Table of Contents
What are indigenous people?
I always believed indigenous people are the descendants of those who lived in a country before people of other ethnic origins or different cultures arrived. People consider the Lawa people to be the indigenous or native people of Northern Thailand before the Thai people migrated from China between the 8th and 10th centuries. The ethnic minority groups such as the Akha, Lahu, Lisu, and Hmong all came later to the North of Thailand than the Thai people. Many people nowadays regard these groups as indigenous people, who lived in North Thailand before North Thailand became integral to Siam in the early 20th century. I support that vision.
Cultural diversity in South East Asia and Thailand
Every country in mainland Southeast Asia has many different ethnic groups that are culturally and linguistically different from the dominant group in the country. Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia and Thailand are home to tremendous cultural diversity. The area to the east of Chiang Dao in North Thailand, for instance is home to five different ethnic minority groups: Akha, Lisu, Lahu, Karen and Dara-ang, in Thailand known as Palong. Every group has its own language, traditional dress and various customs.
Disappearing indigenous cultural heritage
The cultural diversity in North Thailand is under threat. In remote and often isolated communities in the highlands more than 60 years ago practices, beliefs, music, rituals, traditional dress were still handed over from generation upon generation. The exposure to the outside world started a process of cultural erosion that ultimately will lead to the disappearance of unique cultural heritage.
For instance, old photos show all indigenous people wearing traditional dress in their villages. Local people made their own clothes, jewelry, utensils and practiced their own beliefs. They spoke a language they learned from family and members of the community. Most young people are now bi-lingual: they learn Thai at school but often speak a local language with their parents.
The diversity of languages
There are more than 60 languages spoken in Thailand. The main languages are Thai, English, Chinese, Burmese, and Malay but we focus on the languages of the indigenous group in the north of Thailand. These belong to five different language families: Tibetan-Burman, Mon-Khmer, and Hmong-Mien. The Hmong and Yao languages belong to the later family. Lisu, Lahu, Akha, and Karen languages are Tibetan-Burman languages. The only Mon-Khmer or Austroasiatic language is that of the Dara-ang (Palong) people, which totally sets apart this language from other languages spoken in the North of Thailand. Other languages in this family are the Khmu, Khmer (Cambodian), and Mon (Monic) languages.
