The Lahu Shi People Arthur Cooper Who are the Lahu Shi The Lahu Shi Balan people live in a number ofcountries including Thailand. Myanmar, the Lao PDR. Vietnam, and the United States, The number of people inthis language group is estimated to be 55,000, In Thailand thereare morethan 50 villages ofLahu Shi Balan people in the provinces ofChiang Mai. Chiang Rai. Tak, Mae Hong Son and Lampang. Many ofthevillages are large, some having more than one hundred houses. Thereare no published figures of the Lahu Shi population in Thailand, but an informal surveyofvillages suggests there are nearly 15.000 Lahu Shi people in Thailand. The Lahu Shi have a long historyof migrating to newlocationsto find a more peaceful life. Hundreds of years ago, they and other Lahu groups moved from Yunnan Province in China to eastern Myanmar and northern Lao PDR. In the early part of the twentieth century, some ofthe Lahu groups t)egan to enternorthern Thailand from Myanmar. Lahu Shi people, however, only began migrating from MyanmartoThailand in the pastforty years. A more recent migration wasfrom the Lao PDR to Thailand. Manyofthose Lahu Shi people eventuallyleftThailand and are nowliving in the United States. Lifestyle Even though the Lahu Shi people have a historyofmigrating, there are stable aspects oftheirlives. The memt>ershipofLahu Shi villages is relatively stable, being built around familyties. They highlyvalue being among their kin relations. Most Lahu Shi villages are homogeneous, though in some, there are a fewfamiliesfrom otherLahu groupsorAkha people. Acouple of the villages in Thailand havea mix ofLahu Shi people who migrated toThailand from different villages orcountries, buteven in these cases, the groups tend to liveclustered together in distinctareas ofthe villages. Each village has an elected headman. He is normallya well-respected person in the village, usuallythirtytofrfty years old. His role is to interface with the outside, channel information, facilitate the discussion ofmatters pertaining to the village, coordinate village projects, and uphold and enforcevillage law. In 39 Cooper- Lahu Shi Orthorgaphy 40 Thailand, thistraditional roie is replaced bythe correspondingThaigoverning system. This gives the headman the additional responsibilityofreportingtothe local govemment, which requires having someeducation intheThai system. Each village has a village council thatworks with and assists theheadman. In addition to a headman, the Lahu Shi traditionallyhave a religious authorityfigure in theirvillage leadership structure. Thetraditional Lahu beliefsystem is a combinationofanimism over a nearly monotheistic base. The religious authorityfigure is usuallya man and could be called a priestorshaman. He and the headman have similarlevels ofauthority in the village, though the shaman does notgenerallydeal with civicfunctions like the headman. This person dealswith religious issues and traditk>nal medicine. In Thailand and Myanmar, mostofthe Lahu Shi adopted Christianity, and the church chairman orvillage pastorfills the religious leaderrole. Although theyare not officially part ofthe village leadership structure, they seem to exercise considerable authority in many activities in the community. Living The hills and forests surrounding a Lahu Shivillagearetheeconomic centerfor mostofthe needs ofthe community. As subsistencefarmers, husbands and wives usuallywork theirfields togethercultivating drypaddyrice, corn and vegetables fortheirfamily's consumption. In Thailand, some people raise cashcrops such as gingerorvariousfruits, Ghk:kens, pigs, and cows are the majorsources ofmeatand aresometimes sold forcash. Waterbuffalo are sometimes used forwork in fields suitableforwetricecultivation. Mountain ponies are often used to bear burdensfrom the faroffhillside fields. Anumberof forest products aregathered forpersonal use as well as forsale outsidethe community. Buying and selling in lo^and markettowns t>rings resources to the village and is an outletfortheir products and services. Thevillage blacksmith often makes the tools and implements neededforfarming and hunting, butthe metal forthem is purchased from outsiders. Womenweaveon back-strap looms and sew tx)th for their own needsaswelt asfor sale in shops and markets. In the past, the thread and cloth used in this home industrywas made inthe village, but nowtheypurchasethese supplies in marketcenters. Some men and women leave theirvillages for brieftimes towork as laborers in construction in urtian centers, orplantand harvest rice and othercrops forlowlandfarmers. Cooper-Lahu S\\\Orthorgaphy ^^ Avery importantreason for Lahu Shi peopleto go outside oftheir communityisforeducation. Mostoftheir villages in Thailand have schools with grades of>ethroughsix. Many Lahu Shivillages have established and run pre- schoolsto teach their children somelt>9sic Thai before theystart school. The Lahu Shi highlyvalue education andparentstryto provide opportunities for their children to pursue education in urban centers. Some peoplewho receive advanced education do not return totheir home villages, butinstead stayin the larger urt>an centerswhere theyspentyears in schools. These people often believethere are betteroptionsforthem there, butthey alsousually maintain strong tieswithfamily in theirhomevillages. i,ua4iwjvnjj^fia'3l^msjfiii?'3W?syv\i?2:ifiW4Viii9M'i 6 fan In Honor of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej On theAuspicious Occasion of his Sixth Cycle Birthday Minority Language Orthograph in Thailand; Five Case Studies Edited by the TU-SIL-LRDP Committee Under the auspices ofThammasat University and in cooperation with SIL International January2002