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Attraction
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Transportation
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Information
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- Hill Tribes-
| Over 100 years ago, the Hilltribe peoples migrated
south from China into what are now Burma, Laos, Vietnam,
and Thailand. The six major tribes are the Karen
(Kariang, Yang), the Hmong (Meo), the Yao (Mien),
the Akha (Ekaw), the Lisu (Lisaw), and the Lahu (Mussur).
The main profession of all these tribes is farming,
and all of them tend to migrate whenever they feel
that the soil at their present location is becoming
depleted. Each tribe is district, with its own culture,
religion, language, art, and dress. With Thailand
undergoing rapid modern development, it is difficult
yet to say whether these tribes will continue in
there traditional ways of life, or whether they will
eventually be absorbed into the surrounding, and
ever more-encroaching,Thai society. |
 Akha
(Ekaw) |
 |
-:
Akha (Ekaw) villages are distinguished
by their carved wooden gates, presided over by guardian
spirits. The
Akha live in raised houses, within which one small
room is set aside for paying respect to ancestors.
The focal point of community life is the open ground --
the "common", if you will -- where the tribe
celebrates its major festivals, especially that of the
Giant Swing and where young men and women come to meet
(under the watchful eye of the elders). This tribe is easily
recognized by the black caps covered with silver coins,
worn by the women. |
| Hmong
(Meo) |
 |
-:
The Hmong (Meo) live in houses that sit right on the
ground, not on stilts as do most on the other tribes.
However,
the main floor of their houses is not at ground level,
but rests upon a kind of above-ground basement or root
cellar that they use for food storage. Moreover, their
house-fronts slope outward and downward, an architectural
feature that is the trademark of their villages.
-: The
Hmong , even more than the other tribes, practice a strict
male-female division of labor. One custom that especially
illustrates this is that of giving a newborn
boy a gift of metal from which he will one they forge a weapon, whereas newborn
girls receive no special gift. The Hmong are a diligent, patient, and independent
people, fond of wearing their silver ornaments during ceremonies and much devoted
to the sky spirit they believe has created both the world and their own ancient
way of life. |
| Lisu
(Lisaw) |
 |
-:
The Lisu (Lisaw) like to settle near the tops of mountains,
as close as possible to streams or waterfalls. Their
houses never have more than one door and are oriented
to stand
parallel to the face of the mountain on which they live.
Each village has a spirit house, and each house has
a small shrine to spirits an ancestors.
In addition, because
the Lisu are the "engineers" among the Hilltribes,
most of their villages feature a large bamboo pipe, a
conduit, that carries to the village water from the nearest
source. The Lisu are a handsome people, perhaps the best-looking
of all the tribes, and they like to think of themselves
as a cut or two above their other Hilltribe neighbors.
Consequently, they are among the least bashful of these
ethnic groups, and, although patient, like to be a bit
competitive as well. |
| karen
(Kariang, Yang) |
 |
-:
The Karen (Kariang, Yang) like to settle in foothills,
and live in bamboo houses raised on stilts, beneath which
live their domestic animals: pigs, chickens, and buffaloes.
They, like all the tribes, are skilled farmers who practice
crop rotation, and they also hunt for game, with spears
and crossbows, and use tame elephants to help them clear
land. Karen women are skilled in sewing
and dyeing, and dress in white blouse-sarong combinations
with colorful patterns
or beads for trim. They wear their long hair tied back
in a bun and covered with white scarves. The Karen are
gentle, peaceful, and cooperative people, who, like all
the Hilltribes, reserve their highest veneration
for their ancestors and living elders. |
| Lahu
(Mussur) |
 |
-:
Since "Lahu", the name of their tribe, means "hunter",
the Lahu (Mussur) obviously pride themselves on their
skills in hunting and trapping. They are also famous
for their knowledge of herbal medicine.The Lahu are
an independent people, physically larger than the members
of the other tribes, but rather than their greater
stature leading to aggressiveness, they love entertainment
and the easily life. Lahu women wear several kinds
of distinctive dress, although the men clothe themselves
pretty much uniformly. The women wear colorful turbans
and like to sport beautiful earrings, usually of silver.
This is another mountain-top tribe with their houses
on stilts, and a "basement-corral" for their
many domestic animals: chickens, pigs, ducks, and buffaloes. |
| Yao
(Mien) |
 |
-:
The Yao (Mien) prefer to
live among low hills near dense forest. Their houses
also
sit on the ground, and feature
a space designed for a cooking fire in the center of
their main room, as well as a small shrine dedicated
to their
ancestors and to the guardian spirit they believe to
inhabit each individual house. Their language, long
ago derived
from Chinese, is written in Chinese Characters, and
their paintings, mostly of religious
subjects, reflect certain very ancient Chinese artistic
styles, although the Yao paintings have a unique flavor
of their own, and are coveted by many Western collectors.
The Yao are the "businessmen" among the Hilltribes,
and they also excel in the making of metal farm implements
such as axes and plows. Because they've long had a
written language --unlike several of the other tribes,
who had no written version of their language prior
to the coming into their midst of Christian missionaries
-- they also know how to make high quality paper. |
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