.

Unlike certain African tribes, where women practice lip stretching, the Suya did not extract teeth to accommodate the wearing of their lip discs. Although, with the passage of time and the pressure exerted by the lip disc, the four lower teeth of most Suya men were missing in their later years.

Suya lip discs were painted with red Urucum (dye extracted from tree bark) on the top and sides, but left the natural white color of the wood on the underside, with the exception of a small circular design. This design was painted with a black dye made from Genipapo (fruit of the Genipapo tree) surrounding a small raised area in the center of the underside of the disc.

Men frequently did not wear their ear discs during the day, but they always wore their lip discs, only removing them to clean their discs while they bathed or to replace them with new and/or larger discs (as in this video). Prior to ceremonies men would make and insert new ornaments in both their lips and their ears.

Both sexes had their ears pierced at the earliest signs of sexual activity, if it had not already been done at birth. Unlike the Kayapo, where adolescent boys' lower lips were pierced at birth and stretched between the ages of 10 and 14, the Suya pierced and started stretching their lips at time of marriage. Lip discs were worn always, even while eating, drinking and sleeping. It was the Suya custom to wear lip discs protruding straight out, perpendicular to the face, but the men would turn them up at night during sleep, so the delicate patterns on the underside were visible.

In addition to ear and lip discs, many Suya men also practiced ritual scarification, often covering their chests and upper arms with parallel rows of raised keloid scars. Other than a ribbon headband, Suya men wore no clothing with the exception of their ear and lip discs.

Due to the decades of contact with other peoples within the Xingu Indigenous Park and with non-Indians, the Suya have ceased to use lip discs. In spite of this, the cosmological significance that the ornaments expressed still applies. Ear discs and lip discs were clearly associated with the cultural importance given to hearing as well as to speech and song. The Suya associated ear discs with hearing and lip discs with the speaking, singing and sexual prowess. Ears was pierced and stretched so that a person would hear and understand. The Suya believed that the lip disc was associated with aggressiveness and bellicosity, correlated with masculine self-affirmation, especially in speech and song.

The color of the ornaments was also significant. Red of the lip disc is associated with heat and bellicosity. The circular design on the underside represents the Pleiades constellation. The Suya say that this constellation is a group of young warriors in the sky. The ear discs were often painted white, a color associated with coolness and passivity. In present day there are a few older Suya men who still were their lip and ear discs. There is talk among young Suya men today to return to their traditions and once again pierce and stretch their ears and lips so discs may be worn proudly.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Suya
• Suyá
• Suiá
• Xingu
• Kayapo
• Caiapo
• Kĩsêdjê
• Indians
• lip disc
• lip discs
• lip disk
• lip disks
• lip plate
• lip plates
• lip plug
• lip plugs
• ear discs
• ear disks

[ChugLlFE]

Nastyyyyyyy blowout. 5:30 has a sweet shot of it.

[ericsu812]

@ChugLlFE, That's not a blowout, that's the outermost part of his lip.

[IonicMcLovin69]

This video and the description you wrote are both so very very fascinating! Thank you! C:

[ericsu812]

@IonicMcLovin69 You're welcome!

[desirebrwn]

was was was was that his dick!

[ericsu812]

@desirebrwn Yes, that was his p*n*s. For this Suya man, being fully dressed means wearing a lip disk and possibly ear disks. In most cases, genitals are visible to all. However, sometimes just the tip of the urethral opening was covered.

[ericsu812]

Nathan,

Your comment "children are fat," is not accurate.

Chances are the boy in the video is suffering from a mild form of malnutrition.

A distended stomach (while other body parts remain normal size) usually indicates this condition.

With a more balanced diet, the boy’s stomach would reduce in size.

[rogue0728]

that most have felt lovely

[jasong2xaccount]

What's the point of fuckin up the lips??? Seems odd to put a tree in your face.

[piercednscarred]

I was blown away by the fact that he only used a few tools to create a beautiful plate from a chunk of a tree. Wonderful artwork! The color of the dye he stripped from the branch was absolutely gorgeous as well.

Do you know why he kept setting it on the water? I'm a bit curious if there was a purpose to it or if it was just wiping off the dirt or something.

[AramcoBoy1]

sexy

[globehunter2]

If this was a woman showing her vagina` I,m sure it wouldnt

be so shocking? people always notice a penis mainly because

of its sexual Power. Also temples have been built to honor the

male penis, Temples were never built to honor vagina,s. Period.

[HARAMIINDOG]

how do they eat food with that pice of log in their mouth

[unclebanana]

What does he use for the red staining substance?

[MuSiCXXEmBlEm]

they can do that, but can put a leaf on there bom boms