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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Laos
Index
Lao Sung (Laotian of the mountain top), include six
ethnic
groups of which the Hmong, Akha, and Mien (Yao) are the
most
numerous. As of 1993, the Hmong numbered over 200,000,
with
settlements throughout the uplands of northern Laos. About
the same
number of Hmong live in northern Vietnam, and
approximately 90,000
live in Thailand; this number does not include the 30,000
Hmong
that were living in Thai refugee camps at the end of 1992.
Some
60,000 Akha reside for the most part in Louang Namtha,
Phôngsali,
and Bokeo provinces. The other upland groups are the Phu
Noi, found
in Phôngsali and northern Louangphrabang provinces, the
Mien (in
Bokeo and Louang Namtha provinces), and small populations
(fewer
than 10,000) of Lahu and Kui located in the far northwest.
The 1985
census also classified the 6,500 Hô (Haw)--Chinese
originally from
Yunnan Province--with the Lao Sung. All these groups have
significant populations outside Laos, and the bulk of the
ethnographic information available is from studies
conducted in
neighboring countries.
The Lao Sung are the most recent migrants to Laos,
having
arrived from the north in a series of migrations beginning
in the
early nineteenth century. Hmong entered northwestern
Vietnam from
China prior to 1800, and early settlements in northeastern
Laos
were reported around the turn of the nineteenth century.
Pioneering
settlements gradually extended westward, crossing the
Mekong around
1890 and reaching Tak in northern Thailand around 1930.
Mien
migrations, in contrast, seem to have come southeast
through Burma
and Thailand before reaching Laos. All Lao Sung
settlements are
located in the north, with only Hmong villages found as
far south
as Vientiane.
Lao Sung typically live on mountain tops, upland
ridges, or
hillsides over 1,000 meters in elevation. The name means
"the Lao
up high." Most groups are considered to be semimigratory;
villages
are moved to new locations when swidden farming resources
in the
old locale have been exhausted. Yet some villages have
continued
for more than 100 years, with individual households moving
in or
out during this period. Although all Lao Sung
traditionally live in
the uplands and engage in swidden farming, their housing
styles,
diet, farming techniques, kinship systems, and social
organization
vary from one group to another.
The Hmong make up more than two-thirds of the Lao Sung.
Hmong
villages in Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand have traditionally
been
found on mountain or ridge tops, with sites selected
according to
principles of geomancy. Before the 1970s, villages seldom
consisted
of more than twenty or thirty households. Hmong rely on
swidden
farming to produce rice, corn, and other crops, but tend
to plant
a field until the soil was exhausted, rather than only for
a year
or two before allowing it to lie fallow. Consequently, the
fields
farmed by a village would gradually become too distant for
easy
walking, and the village would relocate to another site.
The new
site might be nearby or might be many kilometers distant.
The Hmong fled China (where they were traditionally
paddy rice
farmers) to escape persecution and pacification campaigns,
gradually migrating through Vietnam and Laos, into
Thailand. They
adopted swidden farming in these regions by necessity
because
lowland basins were already settled. Small groups of
households
would leave an established village to start another
village in
relatively uninhabited upland areas. In turn, other
families moving
from older settlements would settle an area that had been
vacated,
always in search of better farmlands than those that had
been left
behind. As the population of both Hmong and other
neighboring
groups increased, it ultimately became impossible to find
new
unclaimed lands, and the pioneering settlement pattern
ended
sometime between 1960 and 1975 in western Laos and
northern
Thailand. Villages in the old settled areas of eastern
Laos--
Xiangkhoang and Louangphrabang--in many cases have been in
one
location for more than thirty or fifty years and have
grown in size
to as many as sixty or eighty households and more than 500
persons.
Hmong houses are constructed directly on the ground,
with walls
of vertical wooden planks and a gabled roof of thatch or
split
bamboo. In size they range from about five by seven meters
up to
ten by fifteen meters for a large extended household. The
interior
is divided into a kitchen/cooking alcove at one end and
several
sleeping alcoves at the other, with beds or sleeping
benches raised
thirty to forty centimeters above the dirt floor. Rice and
unhusked
corn are usually stored in large woven bamboo baskets
inside the
house, although a particularly prosperous household may
build a
separate granary. Furnishings are minimal: several low
stools of
wood or bamboo, a low table for eating, and kitchen
equipment,
which includes a large clay stove over which a large wok
is placed
for cooking ground corn, food scraps, and forest greens
for the
pigs. Almost every house has a simple altar mounted on one
wall for
offerings and ceremonies associated with ancestral
spirits.
