Lisu Hill Tribe
Lisu Hill Tribe
Lisu Hill Tribe
The Lisu have a legend quite similar to that of many other tribes in Southeast Asia, of how long ago there was a giant flood. There were only two survivors: one man and one woman. These two were brother and sister. They survived by living off the meat inside a giant bottle gourd. Once the water had receded, the pair set out in search of other survivors, but to their dismay, they found no one. They became convinced they must be the last remaining man and woman in the world. They realized that if they did not reproduce then mankind would disappear off the face of the planet forever. Still, they couldn’t get over the fact they were brother and sister. Finally, they decided to to consult the spirits. Seeing a grinding stone and a mortar on top of a hill, the pair determined to separate the two parts and roll them down opposite sides of the hill. When the grinding stone reached the base of the hill it refused to stop rolling. Instead, it persisted in rolling all the way ’round to the other side of the hill and reuniting with the mortar, ending up in exactly the same position it had been sitting in on top of the hill. It didn’t matter what objects the pair used to test their fate, the results were identical each time. The older brother and younger sister agreed that God must have given his blessing to the union. Soon they had produced a son and a daughter which marked the new birth of the tribe.
What “Lisu” means
Lisu earned their name as the tribe that is alive with color. In fact, the Lisu are considered to use the greatest variety of colors of all the hill tribes. Their confident decision-making and independence is reflected in the way the Lisu use powerful combinations of colors, one on top of the other, to decorate their costumes. Often referred to as “Lisor,” they refer to themselves as “Lisu.” The word “Li” comes from the word “eelee,” which means custom, tradition, or culture; “su” means “person.” The combined meaning is: a group of people who share a deep pride in their customs, traditions, and culture. The Lisu are a people who love order and independence. The established social order is flexible, allowing room for change and diversity. Different cultures and customs are not dismissed out of hand, but new things must pass through a democratic decision-making process before being accepted. Processes like these make Lisu good managers, in general, and have allowed the Lisu have been quite successful at adapting to change.
Background
The Lisu are a people with a hunger for understanding about life. Their language falls into the Yee (Lo-Lo) language group–part of the larger Tibet-Burma family of languages. About 30% of the language comes from the Chinese Ho dialect. Originally, the Lisu were from the area near head of the Salawan waters and the Mekong river, located in northern Tibet and the northwest portion of Yunnan province in the People’s Republic of China. The Lisu immigrated into Thailand around the year 1921 (Christian Calendar). This first group of migrants was made up of only 4 families. They settled in a village now known as Huay San in the capital of Chiang Rai province. Later, in that same year, 15 more families made the journey. As the Lisu have no written language of their own, a group of missionaries interacting with this first group, helped to create one using English characters to represent the Lisu sounds. Some Lisu are now Christian. About 5-6 years after the initial move into Thailand, the group separated, with one group remaining behind and the other moving to Doi Chang in the township of Mae Saruay in Chiang Rai province.
The Lisu divided into two sub-groups: the striped Lisu and the black Lisu. Almost all Lisu residing in Thailand are of the striped Lisu sub-group. As for the black Lisu, they are spread out across China, Burma, India, and Thailand. The Lisu in Thailand are scattered across nine different provinces: Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Mae Hong Son, Phayao, Tak, Kampaengphet, Phetchaboon, Sukhothai, and Lampang. Originally, the Lisu divided themselves into six different family dynasties: honey (bia-seu-wee), wood (seu-pa), fish (gua-pa), bear, rice bug, wheat, and hemp. The honey dynasty is the largest of these family lines, but is itself divided into three smaller sub-dynasties. There are nine family lines branching off from inter-tribal marriages with the Chinese Ho: Lee, Yang, Yao, Woo, Kao, Ho, Joo, and Jang. The two largest of these lines are the Lee and Yang line.
Religiously, the Lisu worship their ancestors and the great Spirit. They have two religious heads: the cultural leader (meu-meu-pa) and the ceremonial leader (nee-pa).
Population
The black magician in Lisu is called the Neepha, and is the ceremonial leader of the village. To become a black magician, the villager will be in communion with the ancestral spirit. Some dream about their ancestor, are sick with fever, and maybe say strange things in their delirium.
The Lisu people believe that the person destined to be the black magician must take responsibility for the role; otherwise they face continuous unknown sickness. The Neepha will understand, and can recite, the ceremonies of the village because they can connect to the ancestral spirit.
