page_title: Lip plate
section_title: Usage in the Americas
hierarchical_section_title: Lip plate / Usage in the Americas
caption_attribution_description: English: French translation of A voyage round the world, but more particularly to the north-west coast of America [microform]&#160;: performed in 1785, 1786, 1787, and 1788, in the King George and Queen Charlotte, Captains Portlock and Dixon&#160;; dedicated, by permission, to Sir Joseph Banks, Bart.
context_page_description: The lip plate, also known as a lip plug or lip disc, is a form of body modification. Increasingly large discs are inserted into a pierced hole in either the upper or lower lip, or both, thereby stretching it. The term labret denotes all kinds of pierced-lip ornaments, including plates and plugs. It is most common in African native tribes.
  Archaeological evidence indicates that labrets have been independently invented no fewer than six times, in Sudan, Eritrea and Ethiopia, Mesoamerica, and coastal Ecuador.
context_section_description: In South America among some Amazonian tribes, young males traditionally have their lips pierced and begin to wear plates when they enter the men's house and leave the world of women. Lip plates there are associated with oratory and singing. The largest plates are worn by the greatest orators and war chiefs, such as Chief Raoni of the Kayapo tribe, a well known environmental campaigner. In South America, lip plates are nearly always made from light wood.
  In the Pacific Northwest of North America, labrets have a long history of use, dating back at least five thousand years. At times they were used by both men and women, but in more recent times (e.g. 19th century) were associated with exclusive use by high ranking women. 
  Among the Haida, Tsimshian, and Tlingit, were once used by women to symbolize social maturity by indicating a girl's eligibility to be a wife. The installation of a girl's first plate was celebrated with a sumptuous feast.
  In western nations, some young people, including some members of the Modern Primitive movement, have adopted larger-gauge lip piercings, a few large enough for them to wear proper lip plates. Some examples are given on the BME website.
caption: Young Haida woman with lip plate, portrayed in Dixon, George (1789): Voyage autour du monde
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