The Hmong swidden farming system is based on white
(nonglutinous) rice, supplemented with corn, several kinds
of
tubers, and a wide variety of vegetables and squash. Rice
is the
preferred food, but historical evidence indicates that
corn was
also a major food crop in many locations and continues to
be
important for Hmong in Thailand in the early 1990s. Most
foods are
eaten boiled, and meat is only rarely part of the diet.
Hmong plant
many varieties of crops in different fields as a means of
household
risk diversification; should one crop fail, another can be
counted
on to take its place. Hmong also raise pigs and chickens
in as
large numbers as possible, and buffalo and cattle graze in
the
surrounding forest and abandoned fields with little care
or
supervision.
Hmong have traditionally grown opium in small
quantities for
medicinal and ritual purposes. From the beginning of their
colonial
presence, the need for revenue prompted the French to
encourage
expanded opium production for sale to the colonial
monopoly and for
payment as head taxes. Production, therefore, increased
considerably under French rule, and by the 1930s, opium
had become
an important cash crop for the Hmong and some other Lao
Sung
groups. Hmong participate in the cash market economy
somewhat more
than other upland groups. They need to purchase rice or
corn to
supplement inadequate harvests, to buy cloth, clothing,
and
household goods, to save for such emergencies as illness
or
funerals, and to pay bride-price. In the isolated upland
settlements favored by the Lao Sung, opium poppies, a
cold-season
crop, are typically planted in cornfields after the main
harvest.
Opium, a sap extracted from the poppy plant, is almost the
only
product that combines high value with low bulk and is
nonperishable, making it easy to transport. It is thus an
ideal
crop, providing important insurance for the household
against
harvest or health crises. The government has officially
outlawed
opium production, but, mindful of the critical role it
plays in the
subsistence upland economy, has concentrated efforts on
education
and developing alternatives to poppy farming, rather than
on
stringent enforcement of the ban
(see Narcotics and Counternarcotics Issues
, ch. 5). It also established a
special
police counternarcotics unit in August 1992.
Lao Sung farming is not mechanized but depends on
household
labor and simple tools. The number of workers in a
household thus
determines how much land can be cleared and farmed each
year; the
time required for weeding is the main labor constraint on
farm
size. Corn must be weeded at least twice, and rice usually
requires
three weedings during the growing season. Peppers, squash,
cucumbers, and beans are often interplanted with rice or
corn, and
separate smaller gardens for taro, arrowroot, cabbage, and
so on
may be found adjacent to the swiddens or in the village.
In long-
established villages, fruit trees such as pears and
peaches are
planted around the houses.
In response to increasing population pressure in the
uplands,
as well as to government discouragement of swidden
farming, some
Hmong households or villages are in the process of
developing small
rice paddies in narrow upland valleys or relocating to
lower
elevations where, after two centuries as swidden farmers,
they are
learning paddy technology, how to train draft buffalo, and
how to
identify seed varieties. This same process is also
occurring with
other Lao Sung groups to varying degrees in the early
1990s as it
had under the RLG.
Hmong households traditionally consist of large
patrilineal
extended families, with the parents, children, and wives
and
children of married sons all living under the same roof.
Households
of over twenty persons are not uncommon, although ten to
twelve
persons are more likely. Older sons, however, may
establish
separate households with their wives and children after
achieving
economic independence. By the 1990s, a tendency had
developed in
Laos for households to be smaller and for each son and his
wife to
establish a separate household when the next son married.
Thus, the
household tends toward a stem family pattern consisting of
parents
and unmarried children, plus perhaps one married son.
Following
this pattern, the youngest son and his wife frequently
inherit the
parental house; gifts of silver and cattle are made to the
other
sons at marriage or when they establish a separate
residence. In
many cases, the new house is physically quite close to the
parents'
house.