The Neepha can be young or old, but the person that the ancestor chooses is usually a man. Each village will have 1-2 Neepha, although if it doesn’t, then the villagers will invite one when the village has a ceremony.
Before a ceremony, the house owner changes the water in the altar cup and prepares the leaf that is used in all Lisu ceremonies. After everything is prepared, the Neepha will give worship by igniting the joss sticks and candle in front of the altar. Then in a trance-like state, the internal spirit of the Neepha is in communion with the ancestral spirit, although he is unaware of it. Once the recital is complete, the Neepha will return to his body without remembering anything.
In mid-1983 there were approximately 18,000 Lisu spread out over 110 villages in Thailand. In 1958 a survey concluded there were only about 7,500 Lisu, meaning their numbers multiplied at a rate of 3.6% per year over the course of 25 years. Most of the expansion accounts for new immigrants to the country, rather than births. For perspective, in 1983 there were 250,000 Lisu in Burma and about 500,000 in China. Hundreds of families crossed the border and settled in the northeast. Interestingly, there are no Lisu in Laos or Vietnam. The Lisu in Thailand are divided up across the different provinces as follows: 47% in Chiang Mai, 23% in Chiang Rai, 19% in Mae Hong Son, with the other 11% scattered across Phayao, Tak, Kampaengphet, Phetchaboon, and Sukhothai. The Lisu now living in Thailand are quite different from their relatives in northern Burma. This may be due to the fact that the Lisu began in China and divided up and separated out over many different generations. This is not to mention all the inter-marriage that occurred between the Lisu and the Chinese Ho, to the point that these Lisu began referring to themselves as Chinese-Lisu.
A survey conducted in 1997 by the Hill Tribe Research Institute found there were 30,940 Lisu living across 151 villages in 5,114 households. This accounts for 4.11% of all the hill tribe peoples living in the country. 23% are in Chiang Mai, 19% in Chiang Rai, 11% in Mae Hong Son, and the rest are spread out across Phayao, Tak, Kampaengphet, Phetchaboon, and Sukhothai.
The past and current organizational structure in a Lisu village:
Kwa-Too (Leader of the community): This person is elected to the position by the villagers.
Meu-Meu-Pa (Ceremonial leader): The holder of this position is chosen by way of ah-bpa-mo (a fortune-telling ceremony). Each village can have only one Meu-Meu-Pa. The ceremonial leader’s responsibilities are to act as a medium between the great Spirit and the villagers, and to announce and conduct ceremonies to observe the various sacred days of the year.
Nee-Pa (Spirit doctor): This individual is elected and appointed by the spirits of the ancient ancestors of the family dynasty and is responsible for maintaining the connection between the spirit world and the world of humans.
Cho-Mo-Cho-Dtee (Head elder): An elder in the village who is respected and revered by all the younger members of the village.
Presently:
Kwa-Too (Leader of the community): Now the official village headman.
Meu-Meu-Pa (Ceremonial leader): Still appointed in the same way as in the past.
Assistants to the village headman (1-2 assistants): Appointed by the headman.
Official representative to the Tambon Administration Organization: This position is an appointed one and the appointee is responsible for general administration work in the village and managing and maintaining a budget from the government.
The village committee.
Advisor: Cho-Mo-Cho-Dtee (Head elder).
Nee-Pa (Spirit doctor): Responsible for performing miscellaneous ceremonies.
As for the Lisu Village Organization (Tribal Organization), its role was not all that clear in the past, but was best known for its work in bringing distant relatives of the same family dynasty together. In other words, the organization was not an official one, but was known and respected among the Lisu. In the past, it had a long list of roles and responsibilities in Lisu society. Now, distant relatives continue to come together to perform various ceremonies of importance to the family.
The Lisu have a legend
The Lisu have a legend quite similar to that of many other tribes in Southeast Asia. Long ago there was a giant flood. There were only two survivors: one man and one woman. These two were brother and sister. They survived by living off the meat inside a giant bottle gourd. Once the water had receded, the pair set out in search of other survivors, but to their dismay, they found no one.
They became convinced they must be the last remaining man and woman in the world. They realized that if they did not reproduce then mankind would disappear off the face of the planet forever. Still, they couldn’t get over the fact they were brother and sister. Finally, they decided to to consult the spirits.
