Lahu

Origins

The Lahu people are a highland community with villages usually at 5,000 feet / 1,500+ metres above sea level. They have reputation as skilled hunters, weavers and silversmiths, and are thought to have originated around the Tibetan Plateau some two thousand years ago. Certain scholars hold that the Kunming, a nomadic tribe from western Yunnan province during the time of the Han Dynasty (two thousand years ago), are likely to have been the predecessors of a group of highland minority communities existing today, including the Lahu.

As they have no written history the story of their origins is typically handed down from one generation to the next orally, in festivals and celebrations, rituals and ceremonies. The Lahu became known for their skill at hunting tigers, roving over the lush slopes of the towering Ailao and Wuliang mountains. Legend, however, has it that the hunter-ancestors of the Lahu began migrating southward to lusher grasslands in South East Asia while pursuing a red deer.

The migrations of the Lahu can also be traced to conflict and persecution, which is a common story of the highland ethnic communities of Southeast Asia. From Tibet they first moved to Southern China, and began migrating further south from the 8^th century onwards, initially trying to flee persecution at the hands of the ruling Nanzhao. Lahu migrations continued southwards, following the mountains, and by the 18^th and 19^th centuries significant numbers of them had settled in the highlands of South East Asia – Burma, Thailand, Vietnam and Laos.

Later migrations in the second half of the 20^th century coincided with the communist revolutions / take overs in China, Burma and Laos, and from these countries further numbers crossed the border into northern Thailand.

Population Figures:

Global: 1,000,000

China: 720,000

Burma: 150,000

Thailand: 100,000

Laos / Vietnam: 20,000

USA: 10,000

Language

Family: Tibeto-Burman; Branch: Lolo

Subgroups

• Black (Lahu Dam) – 80%, the biggest group
• Red (Lahu Nyi) – the majority Lahu group in Thailand
• Yellow
• Musser
• Sheleh
• Haega

The Lahu are further divided into 30 subgroups or clans.

Religion

Animism, 30% Christianity, Buddhism

The Lahu follow pantheistic religion and a ‘Dtobo’, or messianic leader, tends to be a focal point for religious practice. The Lahu supreme ‘God’ is Gui’Sha

Lifestyle

The Lahu are protective of their way of life – and live in remoter parts than other highland groups – and have a strong cultural identity. They are described as gender equitable and both sexes share the work in the home and raising the children. They remain a strict, serious people governed by strong principles of right and wrong with every individual in the village answering to the common will of the elders. While less importance is placed on the extended family than in other highland ethnic communities, the Lahu are remain strongly committed to principles of unity and working together for survival.

 

The traditional dress worn by the black Lahu are predominantly black in colour, edged with red and yellow embroidery. The women wear a narrow skirt under a waist length shirt that is also decorated with silver jewellery and beads. The shirts worn by red Lahu women are more colourful, with strong bands of red, and sometimes blue material, as well as embroidery. The Haega clan perhaps wear the most distinctive dress of all – their shirts are made from black, blue and red material, with a diagonal cream stripe across the front. Other Lahu groups have incorporated Northern Thai shirts and sarongs into their traditional costumes.

Lahu women are skilled in making jewelry, weaving cloth, sewing and using the foot-treadle loom, producing patchwork trims and embroidery. The men make musical instruments, animal traps and excellent crossbows. Both women and men make some of the finest baskets to be found anywhere in Thailand. Lahu men have increasingly turned to work as hired labourers for other highland communities. The Akha people are able to underdstand the Lahu language and this is thought to be a result of this intermingling.

Food / Cuisine

Spicy, salty, water based curries with jungle game, foraged food, green leafed plants and spices, herbs, vegetables, and the roots and shoots of bamboo and banana.

An interesting account of a tourist’s view of life in a Lahu village is here.