THAI HILL TRIBE SILVER SCARAB SWORD WITH HAND CARVED HANDLE AND TEXTILE #4 |
KAREN: THAI HILL TRIBE SILVER SCARAB STATUS SYMBOL SWORD WITH HAND CARVED HANDLE AND TEXTILE #4 |
The
Karen are know for their silver work especially their antique silver
swords that are considered as status symbols. They migrated into
Thailand around the 17th century and live in large numbers in the
western part of Northern Thailand, in particular on the ranges west and
south of Doi Inthanon. The main groups in Thailand are White Karen
composed of the Skaw and the Pwo sub groups. The Karen live in villages
of around 25 houses raised on stilts. Each household consists of the
parents and their unmarried children. The highest authority is the
village priest who runs the village along with the elders. The Karen
are animists. They also have guardian spirits and believe in the soul.
Their desire for harmony with nature may account for the Karen having
the most ecologically sound system of swidden agriculture. The majority
of the Karen live in Burma, and yet they also form the largest major
tribe in northern Thailand. There are as many as 280,000 Karens living
in Thailand. They can be found living both in the mountains and on the
plains, most of them in the provinces of Chiang Mai, Mae Hong Sorn,
Chiang Rai, but also in central Thailand. They live in bamboo houses
raised on stilts, beneath which live their domestic animals, pigs,
chickens and buffalos. The mountain-dwelling Karens practice swidden
agriculture, and the plains-dwellers, for the most part, cultivate
irrigated paddy fields. |
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