Seeing a grinding stone and a mortar on top of a hill, the pair determined to separate the two parts and roll them down opposite sides of the hill. When the grinding stone reached the base of the hill it refused to stop rolling. Instead, it persisted in rolling all the way around to the other side of the hill and reuniting with the mortar, ending up in exactly the same position it had been when on top of the hill. It did not matter what objects the pair used to test their fate, the results were identical each time.
The older brother and younger sister agreed that God must have given his blessing to the union. Soon they had produced a son and a daughter which marked the new birth of the tribe.
Hill Tribes of the Golden Triangle
The Lisu Hill Tribe in Thailand
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Lisu hill tribe beauty - Thailand
The most colorful of all the Thai hill tribes in Thailand has to be the Lisu hill tribe, whose women wear brightly colored blue or green colored striped tunics, split up the sides to the waist, a wide black belt and blue or green pants.
Less is known about the Lisu hill tribe than the other hill tribes in Thailand, but the Lisu people believe they are the origin of all the hill tribes. The legend goes that a Great Flood killed everyone except a Lisu boy and his sister. Since incest was taboo, they had to undergo a series of tests to prove that they could marry, the tests, of course, proved they should marry. The many children that came from this Lisu marriage went on to produce all the other hill tribes in South East Asia.
In reality, the Lisu Hilltribe also has its origins in Tibet, migrating from there to Southern China and then to Burma to escape the Chinese wars. The people of the Lisu hill tribe most likely migrated into Thailand from Burma sometime in the late 1800s.
The Lisu hill tribe people live at moderate to high altitudes between Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son, but also in western Chiang Rai and Phayao provinces of the Golden Triangle area in Thailand. Their villages consist out of 30 a 100 houses, built using easy techniques, directly on the ground as opposed to the other Thai Hill Tribes which build their houses on stilts.
Lisu hill tribe girls - Golden Triangle Thailand
The houses of the Lisu hill tribes have dirt floors and bamboo walls around a central ridge. Within the house there are normally at least four rooms, for the parents, daughters, sons and eventual guests. Every Lisu home has an ancestral alter, the “Da Bia” at the back of the living area, honoring their Lisu ancestors.
Each Lisu village has a village leader, a spiritual leader (Mor Muu Pah), a spirit doctor (Nee Pah) and a council of village elders. This group plays a key role in managing the Lisu village and resolving disputes.
Until recently, Lisu hill tribes were heavily involved in the opium trade, and were reputed as to produce the best quality opium available in Thailand.
Lisu girl working in the Opium Fields
In Thailand opium and heroin addiction along the Lisu hill tribe people is declining, and the Lisu are responding well to alternative cash crop production scheme of the Thai government. But the attraction to the wealth from opium cultivation is still very strong along the members of the Lisu hill tribes in Thailand.
Lisu hill tribe people are known as excellent silversmiths and make silver jewelry for the Akha and Lahu hill tribes in Thailand.
Courtship and marriage in-between Lisu hill tribe members is highly organized, involving a very high “Bride Price”. Marriage should only be between members of the twelve different Lisu clans.
The religion of the Lisu is a combination of ancestor worship and animism. The Lisu hill tribe people believe strongly in the spirit world, and their shamans are used to divine the causes and cures of all problems and sicknesses.
The Lisu are a very handsome people, perhaps the best-looking of all the hill tribes, and they like to think of themselves as being above their other Hill tribe neighbors. Consequently, they are among the least reserved of the hill tribes in Thailand.
A religious precept day
A religion precept day or “Jue”
A religion day or karma day of Lisu, will have every 15 day. The people in the village they will count the date, month and year follow the Chinese calendar. The religion precept day is full moon and moonless. The religion leader will announce to the people in the village before has the ceremonial one day. In this day the people in the village can not use sharp like a knife, an ax, a spade. This day the villager can not go to work in the farm also.On this day the villager do not kill pig, chicken or a living thing. A religion precept day the villager stops to work one day, stay in the house and family. For a women, sew the clothes and a men go to the forest to find the stuff or do a little thing in the house.
To do.
In each area, the way of living and the believe not all the same because from an ancestor to generation. The thing that the villager to do in the believe or ceremony especially the religious precept day is very important. Every family must to break off work to give a merit and offering food and make a ceremony for give worship by Lisu believe so the Lisu break off their works and to be at home to take a merit.
