Photos

This was taken in one of the villages around Chiang Mai while trekking. She is a member of Akha tribe. I love her hat and her smile :)

The Akha originally came from Yunnan (China), moving into Burma in the mid-19th century. They did not come to Thailand until early in the 20th century, but the large migrations due to persecution and instability in Burma have only been quite recent. Akha villages can be found near the Burmese border in the northern part of Chiang Mai province, but mainly in Chiang Rai province.
The Akha have a special "way" which covers all aspects of their daily and ritual life. The "Akha Way" helps the tribe to maintain continuity and is administered by the village priest, who has more power than the elders and village head.

Akha clothing is made of a homespun cotton cloth died to near black (sometimes blue) with indigo. For women this cloth is embellished with embroidery and strips of colored cloth decorated with coins, seeds, or whatever the fancy.

Black Teeth:
One of the defining traits of the Akha is their black teeth but they are also very common in south-east Asia due to chewing certain compounds or leaves which which gets them high lightly and can be compared to chewing tobacco in the west.


Hope you like..

Cheers,
Skye


PP:
autolevel and sharpen