Hmong reckon kinship patrilineally and identify fifteen
or
sixteen patrilineal exogamous clans, each tracing their
descent
back to a common mythical ancestor. There are several
subdivisions
in Hmong society, usually named according to features of
traditional dress. The White Hmong, Striped Hmong, and
Green Hmong
(sometimes called Blue Hmong) are the most numerous. Their
languages are somewhat different but mutually
comprehensible, and
all recognize the same clans. Each village usually has at
least two
clans represented, although one may be more numerous.
Wives almost
always live with their husband's family.
Marriage is traditionally arranged by go-betweens who
represent
the boy's family to the girl's parents. If the union is
acceptable,
a bride-price is negotiated, typically ranging from three
to ten
silver bars, worth about US$100 each, a partial artifact
from the
opium trade. The wedding takes place in two installments,
first at
the bride's house, followed by a procession to the groom's
house
where a second ceremony occurs. Sometimes the young man
arranges
with his friends to "steal" a bride; the young men
persuade the
girl to come out of her house late at night and abduct her
to the
house of her suitor. Confronted by the fait accompli, the
girl's
parents usually accept a considerably lower bride-price
than might
otherwise be demanded. Although some bride stealing
undoubtedly
involves actual abductions, it more frequently occurs with
the
connivance of the girl and is a form of elopement.
As a result of a government directive discouraging
excessive
expenditures on weddings, some districts with substantial
Hmong
populations decided in the early 1980s to abolish the
institution
of bride-price, which had already been administratively
limited by
the government to between one and three silver bars. In
addition,
most marriages reportedly occurred by "wife stealing" or
elopement,
rather than by arrangement. In the past, males had to wait
for
marriage until they had saved an adequate sum for the
bride-price,
occasionally until their mid-twenties; with its abolition,
they
seemed to be marrying earlier. Hmong women typically marry
between
fourteen and eighteen years of age.
The Hmong practice polygyny, although the government
officially
discourages the custom. Given the regular need for labor
in the
swidden fields, an additional wife and children can
improve the
fortunes of a family by changing the consumer/worker
balance in the
household and facilitating expansion of cropped areas,
particularly
the labor-intensive opium crop. Yet the need to pay
bride-price
limits the numbers of men who can afford a second (or
third) wife.
Anthropological reports for Hmong in Thailand and Laos in
the 1970s
suggested that between 20 and 30 percent of marriages were
polygynous. However, more recent studies since the
mid-1980s
indicate a lower rate not exceeding 10 percent of all
households.
Divorce is possible but discouraged. In the case of
marital
conflict, elders of the two clans attempt to reconcile the
husband
and wife, and a hearing is convened before the village
headman. If
reconciliation is not possible, the wife may return to her
family.
Disposition of the bride-price and custody of the children
depend
largely on the circumstances of the divorce and which
party
initiates the separation.
Hmong gender roles are strongly differentiated. Women
are
responsible for all household chores, including cooking,
grinding
corn, husking rice, and child care, in addition to regular
farming
tasks. Patrilocal residence and strong deference expected
toward
men and elders of either sex often make the role of
daughter-in-law
a difficult one. Under the direction of her mother-in-law,
the
young bride is commonly expected to carry out many of the
general
household tasks. This subordinate role may be a source of
considerable hardship and tension. Farm tasks are the
responsibility of both men and women, with some
specialization by
gender. Only men fell trees in the swidden clearing
operation,
although both sexes clear the grass and smaller brush;
only men are
involved in the burning operation. During planting, men
punch the
holes followed by the women who place and cover the seeds.
Both men
and women are involved in the weeding process, but it
appears that
women do more of this task, as well as carry more than
half of the
harvested grain from the fields to the village. Harvesting
and
threshing are shared. Women primarily care for such small
animals
as chickens and pigs, while men are in charge of buffalo,
oxen, and
horses. Except for the rare household with some paddy
fields, the
buffalo are not trained but simply turned out to forage
most of the
year.
As with all Laotian ethnic groups, there is virtually
no
occupational specialization in Hmong villages. Everyone is
first
and foremost a subsistence farmer, although some people
may have
additional specialized skills or social roles.
Hmong are animists, although a small number have
converted to
Christianity as a result of contact with Protestant and
Roman
Catholic missionaries. Most believe that spirits are a
common cause
for illness. Shamans (txiv neeb) who can treat
spirit-
induced illness are respected and play an important role
in the
village, often being consulted to tell fortunes. Shamans
may be
either male or female and are usually "chosen" by the
spirits after
the former have suffered a long illness. Other men and
women may
know curing rites but do not enter a trance as a shaman
does
(see Religion
, this ch.).
