November 16-Luang Nam Tha Villages

Lantan Village indigo fabric

Lantan Weavers

Nov 16-Luang Nam Tha villages

   Xia, our tour guide and owner of the Minority Village restaurant, escorted us to the villages of the Lantan, Akha, Thai Dam. Kalom (lunch), Thai Deung, Thai Dam, Hmong, and the Thai Lu.  Most of these village homes were of a wooden structure built on stilts with either a thatched or metal roof.  All the villages welcomed our visit and were  open to sharing their lives with us.  Only one village was Buddhist, the rest were animists or followed ancestor traditiions.
   
     LANTAN.   The women of the Lantan village, Ban Nam Di,  with indigo fabric pieces hanging on the clothes line, still grow their own cotton, prepare the yarns, dye if in their vats, and weave it in 14 inch widths.  We saw a loom with traditional bag fabric in process and stored above  the loom were six large bags of cotton ready to be spun.
     We saw only 5 older women in the village (the rest were harvesting rice) and all said they are active in these fiber activities .  I observed that all of them were wearing their traditional blue dresses with pink trim, blue fitted pants and white leggings.  I love their deep blue cotton and bought a roll (7 meters)  for 160,000 Kip ($20).
   Xai  mentioned that the village is well known for its bamboo paper making  activity but due to rice harvesting, we would not be able to observe these activities.   The Lantan use the paper to record religious literature in a script based on the Chinese language. They migrated from southern China and their religious belief combines animism and ancestor worship.
   


    AKHA.  The Akha are known for their spirit gates and ceremonial swings made annually to offer the village protection during the year.  The structure is of rudimentary branches, stars and other symbols which are most sacred to the Akha.  Both structures are not touched after the initial ceremony and the swing is actually cut at this time.  Another cultural tradition of the Aka is the "boy's house" which provides a  sleeping privacy for a young boy when he reaches puberty and allows him to to be alone with a young woman, if he so desires.  I'd like to know more about this tradition.
   The Akha grow rice on the hillsides using the slash and burn method and have a few pigs, chickens and dogs. They migrated here some 25 years ago and in the last 3 years have opened a school. Their main handicraft is making bracelets adorned with metal trinkets and beads which they force on every tourist.  Almost everyone in the village was on their hillside area harvesting the rice.  The family we did see seemed very poor with few resources .
    
     THAI DAM.  We then visited a Thai Dam minority whiskey making operation.  The old fashioned still used rice to produce a palatable whiskey drink.  They don't wait seven years either!  They sell it as soon as it is made. 
    The Thai Dam weaving village, nearby, was filled with women working at their rather sophisticated looms.  The are known for their complex design which combines both a supplemental warp (brocade design) and ikat (tied and dyed yarns to create a pattern before the dressing of the loom).
     The loom has additional warp options which the weaver has to constantly control as well as the ikat pattern and tension. These women grow up learning the patterns of their villages and maintain the same basic patterns with variations their entire lives.  I have seen absolutely beautiful older pieces of their weaving when they preparing all their own yarns of silk and cotton and making their own dyes.  Some still do raise silk worms and prepare the yarns, but they also combine synthetic threads with the silk,  buy commercial dyes from China, and weaver much simpler patterns.  Change is everywhere and I can't blame them for using labor saving devices. 

   KOTAM.  Lunch was prepared by two ethnic Kotam women and included: sticky rice, rattan shoots, bamboo shoots, local fish in herbs, dried beef, pickled broccoli, locally made noodles with a tomato sauce, and laolao.  An incredible lunch.

    THAI DUENG.  Thai Dueng village is another great weaving village which uses the supplemental warp weaving technical.  The materials for making silk threads from the silkworm were evident.  Their patterns don't seem to include as much ikat .  I need to find out more about the Thai Deung people and their weaving.  Most of the residents were in the rice paddies.
 
   THAI DAM.  Another Thai Dam village, Ban Pa Sac, seemed to be more engaged in all elements of the weaving world.
    We watched the silk making process from which the silk threads emerged from the boiling of the silk balls. It is amazing how the silk thread comes out of the cocoons as one single continuous strand from the many cocoons in the boiling water.  The village's primary source of income is from the rice production.  But, the women's weaving contributes significantly.
    An interesting funerary tradition of the Thai Dam is the highly decorated area where the body is laid to rest. Colorful flags and fabrics mark the area and in the past all the friends of the deceased wove special cloths to help that person in the afterlife.
   
    HMONG.  The Hmong village seemed much more affluent due to the rubber tree based economy.  Formerly the Hmong were the major poppy seed growers for the region until the Lao government. with aid from US and others, helped them replace the poppy production with rubber trees.  The trees are in full production, after waiting seven years, and bring considerable income to all the village.  I appreciated the shade and comfort of those rubber trees.

    THAI LU.  The Thai Lu were the last village of the day.   They are Theravada Buddhists and support a Wat in their own community.  The are known as successful traders and we saw many large trucks they use for transport.  There were also many family vegetable gardens.  The Thai Lu came here from Yunnan China.