August 1st, 2008, 21:04
A comment before I get started: the Shan are not a "hill-tribe."
So. After the funeral, there was a brief exchange between my boyfriend and me. I asked, "What percent in your village are literate, do you think?" His answer surprised me: "About thirty percent." But he went on to explain: "Those are all young people in the village."
And it's true. His parents (and all their generation) were illiterate because they had been that way forever. (They had also been without cash, since they had been practicing subsistence farming forever.) But my boyfriend, and all of his siblings, can read and write -- Thai, not Akha. (I have heard rumors of "written Akha" but have never seen any, except in language books produced by non-Akha.)
So, the traditional culture of the Akha is changing in a very significant way. All of the new generation are literate, while their parents are not.
I think that's good. Cultures are tools for group survival. But a lot of backpackers and hippies think that all the colorful hill-tribes should remain frozen in the past, where they remain colorful, and excellent subjects for amateur photographers.
So. After the funeral, there was a brief exchange between my boyfriend and me. I asked, "What percent in your village are literate, do you think?" His answer surprised me: "About thirty percent." But he went on to explain: "Those are all young people in the village."
And it's true. His parents (and all their generation) were illiterate because they had been that way forever. (They had also been without cash, since they had been practicing subsistence farming forever.) But my boyfriend, and all of his siblings, can read and write -- Thai, not Akha. (I have heard rumors of "written Akha" but have never seen any, except in language books produced by non-Akha.)
So, the traditional culture of the Akha is changing in a very significant way. All of the new generation are literate, while their parents are not.
I think that's good. Cultures are tools for group survival. But a lot of backpackers and hippies think that all the colorful hill-tribes should remain frozen in the past, where they remain colorful, and excellent subjects for amateur photographers.