It's not quite daybreak and the muted sound of women pounding rice for the day's meals echoes softly through the morning-night. Before the men and the youngest children rise, the women and girls of each household will have built the cooking fires, prepared the rice, and carried water from the spring to the house. This, and other traditions, these Akhas share with other clanswomen (there are five clans in all), whether they live in the region of their origins - Yunnan, China - or in Laos or Burma, or here in the northernmost mountains of Thailand.
Migration from Yunnan has occurred over several centuries for a variety of reasons. Sometimes a village's population outgrew the harvest yield of the available land, or a famine or disease swept through. The ancient use of swidden farming (slash and burn) methods renders the land useless after several years and, in turn, forces continuous migrations in search of arable land. But often migrations were a flight from repression by stronger, more aggressive people who wished to exploit them. It is against Akhazan - the Akha Way - to kill another human, and to do so means banishment from the village. Thus, it was frequently more practical to move on rather than stay to resist or to fight their oppressors.
Akhazan is not a religion, but encompasses all aspects of Akha life, from birth, marriage, and death to planting, hunting, and migration; all decisions are guided by Akhazan. This ancient way is passed from father to son by oral tradition only and precisely memorized. According to Akha belief, good fortune and health will reward those who live in harmony with the guidelines of Akhazan.
The Akha village
An Akha village is easily recognizable by its massive, sweeping rooflines and elevated bamboo porches. Houses are usually butted against the hillside with the front elevated on stilts, and when this design is employed, animals are kept under the house. The floor and walls are made from bamboo that is scored then flattened, and the framework is constructed of thick bamboo poles. In fact, bamboo serves many functions -from drinking cups to flutes, fences, water containers, toys for the children, fuel, and food (bamboo worms in season are considered a delicacy).
It is inspiring to watch a house of such durability being built without aid of a single nail or ruler. The knives and a axes used are all handmade by the blacksmith. The actual house raising takes only two or three days, but the preparation of gathering the bamboo and the grass for the roof takes several months.
Perhaps the most distinctive features of the village are the unique gates built at the upper and lower entrances to the village. Each gate is constructed from two large wooden poles seven to ten feet high and connected by a crossbeam giving the gate a width of six to eight feet. The gate is flanked by two male and female statues that are carved by the village priest, or dzoema.
The origin and purpose of the gates go far back in their mythology, when all people, animals, and spirits lived in complete harmony together. Humans worked the day hours and the spirits worked and ruled the night. At some point a conflict developed and the spirits began to steal chicken eggs from the humans. The humans in turn stole cucumbers from the
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