- Hill tribe
Hill tribe is a term used in Thailand for all of the various tribal peoples who migrated from
China andTibet over the past few centuries. They now inhabit the remote border areas between NorthernThailand ,Laos andMyanmar (Burma). These areas are known for their thick forests and mountainous terrain. The six major hill tribes within Thailand are theAkha , Lahu, Karen, Hmong, Mien and Lisu, each with a distinct language and culture.The hill tribes are
subsistence farmers who useslash and burn agricultural techniques to farm their heavilyforest ed communities. Tighter conservation of Thailand's virtually depleted forests, however, has forced hill tribe people to abandon their traditional agricultural methods. Traditionally, hill tribes were also a migratory people, leaving land as it became depleted ofnatural resource s.The Akha
The Akha are closely related to the Hani of China's
Yunnan province, They are also known derogatorily in Thai as the Gaw or the E-gaw, the Akha are one of the dominant cultural influences in the area. There are two to three million Akha and Akha-Hani in total, 70,000 of whom live in Thailand. The Akha speak a language in the Lolo/Yi branch of theTibeto-Burman language group, but have no traditional written language.Although many Akha, especially younger people, profess
Christianity , Akha Zang (The Akha Way) still runs deep in their consciousness. The Akha Way, a prescribed lifestyle derived from religious chants, combinesanimism ,ancestor worship , and a deep relationship with the land. The Akha Way emphasizes rituals in everyday life and stresses strong family ties; every Akha male can recount hisgenealogy back over fifty generations to the first Akha, Sm Mi O.The Lahu
In Thailand there are four different Lahu tribes: Black, Red, Yellow and Shehleh. Each has its own distinct language, only some of which are mutually intelligible. The standard Lahu dialect is considered to be that of the Black Lahu, as it is the most populous tribe. In Mae Yao, the majority of Lahu are Red Lahu,
pantheistic animists who follow a Dtobo (messianic leader). The other Lahu tribes are predominately Christian, and have been so for nearly a century.Although primarily subsistence farmers, growing
rice andcorn for their own consumption, the Lahu are also proud of their hunter-warrior heritage. They remain an austere people, governed by strong principles of right and wrong andgender equality . Each individual in thevillage answers to the common will of the elders. The Lahu are strongly committed to principles of unity and working together for survival, though they place less emphasis on theextended family than other hill tribe communities.The Karen
The Pwakin-nyaw, known to many as Karen, and to others as
Kariang , are one of the largest hill tribes inSoutheast Asia . They have a total population of about three million, spread throughout Burma, Laos and Thailand. The approximately 320,000 Karen in Thailand comprise half of the country's total hill tribe population.While the Karen still practice slash and burn farming as other hill tribes do, they differ in that they live in permanent villages at lower elevations and have been aggressive in developing environmentally sustainable terraced rice fields. These factors have allowed the Karen to better integrate themselves into Thai society.
The Hmong
Originally, the Hmong people were immigrants from Tibet,
Siberia andMongolia , before migrating to China 3,000 years ago where they settled down in areas around the Yellow (Huang Ho) River, Kwaijoa, Hunnam,Kwangsi andYunnan . During the 17th century, the Manju Dynasty (Hmeng) wielded power in China. The king changed policy to suppress Hmong people who refused to practice and believe in the Chinese culture and tradition, because Hmong men have a similar character toRussians which led the Chinese to believe that they were Russian. Another reason was that the Hmong was abarbarian race, and constantly fought each other.Eventually, the Hmong people were defeated and moved to the south of China, separating into small groups. Most of these groups lived on the hills in Sibsongpanna, while another set of immigrants lived on the northeast of the Lao republic around Haihin Dianbianfu. The Leader, named ‘General Wungpor’, collected Hmong immigrants, and moved to Thailand around 2400 in
Buddhism era (c. 1857).Now, Hmong people in Thailand have set up villages on the hills, or the lowlands, around
Chiang Rai ,Payao ,Chiang Mai ,Prae ,Lampang , Khampang Phet,Loei , Phisanulok,Phetchabun ,Tak andMae Hong Son . The current population of Hmong people stands around 151,080.ee also
Ethnic groups in Thailand External links
* [http://hilltribes.startpagina.nl Hilltribes Directory]
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