Warn and to practice.
1. Could not work outside the village.
2. Not kill the animal in the religious precept day.
3. Not said bad things and not propitious.
4. No alcohols in the religious precept because if drink alcohols in this day will get a sick easier.
Marriage
Lisu people cannot marry their relatives.
Choosing the match
In the evening Lisu women will cook the rice, and the following morning the men will come to help, and spend time teasing each other. Some couples exchange bracelets or other symbols to show they love each other, and they will keep them in their pocket near their heart. When they have to go to work in the field, the women will tell the men and all of them will wear full dress, and sing impromptu songs. Tradition explains that Lisu men are similar to the trunk of tree and branch, and the women are similar to the leaf - when the trunk feels that the leaf is threatened by someone, the trunk will protect the leaf as much as it can.
The wedding
Lisu men will give money to the brides’ parents; the man’s parents give all of the money that the women’s parent asked for. For Lisu, the money given to the bride is more than other hilltribes because when they marry, the woman stays in the man’s house and does everything in their family, work hard.
When the couple agrees to marry, the men bring release for the women from her own family. His family comes to talk with hers, to ask for the hand of the girl and make decisions and agreements, such as if his parents can give the money after the couple live together. If they do not have enough money though, the women’s parents will bring their daughter back home. Her parents will set the day for marriage and will have the ceremony at their house before noon. They have the ceremony in front of an ancestor’s mantle in the house. The couple kneels in front of the ceremony leader, and the leader tells the ancestor about the new member in the family.
The ceremony leader takes the water on the mantle to the couple for prosperity and, when the ceremony is completed, he collects money from the guests to give to the couple. Water is also put in the bowl which the groom symbolically drinks for wealth. The money is then poured into the groom’s hand, which he, in turn, pours into the wrap cloth on the bride’s head. At night, they have a dancing ceremony, holding hands with each other to create a circle, while a group sings two songs. The main song in the ceremony is sung in front of the ancestor’s mantle, while the second song separates women and men who sing in response to each other.
Giving a name
Naming a Lisu Child (“Chajuaduer”)
The Lisu people hold a name ceremony for newborns as they believe that newborns must be named within three days being born. If a family fails to name their child in this time, a spirit will name and claim the child as its own. The child’s life would then be in danger.
The Lisu Child-Naming Ceremony (“ChaJuaduer”)
The Lisu parents prepare an offering of boiled pig parts that they take to the village shrine.
The offering is presented before the shrine together with joss sticks, two glasses of water and two bowls of cooked rice.
The joss sticks are lighted to announce the child’s birth. The parents then ask that the shrine god protect the child.
A coin is tossed and lots cast to select the child’s name. The family presents the same offering to the shrine in their home following which, every family member of the newborn child places money in a water bowl to bless the child. This is done in the hope that the child grows up to be healthy. The elaborate ceremony concludes with family members tying the child’s wrist with a holy thread.
The Six Names of a Lisu
Each Lisu individual is given multiple names. Unlike one’s nickname, these names must stay with the individual for his or her lifetime. Using a newborn Lisu female for example,
The Lisu will choose her name during the HleeJeeMe Saelee ceremony (this translates to the “Name Sirname” ceremony).
The first name is determined by the child’s status in her family. If she is the first-born child, her first name would be “Amee”.
If the child is adopted, her adoptive parents will name her after a wild animal.
The child will then be named after either her strongest or weakest character trait.
In addition, she will have a nickname determined by a noticeable character trait such as bravery. The Lisu word for bravery is “Awosuema” which literally means “to like to catch butterflies”.
Finally, this newborn child will have a government name such as Kamolrat.
Examples of Lisu names. Names that are listed at the top are used more frequently than the names listed at the bottom.