Village stratification is limited but based primarily
on clan
membership and wealth. Often the clan that founded a
village
dominates it, either because of numerical majority or
because early
settlement facilitated access to the better fields. A
family's
wealth derives primarily from work and good luck. The
ability to
produce enough rice, or even a little to sell, and a
decent opium
harvest depend on having enough workers in the family to
clear and
care for more extensive swidden fields than average.
Livestock,
particularly buffalo and cattle, are another important
source of
mobile wealth. This wealth, however, is subject to loss
through
disease, just as savings of silver, livestock, or cash can
be lost
almost overnight if the family experiences a serious
illness that
reduces the workforce at a critical time or that requires
the
sacrifice of chickens, pigs, or even a buffalo for curing
rituals.
Proceeds from sales of opium and livestock not immediately
consumed
are usually converted into silver bars or jewelry for
safekeeping.
In contrast to the Buddhist wat or the men's
common
house in Lao Loum, Kammu, and Lamet villages, there is no
building
or other central point in a Hmong village. Hmong cultural
norms are
more individualistic, and the household is more important
than the
village. Despite greater overall village permanence than
in former
times, individual households may come and go, usually in
search of
better opportunities but occasionally because of conflict
with
relatives or neighbors. The decline of migrating villages
has been
a gradual process since the 1940s. As opportunities for
pioneering
settlements have disappeared, households often relocate to
be near
other clan members or less-distant relatives.
Village governance is usually in the hands of a
president and
administrative committee, but clan elders have important
consultative or advisory roles in all decisions.
Interhousehold
cooperative relationships occur less often than among the
Lao Loum
and appear limited to labor exchanges for some farming
tasks and
assistance at house raisings. Most cooperation takes place
among
brothers or cousins, and it is primarily close kin who can
be
relied upon for assistance in the case of family hardship
or
emergency. Lacking any other resource, Hmong will look for
help
from any other member of the same clan.
Hmong and other Lao Sung groups have traditionally
lived in
villages distant from Lao Loum or Lao Theung settlements,
although
trade in rice, forest products, and other market goods has
stimulated contact between the groups. As the population
of both
Lao Sung and Lao Loum groups increased after the war, Lao
Sung
expansion of swidden fields had an impact on the
watersheds of Lao
Loum rice paddies. Northern Lao Loum who cannot produce
enough rice
on limited paddy fields have also begun to clear swiddens
in the
middle elevations. For the most part, there has been no
overt
conflict, and trade and casual contact have continued, but
long-
standing ethnic prejudice continued to color interethnic
relations
in these regions of closer contact and competition for
land in the
early 1990s.
At the same time that roads in remote provinces were
being
improved and international trade opened in the late 1980s,
the Thai
government imposed a ban on logging and timber exports
following
extensive deforestation (photos | news) and catastrophic floods. Thai
logging
companies quickly turned to Laos as an alternate source of
tropical
hardwoods. This suddenly increased demand for tropical
timber has
stimulated additional competition for hitherto unvalued
forestland
and provoked increased criticism of upland swidden farming
groups.
Although traditional levels of swidden farming did not
cause the
same level of land and forest damage as have recent
logging
activities, government statements increasingly have
attributed
rapid deforestation (photos | news) to swidden clearing and have
envisioned the
abolition of all upland swidden cultivation soon after the
year
2000. Thus, in the 1990s, there may be more pressure on
arable land
in the uplands than previously. However, other analysts
have noted
the great impact of legal and illegal logging, as well as
the
encroachment of lowland Lao farmers into the uplands since
the end
of the Second Indochina War. A continuing low-level
insurgency
against the government, substantially led by Hmong
refugees who
formerly fought for the RLG, is a further source of
official
mistrust directed at some Hmong and other minority groups.
Government efforts to resettle Hmong and other swidden
farming
communities in lowland sites are motivated by security
concerns--as
was the case under the RLG in the 1960s and 1970s--and by
competition for timber, but may lead to increased
disaffection of
the minorities affected.
Data as of July 1994
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