MONGABAY.COM
Mongabay.com seeks to raise interest in and appreciation of wild lands and wildlife, while examining the impact of emerging trends in climate, technology, economics, and finance on conservation and development (more)
WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
|
|
Laos
Index
The population is ethnically diverse, but a complete
classification of all ethnic groups has never been
undertaken.
Before the Indochina wars, sources commonly identified
more than
sixty different groups, whereas the 1985 census listed
forty-seven
groups, some with populations of only a few hundred
persons.
Discrepancies in the number of groups resulted from
inconsistent
definitions of what constitutes an ethnic group as opposed
to a
subgroup, as well as incomplete knowledge about the groups
themselves. The 1985 census distinguished three general
ethnic
group classifications reflecting common origin and
language
grouping and noted significant differences among the
groups
comprising the three families. Because detailed
ethnographic
information about many groups is lacking--especially for
the
midland groups--and because the sheer number of
ethnicities
represented in Laos is so great, the discussion of ethnic
groups
concentrates on one or two representative examples of each
of the
three larger groupings; other groups may differ on a
number of
points
(see
fig. 6;
table 3, Appendix).
The Lao Loum (see Glossary),
or lowland Lao, constitute
the
majority of the population--66 percent--and comprise
several ethnic
groups that began to move from the north into the
Southeast Asian
peninsula about 1,000 years ago. All Lao Loum speak
languages of
the Tai-Kadai family--for example Lao, Lue, Tai Dam (Black
Tai),
and Tai Deng (Red Tai). Lao Loum prefer to live in lowland
valley
areas and base agricultural production on paddy rice.
The Lao Theung (see Glossary),
or midland Lao, are of
Austroasiatic origin and are probably the autochthonous
inhabitants
of Laos, having migrated northward in prehistoric times.
Originally
paddy rice farmers, they were displaced into the uplands
by the
migrations of the Lao Loum and in 1993 accounted for about
24
percent of the national population. The cultural and
linguistic
differences among the many Lao Theung groups are greater
than those
among the Lao Loum or
Lao Sung (see Glossary),
or upland
Lao.
Groups range from the Kammu (alternate spellings include
Khamu and
Khmu) and Lamet in the north, to the Katang and Makong in
the
center, to the Loven and Lawae in the far south.
The Lao Sung make up about 10 percent of the
population. These
groups are Miao-Yao or Tibeto-Burmese speaking peoples who
have
continued to migrate into Laos from the north within the
last two
centuries. In Laos most highland groups live on the tops
or upper
slopes of the northern mountains, where they grow rice and
corn in
swidden fields. Some of these villages have been resettled
in
lowland sites since the 1970s. The
Hmong (see Glossary)
are the
most numerous Lao Sung group, with villages spread across
the
uplands of all the northern provinces. Mien (Yao), Akha,
Lahu, and
other related groups are considerably smaller in numbers
and tend
to be located in rather limited areas of the north.
Government policy emphasizes the multiethnic nature of
the
nation and in many ways works to reduce the discrimination
against
midland and upland minorities by some lowland Lao
(see Education
, this ch.). Use of the three general ethnic group
classifications
emphasizes the commonality of Lao nationality but obscures
significant differences among the smaller groups. Most
Laotians
categorize ethnic groups in terms of these three broad
categories,
and villagers themselves, when asked their ethnicity by
outsiders,
are likely to respond Lao Loum, Lao Theung, or Lao Sung,
rather
than their specific ethnicity.
Although ethnic differences are seldom a direct source
of
conflict, historical patterns of exploitation and
competition for
natural resources have led to tensions and occasional
overt
conflicts, some of which persisted in the early 1990s. For
example,
lowland Tai-Lao migrants displaced the Lao Theung groups
into the
uplands beginning a millennium ago, dominated them
politically, and
exploited them as well. The Lao Theung were frequently
referred to
as "Kha," a derogatory term meaning slave, which
reflected
their social, if not necessarily legal, status. (Slave
trade did
exist in the south of Laos during the eighteenth and
nineteenth
centuries, usually involving the Lao Theung.) Rites
surrounding the
coronation of the Lao king in Louangphrabang, as well as
annual
ceremonies of renewal, include rituals in which the king
makes
symbolic payment to Lao Theung representatives for the
land, and
they in turn acknowledge the legitimacy of the king.
French colonial rule tended to strengthen the position
of
lowland Lao, both by granting them access to education and
by
commonly appointing them as district and provincial
governors
regardless of the ethnic makeup of a region. In the early
1900s,
Lao Theung and Lao Sung groups carried out several
rebellions
against Lao-Thai as well as French authority but all were
eventually suppressed, leaving unresolved tensions. The
court,
administration, and national symbols continued to be
defined in
terms of Tai-Lao cultural traditions. During the 1950s,
significant
numbers of Lao Theung and Lao Sung were recruited by the
leftist
Pathet Lao
(Lao Nation--see Glossary)
and these groups
played an
important role in the military struggle
(see The Coming of Independence
, ch. 1). Since 1975 the number of Lao Theung
and Lao
Sung in the national and provincial administrations have
increased,
although in 1993 they were still underrepresented
(see Government Structure
, ch. 4).
National borders have not created significant barriers
to the
movement and settlement patterns of the different Lao
ethnic groups
because Laotian villagers have traditionally moved in
search of
better land for rice farming. About 5 million Hmong lived
in
southern China in the early 1990s, as opposed to about
200,000 in
Vietnam, a similar number in Laos, and about 90,000 in
northern
Thailand. Kammu settlements existed both in northern Laos
and
northern Thailand, and many of the midland groups in the
center of
the country had villages in both Laos and Vietnam. The
lowland Lao
historically lived on both sides of the Mekong, with early
Lao
kingdoms encompassing much of the Khorat Plateau in
present-day
Thailand. Cultural and linguistic differences between the
Lao Loum
and the Thai Isan--what the Thai call the inhabitants of
the Khorat
Plateau in northeast Thailand--were primarily due to the
expansion
of the Thai state and influence in that region since 1945.
Significant political changes in Laos since 1975 also
contributed
to a growing cultural distance.
Data as of July 1994
|
|