Male Lisu names
ABePha
ALepha
AHsaPha
AHseePha
AHwuPha
AHluPha
ASuePha
APhaPha
Female Lisu names
AHmeeMa
ALeMa
AHsaMa
ASeeMa
HwuMa
AHluMa
ASueMa
APhaMa
Vocation
Farming
The Lisu consider their main source of livelihood to be farming. It is like the heart and soul of a Lisu. Thus, the Lisu take special care in choosing a site for farming. They will select a site where the soil is fertile, ensuring a high yield. In searching for a site to farm, a Lisu will look for land that is densely forested, where the earth is black and moist and not far from a stream or other water source. If possible, a Lisu will try to find a place like this close to the village to cut down on commute time. Once a suitable place has been found, the farmer will cut down the trees, clearing the land. The area will then be left alone for a few days while things dry out, after which time the farmer will set the field ablaze. Any unburnt debris will be collected and the field will again be left to sit for a few days. When the farmer returns a ceremony will be performed to make an offering to the spirits of the forest, the mountains, and the pathways, to ask permission to use the field and to ask for a good harvest. Following the ceremony, the farmer will pull out all the weeds and begin tilling the earth in preparation for planting the seeds. The planting will be done in May, during the rainy season. The Lisu’s main crops are rice and corn, followed by other fruits and vegetables such as tomatoes, cabbage, chili peppers, sesame seeds, ginger, potatoes, and various different kinds of beans.
Rice planting season (Ja ya mee)
As the first rains of the rainy season fall to the ground in early May, the Lisu begin preparing themselves for the hard work ahead, as the planting season is upon them. The Lisu will await the rain to start planting their corn and rice. Once the soil has been prepped as described above, the planting is fairly easy. The only things needed for the job are a small spade and seeds. The seeds will be planted by a male and female team, with the man walking in front and digging the holes and the woman dropping the seeds in behind. The man will use a long bamboo shaft with a small metal spade attached to the end of it. He will plunge it into the ground and then pop it up lightly, creating a small hole. The woman, carrying a bag of seeds over her shoulder, will insert about 3-5 seeds and leave the hole open. When the rain comes, the dirt will erode and cover up the seeds on its own. This work is always done in pairs and is often accompanied with singing and playful conversation, keeping the atmosphere fun and light.
September is the season for planting opium (Ya pee)
At the beginning of August the corn will be harvested, leaving the land free to plant opium, which will be done around September. The two crops are planted in rotation with one another and complement each other well as the dead corn stalks serve as a shelter for the young opium seedlings, protecting them from the sun’s intense rays. Later, the corn stalks will decompose and become fertilizer, providing nourishment to the growing opium plants. Planting opium is hard work and requires close attention, making sure the plants don’t grow too closely together, choking each other and fighting for diminishing nutrients. If too many plants are grown on too small a plot of land, the farmer will get diminishing returns as the soil can’t properly sustain the whole lot. The plot must be continually weeded and the ground tilled over in order to ensure healthy growth, beautiful, hardy flowers, and a good harvest of opium.
The season for harvesting opium (Ya pee)
After the rice harvest in November and early December comes the season for harvesting opium poppies, collecting their hallucenogenic sap. It is at this time that the poppies are in full bloom and the fields are bursting with a spreading array of red, purple and white opium flowers. The harvesting will be done in the late morning, when the sun has been up for awhile. Under the hot rays of the sun the sap will flow more freely and dry faster once collected. A special scraper is used to get at the sap, which is made of 3-5 small, sharp, and pointy knife blades wrapped tightly together. Holding the poppy flower in one hand, the scraper is used to cut lines from the heart of the flower up to the tips, following the natural lines of the flower. Careful attention must be taken when scraping to use just the right amount of pressure. Scraped too hard, the sap will flow out too fast and drip out onto the ground. Scraped too softly, the sap just won’t leak out at all. It takes a lot of practice before becoming expert in the art, and only the best will be allowed to do the scraping during harvest time. The sap from the poppies is milky white in color and thick. Once the flower has been scraped, the sap will ooze out and collect at the heart of the flower. The flower will then be left out overnight for the sap to dry to a tacky consistency. During this process the sap will turn brown in color. The next day a crescent moon-shaped knife blade will be used to scrape the hardened sap off the flowers and onto a sheet of paper where it will be collected for safe storage.
Manners
Teaching children to love good manners
Don’t look down upon or disrespect that which you do not understand and don’t argue with adults or elders–It is a sin.
When visitors come to the house you must not be loud or whiny.
When visitors come to the house you must not eat at the same table as the adult guests.
When visitors come to the house you must go play far away and not disturb the adults while they are talking.
When visitors come to the house the daughter of the house must help her mother make food for the guests.
If you walk in front of an adult you must bend down and lower your head, passing by quietly.
When visitors come to the house get a chair out for them to sit on and serve them water, or invite them into the house.
