Akha
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Akha are an ethnic group which originated in China and Tibet. Most of the remaining Akha people are now distributed in small villages among the mountains of China (where they are considered part of the Hani), Laos (where they are considered Lao Sung), Myanmar (Burma), and northern Thailand, where they are one of the six main hill tribes. Some 80,000 live in Thailand's northern provinces of Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai at high altitudes. Many of these villages can be visited by tourists on trekking tours from either of these cities. They speak Akha, a language in the Loloish (Yi) branch of the Tibeto-Burman family.
The Akha generally live in bamboo houses raised on low wooden stilts in hilly areas, where they subsist through an often destructive form of slash and burn agriculture. They are expert farmers and very efficient hunters, and their prey sometimes includes endangered species. Land rights and missionary efforts are particularly controversial in Thailand. Most serious however is the removal of Akha children from Akha villages for coerced conversion and as a means of raising money, promoting them as orphans when in fact they may not be. These issues have been addressed by American activist Matthew McDaniel who has been working with the Akha people in Thailand.
In more touristed areas, the Akha will often supplement their income through the sale of handicrafts and woven clothing made using traditional skills. Like many other hill tribes of the region they have for many years also cultivated opium as an additional source of income, but the Thai government claims that several programmes in recent years have led to a decline in the production of the drug within Thai borders.
