There are some 20,000 Lisu live in the
area. Like the Karen they are of Tibetan/Burmese extraction. moving into
Thailand some 100 years ago. Their religion is animist and they are very
superstitious every home is protected by an ancestral altar and totems are erected in
villages and at campsites. Every village has a folk healer and an
exorcist.
Aleh, our delightful Thai guide throughout the trip,
in his New Years Eve clothes.
The Lisu
are a handsome people, perhaps the best looking of the of all the tribes.
The men produce crossbows, musical
instruments, bird and animal traps and other items of wood, bamboo and rattan.
His sister with her heavy silver beaded bodice and
necklace.
Lisu women make their
clothing of brightly coloured cloth. They wear multi coloured tunics with a wide
black belt and pants. Sleeves shoulders and cuffs are heavily
embroidered with narrow bands of blue. red and yellow. The more affluent wear
massive amounts of hand crafted silver ornaments for festive occasions.
The girls of the village lead us in their
dance. On new years eve they glide around the village accompanied by a musician,
dancing all night.
The instrument, the
naw or hulusheng has five pipes attached to a gourd. It is a
difficult instrument to master and produces a loud and lively sound.
Traditionally it played a coded language for
courting couples.