If you have to sweep while visitors are at the house, you must sweep very lightly, taking care not to let any dust blow onto the guests.
Taught to help others
In general, children are taught to help others and to be generous and kind to those who don’t have enough to eat or a place to live. Children are taught never to think maliciously of others or to be jealous of them. Thinking evil thoughts towards others may actually hurt us rather than the other person. If we always think badly of others it will make us wary of others and we will be unhappy. Wherever we go no one will want to be our friend. One of the main vehicles for teaching these lessons are fables, legends and witty stories about people who think maliciously towards others. The stories are meant to capture the hearts and imagination of the listener, making them sympathize with the characters. The more vivid the story, the more it will strike at the listener’s conscience, making them want to be good people. Lisu teach their children to do good. In Lisu this is called, ” La ko ma moo nee mua,” which means, “don’t think maliciously towards others.” Whether you do good or bad, and whether someone sees you or not, remember the spirits are always watching. Thus, you should not steal from others or think maliciously of them, regardless of whether they realize what you have done or not, because the spirits are always watching us. Children will be told this often, before bed and during play, helping shape them into caring and conscientious adults.
Teaching children about the Ah bpa mo hee (Spirit house)
Chldren are taught how to behave during sacred ceremonies held at the Ah bpa mo hee (Spirit house). Boys will be taught that they can run around in the area surrounding the Ah bpa mo hee. Girls will be taught they are not allowed to go and play around the Ah bpa mo hee. Boys will be allowed to go with adults to participate in special ceremonies and they will be taught how to carry out each of the ceremonies. Ceremonies generally begin with lighting incense sticks. Respect should then be paid to the spirits. In this place one must be polite in speech, thought, and action; not thinking maliciously of others. Cutting down trees in the area surrounding the Ah bpa mo hee is prohibited, as the Ah bpa mo likes tranquility and shade.
How to act during the New Year’s Festival
As the New Year approaches the Lisu will take extra special care to be on their best behavior and to keep the area around their houses meticulously clean. This is because the Lisu believe that during this time an angel will come down and inspect how orderly everything is. Those whose houses are clean–and only those people–will be blessed with, “the enduring presence of the spirits of gold and silver.” In other words, these houses will thrive financially and will never be found lacking. The members of these households will prosper in their work. Any houses found in a disorderly state will be cursed and the inhabitants will find themselves poor and destitute. In general, everyone is expected to help do their part to keep the house clean. The Lisu believe that the spirit of silver and the spirit of gold desire cleanliness. The spirit of silver and the spirit of gold will not remain in an unkept house. If this weren’t enough of a reason to clean your house, during the New Year’s celebrations it can be expected that relatives will come from all around to visit your home, filling your house and doing their own little assessments of the cleanliness of your place. Children are told in advance that when they have visitors to the house they are forbidden from whining or begging.
Teaching by doing and direct experience
Children must pay close attention to both their parents and the elders in the village to learn the right ways to act and respond to real world situations. These elders are full of the wisdom and knowledge that years of experience in life bring. As children follow their parents and other elders through the routines of daily life, they naturally absorb these lessons. Following their parents out into the fields, for example, they not only learn how to farm, and how to behave in the field, but most importantly how to respect the spirits. Once a year the Lisu must perform a ceremony, known as ah mee nee goo. Performed before the seeds are sown, the purpose of this ceremony is to implore the spirits to bless the harvest and make it plentiful. A chicken will be sacrificed to the ah mee nee (spirit of the fields) to pay homage and as a sign of reverence and respect. The children, who naturally love to follow their parents out into the fields, will participate in the ceremony and learn from direct experience how the ceremony is performed and why it is important. Through activities such as these, children learn both how to farm and how to respect the spirits.
Being taught how to work in the fields and how to raise animals
How to farm: Parents take their children out into the fields from a very early age to show them how to feed and sustain themselves. The children will help with the easier tasks. A certain proverb speaks to the logic of this: “Go and watch someone else working, don’t go and watch someone else eating.” The point is, children should be taught how to take care of themselves. To do this they should watch how others are able to provide for themselves and keep food on the table. Children should not just watch someone enjoying a hardy meal. This is because no one anywhere is able to eat without working.
