Lao Theung
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please discuss this issue on the talk page or replace this tag with a more specific message. This article has been tagged since February 2007. |
The Lao Theung are a few related tribal ethnic groups living in Laos. These tribes live all over Southeast Asia but are not known as Lao Theung in other countries.
The Lao Theung live in distinct houses built on stilts and in trees. In Laos they are commonly called Indians, because they are darker, and are known to be the original inhabitants of Laos. Indians are believed to be the first people to settle in Laos by other Laotians because the Lao Theung people, and other Hill Tribes who originally lived in Indochina were dark like the Indians and the term Indian registered better with the people who came to Laos from Southern China rather than using an unknown tribe name. The Lao Theung used to be referred to as Kha, a racial slur-like term meaning slave, although many were actually traded as slaves in the 18th and 19th centuries.
They are an Austric people and are closely related to the Malays. The subgroups are the Kammu, Lamet, Katang, Makong, Laven, and Lawae. Although these groups are related, they have much looser connections than the subgroups of the Lao Loum or Lao Soung. They make up roughly 22% of the population in Laos.
 |
This Laos-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
