A Brief History:
Thailand has six distinct Hill Tribes -- the Karen, Lahu, Lisu, Akha, Hmong, and Mien. They reside primarily in the remote Northwest mountains of Thailand, known as "The Golden Triangle". The Hill Tribes are not indigenous to Thailand, but are nomads, believed to have first migrated approximately 200 years ago from China, (then) Burma, Laos and Cambodia. To the western eye it may be easy to mix up the different tribes, but it would be equivalent to mixing up the separate and unique Native American tribes. We know that the Cherokee and Pueblo tribes have very different values and ways of life, not to be confused with eachother. Similarly, the six Hill Tribes have their own traditions, religious beliefs, community values and practices.
One of the Hill Tribes most important traditional skills is the use and making of exquisite silver jewelry. In the past, like so many eastern cultures, the Hill Tribes used silver for currency as well as fashion. Today, the Hill Tribes women, and to a lesser degree the men, continue to wear their ancestral jewelry with great pride. They come down from their mountain villages once a week to the 'Night Markets' and sell their jewelry to obtain provisions for the week ahead. It's not difficult to notice them -- bedecked in all their silver finery, the Hill Tribe women are stunning. The silver jewelry they wear remains a display and statement of their family wealth and social status within their respective Hill Tribe villages.
To this day, most of the Hill Tribes continue to live like the generations before them. The Hill Tribes have historically preferred their independence over assimilation into Thai society. Their fierce quest for Independence has created trouble for them over the years. They lived in Thailand, but were not eligible for many of the benefits of being a national citizen, such as education and health care. In the past, they were frequently not accepted by native Thais, in large part as a result of how they farmed the soil that didn't belong to them. Many Hill Tribes grew the illegal (but profitable) opium. They compounded their problems by practicing swiddon, where all forest and plant growth is slashed and burnt to the ground, depleting the earth of its' natural resources. After farming the soil until it was essentially unproductive, the Hill Tribes would then move to a new area with better soil and begin the environmentally damaging cycle all over again.
In 1976, His Majesty King Bhumibol, Thailand's monarch, initiated 'The Royal Project for the Hill Tribes' to address their problems and improve their quality of life. He granted them permission to reside in his nation, but in return, he insisted they begin legal and environmentally sound practices. King Bhumibol learned of the Hill Tribes traditional jewelry making skills and provided them with the silver, tools and commercial contacts that allowed them to become more self sufficient. A potentially lost art was revived. Over the past three decades, these jewelry making skills have flourished. Distinctive tribal patterns, passed down over innumerable generations, are now employed in new and modern ways. AuraWay looks forward to introducing you to the art of these master silversmiths. In addition to giving the Hill Tribes people a fair wage, AuraWay donates a significant percentage of our profits to various foundations that work to improve the living conditions of the Hill Tribe people.
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