CONTEXTS - The Rough Guide to Laos - page 426

LAOS'S ETHNIC MOSAIC
While many of Southeast Asia's nations are ethnically diverse, Laos is one of the few
that is still visibly so. That is to say, it is one of the last countries whose minorities have
not been totally assimilated into the culture of the majority.
In an effort at categorization, the Lao government officially divides the population into three
groups. Which group an ethnicity fits into is determined by the elevation at which that ethni-
city dwells; thus many unrelated ethnic groups may be grouped together if they reside at one
elevation. This method of categorization may be seen as a tenuous majority's subtle means of
proclaiming cultural superiority over its sizeable population of minorities while at the same
time trying to bring them into the fold.
The lowland Lao
The so-called Lao Loum (or lowland Lao) live at the lowest elevations and on the land best
suited for cultivation. For the most part, they are the ethnicLao , a people related to the Thai
of Thailand and the Shan of Burma. The lowland Lao make up between fifty and sixty per-
cent of the population, and are the group for which the country is named. They, like their Thai
and Shan cousins, prefer to inhabit river valleys, live in dwellings that are raised above the
ground, and are adherents of Theravada Buddhism. Laos is by no means the only place where
ethnic Lao dwell. Most of Thailand's northeastern region is populated with ethnic Lao and,
owing to internal migration patterns caused by economic factors, Bangkok has the largest
concentration of ethnic Lao anywhere. This fact is not lost on the Lao of Laos who feel that
history has deprived them of much of their original territory.
Of all the ethnicities found in Laos, the culture of the lowland Lao is dominant, mainly be-
cause it is they who hold political power. Their language is the official language, their reli-
gion is the state religion and their holy days are the official holidays. As access to a reliable
water source is key to survival and water is abundant in the river valleys, the ethnic Lao have
prospered. They have been able to devote their free time - that time not spent securing food
- to the arts and entertainment, and their culture has become richer for it. Among the cultural
traits by which the Lao define themselves are the cultivation and consumption of sticky rice
as a staple, the taking part in the animist ceremony known as basi , and the playing of the reed
instrument called the khaen .
Akin to the ethnic Lao are the Tai Leu, Phuan and Phu Tai, found in the northwest, the north-
east and mid-south respectively. The Tai Leu of Laos are originally from China's Xishuang-
banna region in southern Yunnan, where nowadays they are known as the “Dai minority”. In
Laos, their settlements stretch from the Chinese border with Luang Namtha province, through
Oudomxai and into Sayaboury; Muang Sing is perhaps the Tai Leu settlement visitors are
most likely to encounter. The Tai Leu are Theravada Buddhists and, like the Lao, they placate