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'Huay Goop Gub' is a remote small hill tribe village of Mae
Taeng district. It lies on the mountaintop and the people who live there are members of the Red Lahu tribe, which the Thais
call 'Mu-ser'. They originated from Yunnan province in the south-west of China and found their way into Thailand over 100
years ago.
'Lahu' in the Burmese language means 'the hunter' and this
tribe were experts in hunting animals but in these modern times the Lahu have mostly changed from being hunters and have turned
to farming in the highlands. They are divided into two main groups: Red Lahu and Black Lahu.
Far from civilization, life in this village is simple. There
is no electricity here and the water comes from the mountain. Cool, clear, refreshing water is brought to the village along
pipes for the whole community to use.
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| IN THE HOLY ROOM |
Huay Goop Gub's village chief (called Por-Luang) is also one
of two witch doctors in this village. When anyone gets sick they will come to see him for a cure.
" I'm 24 years old and I am both the village chief and a witch-doctor.
In our village there are two witch-doctors, you can tell which house is the witch doctor's by looking at the flag-pole on
the house." said Lae- Ma -Yue (who was himself sick that day!)
Lae-Ma-Yue looks older than his 26 years-the result of being
responsible for the whole village in matters of leadership and health. He is the only villager with any kind of education.
He invited me into his Holy room-filled with sacred
objects. One was a roughly hewn wooden bowl about 7 inches tall which had four legs and was decorated with sticks of cotton
'buds' around the rim. He said " It's instead of pigs and chickens once
used as sacrificial offerings to the spirits and gods."
Another object nearby the wooden bowl was something that looked
like a stone. It was used instead of a 'blood bun'. Lahu people believe that everyone comes from blood so it was a symbol
of the soul. If people get sick, then their souls will escape from their bodies so we must make sure that the soul stays inside!
The young witch doctor added " everyone, when they get
sick, must make these objects and bring them along to see me in my Holy room."
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| BAN HUAY GOOB KUB |
Every Red Lahu in the village still believes in the old ways- the way things were done by their ancestors. Tradition
and custom still exists here but the biggest worry of all is the effects of modern culture brought in by strangers from outside-they
cannot accept it.
Speaking in his capacity as the village Chief, Lae-Ma-Yue told me that there are 26 houses in the village with
a population of 150 people. Sometimes the children are lucky enough to study with a volunteer teacher from outside the village
but, unfortunately that rarely happens.
On that day, the group which I was a member arrived by the Suzuki sporty Jeep four-wheeled drive. There were four
of us and this vehicle had adequate power to transport us all the way up the steep route through the rainforest to the mountaintop
where the village lay. For more adventurous people, they can hike
up from the nearest lowland village but it will take them 4-5 hours!
A young Lahu man, after meeting us, told us that the villagers are always happy to meet outsiders and welcome them
to experience their way of life.
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