How to feed animals: Children are given responsibility for feeding the family’s animals. Generally, this will either be chicken, pigs, or both. The children will feed the chickens on corn and rice husk, and the pigs on corn. The pigs will be fed once in the morning and once in the evening. On days when children go out to help their parents in the field, they will be expected to help carry the food for the pigs back from the fields. This might be corn, banana tree, or grass. The weight of the sack will be varied according to the size and strength of the child. By training children to raise and take care of animals they are able to take part in helping their parents feed the family.
Children are taught what to do if they get lost in the forest
In the past, the forests surrounding the villages were thick with vegetation and, once inside, it was often impossible to see a way out. The Lisu believe that if you are lost in the forest and can’t find your way home you should take off your shirt, turn it inside out, then put it back on again; you will then find the way out. Of course it’s better if you can remember the path you came on, leaving markers along the way to signal the right way.
Children are taught how to implore the spirits of the pathways, of the forest, and of the mountains
Before going out to hunt or to sleep overnight in the forest, a Lisu must first ask permission from the spirits of the land, the pathways, the forests, and the mountains. The request will also ask the spirits for protection from evil things, not allowing anything to befall them as they go about the hunt or are sleeping. The person asking for the spirit’s permission will roll tobacco into a cigarette and light it. The cigarette will be accompanied by incense sticks and placed in the house to burn, pointing in the direction of the place in the forest where the person will be hunting or sleeping.
“Straddling the earth”–Lisu-style housing:
Houses of this style are said to “straddle the earth,” that is, they are built right on the ground. Thus, it is important to find ground that is totally flat and even, for construction to be successful. The house is built entirely of bamboo, with the exception of the pillars, which must be made from hardwood for stability. As for the walls, they are made from strips of bamboo woven tightly together. The roof is made from straw thatching. Windows are noticeably absent and there is only one door; although this makes the inside of the house rather dark, it does help keep it quite insulated from cold winds at night and during the winter. Outside, in the front yard, is a rice pounder used to mill the family’s rice. In back is a small pen for raising chickens. The floor of the pen is raised off the ground and a hen house is constructed, complete with nesting places for the chickens inside. The style and design of Lisu houses is very similar to that of the Akha. Both tribes have developed their housing designs over many generations, with careful thought and consideration being made as to what is most practical. The result is a sturdy house design that does quite a good job of protecting its inhabitants from the elements–namely wind and rain.
Raised Houses:
In general, Lisu prefer to use the “straddled earth” style of housing wherever possible, but as the Lisu often occupy mountainous areas, where finding flat, level ground is almost impossible, concessions must be made. In these instances, the Lisu have developed a second style of house which relies on raising the house up on stilts. One advantage of this kind of house is that an open area beneath the house is created, which can be used as a storage shelter. The rice pounder and chicken pen will be moved here, where they can be protected from the elements. It is also an ideal place for storing firewood. The area in front of the house is used for rest, recreation, and the occasional sunbather. As with the “straddled earth” style of house, the raised house is also without windows and has only one door, which can be reached by climbing a set of stairs. In general, Lisu houses don’t have any fences separating them from one another. Instead, houses are built one after another, running in long rows through the village. Enough space is set between them so people don’t feel like they are living on top of one another.
In terms of construction, the methods employed by the Lisu are just like those of the Akha. Whether constructing a small house or a large house, the construction will be completed within the course of a single day. The starts in the morning and will go until evening. in the event work is not done, work will carry on until the job is done. The reason the Lisu are able to build their houses so quickly is because, when a house is going to be constructed, everyone comes together to help. It is just like harvesting rice, where villagers come together and help each other harvest their crops. It is the owner of the house’s responsibility to prepare all equipment and materials needed for construction in advance so that work can be started immediately, once help arrives. This includes selecting and cutting the pillars for the house, the straw to be used for making the roof, the bamboo for the walls, etc. The women of the house are responsible for providing all the food for the workers, Before construction can take place, a ceremony must be performed to pay homage to the spirits and ask for their blessing. A piece of wood will be used to mark the four corners that are to be the perimeter of the house. A prayer will be made to the spirits, then a serving of rice will be placed in a bowl and offered up to the spirits of the forest, the mountains, and the pathways, asking permission to build the house in this location. The rice will then be sprinkled into a small hole dug in the ground. Examining the grains of rice, if they have fallen in an orderly fashion then it can be assumed the spirits approve. If the rice grains appear scattered and disorderly, then it can be assumed the spirits do not approve of the construction.
Lisu Hill Tribe