An Akha village, with the traditional thatched roofs, in northern Thailand.

Flag of the Akha People in Thailand

Akha man smoking a pipe

The Akha are an ethnic group which originated in China and Tibet. Most of the remaining Akha people are now distributed in small villages among the mountains of China (where they are considered part of the Hani by the government, though this is a subject of some dispute among the Akha themselves), Laos (where they are considered Lao Sung), Myanmar (Burma), and northern Thailand, where they are one of the six main hill tribes. The Akha began arriving in Thailand in the early twentieth century and continue to immigrate, with some 80,000 now living in Thailand's northern provinces of Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai at high altitudes. Many of these villages can be visited by tourists on trekking tours from either of these cities. They speak Akha, a language in the Loloish (Yi) branch of the Tibeto-Burman family. Akha has a very closely related language with the Lisu and Lahu as they once belonged to the Lolohunter tribe people that once ruled the Paoshan and Teinchung plains before the invasion of Ming Dynasty (A.D 1644) in Yunan, China. ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1632x1232, 1043 KB) The thatched roofs of the Akha hill tribe village, in northern Thailand. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1632x1232, 1043 KB) The thatched roofs of the Akha hill tribe village, in northern Thailand. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Akha_People_(Thailand). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Akha_People_(Thailand). ... Download high resolution version (1086x762, 53 KB)I, John Hill, took this photo in 1979. ... Download high resolution version (1086x762, 53 KB)I, John Hill, took this photo in 1979. ... This article is about historical/cultural Tibet. ... Typical daily attire of ethnic Hani in China. ... Lao Sung or more commonly Lao Soung are an ethnic group in East and Southeast Asia. ... Akha girl. ... Northern Thailand usually describes the area covered by 17 provinces. ... Nakhon Chiang Rai, showing the ancient city walls and more recent gates : Pratu Nang Ing (ประตูนางอิง) Pratu Chiang Mai (ประตูเชียงใหม่) Pratu Wai (ประตูหวาย) Pratu Pa Daeng (ประตูป่าแดัง) Pratu Pi (ประตูผี) Pratu Kha Tam (ประตูขะต๊ำ) Pratu Tha Nak (ประตูท่านาค) Pratu Tha Sai (ประตูท่าทราย) Pratu Tho (ประตูท่อ) Pratu Yang Soeng (ประตูยางเสิ้ง) Pratu Jao Chai (ประตูเจ้าชาย) Pratu Sri (ประตูสรี) Nakhon Chiang Rai (Thai เชียงราย; locally also... A street scene in Chiang Mai, showing (centre right), a gate of the old city wall. ... The Tibeto-Burman family of languages (often considered a sub-group of the Sino-Tibetan language family) is spoken in various central and south Asian countries, including Myanmar (Burma), northern Thailand, and parts of Western China (Tibet Autonomous Region, Qinghai (Amdo), Gansu, Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Hunan), Nepal, Bhutan, India (Himachal...

Culture and Lifestyle

Elderly Akha woman, NE Thailand

The Akha generally live in bamboo houses raised on low wooden stilts in hilly areas. These huts are divided by gender - one side is for the women, and the other side, occupied by the men, is used as a more public area. The Akha subsist through an often destructive form of slash and burn agriculture which can result in elimination of old growth forest, native animal species and serious soil runoff problems. They are expert farmers who focus on mountain rice, corn, and soybeans that are planted in seasonal shifts. The Akha are also very efficient hunters, though their prey sometimes includes endangered species. Download high resolution version (777x1581, 116 KB)I, John Hill, took this photo in northeast Thailand in 1979. ... Download high resolution version (777x1581, 116 KB)I, John Hill, took this photo in northeast Thailand in 1979. ... For other uses, see Bamboo (disambiguation). ... Assarting in Finland in 1892 Slash and burn (a specific practice that may be part of shifting cultivation or swidden-fallow agriculture) is an agricultural procedure widely used in forested areas. ...

The Akha put a particularly heavy emphasis on genealogy - they are taught their family history at a very early age, and their culture has a strong focus on honouring ancestors and their parents, though they dispute that this represents a form of ancestor worship. A better description of Akha religion would be animism, as they believe in a world filled with spirits, both good and bad, that have a definite physical impact on the world. They believe in a natural cycle of balance that, if disrupted, can result in illness, hardship, or even death.^[1] The term Animism is derived from the Latin anima, meaning soul.[1][2] In its most general sense, animism is simply the belief in souls. ...

Human Rights and Other Issues

The Akha have faced many controversies related to human rights and justice, particularly in the countries of Thailand and China. Their settled land is built upon hillsides that are valuable for both timber production and farming, and as such has been the target of seizure by government forces from both countries. Akha settlements and agricultural slash and burn sites increasingly encroach on national forests containing native ecosystems, thus creating another basis for controversy. Many children are tricked into child prostitution or send away by their families to work in the cities. Not only has this resulted in a lost generation of Akha people, but it also leads to an inevitable erosion of Akha culture and language.^[1]

The Akha also still experience unfair treatment on many levels, according to their own tribal spokespeople. A common but undocumented claim is that medical coverage is either refused on financial grounds or forcibly administered (in the case of vaccinations and sterilization). Another issue facing the Akha involves national identity cards - tribal people are often either refused such IDs altogether, or they are charged unofficial fees that they cannot afford to pay, because of their immigration status.^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} An Overview of the Akha, The Akha Heritage Foundation, 1991. Accessed online 19 December 2006.

External links

• The Virtual Hilltribe Museum
• Akha Language Sample
• Akha.net
• Wayang.net : The Akha: New Year in northern Laos
• OMF Akha Profile
• bryanwatt.com
• Ethnologue page for Akha
• Akha people and other minority groups of Thailand
• History of Hill Tribes in Northern Thailand

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Akha