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The Lua people () are a minority ethnic group native to Laos, although there is now a sizable community living in
Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
. ''Lua''' is their preferred
autonym Autonym may refer to: * Autonym, the name used by a person to refer to themselves or their language; see Exonym and endonym * Autonym (botany), an automatically created infrageneric or infraspecific name See also * Nominotypical subspecies, in zo ...
(self-designation), while their Lao neighbours tend to call them Thin, T'in or Htin ( lo, ຖິ່ນ, ). Another term for this group is ''Lawa'' (but they have to be distinguished from the unrelated
Lawa people Lawa ( th, ลัวะ or ; ) are an ethnic group in northern Thailand. The Lawa language is related to the Blang and the Wa language found in China and Burma, and belongs to the Palaungic languages, a branch of the Austroasiatic languages. The ...
in northern Thailand). There are two subgroups: the Mal and the Phai or ''Pray''. The Lua speak Mal and Phai, closely related, but not mutually intelligible languages, belonging to the Khmuic branch of the
Austroasiatic languages The Austroasiatic languages , , are a large language family in Mainland Southeast Asia and South Asia. These languages are scattered throughout parts of Thailand, Laos, India, Myanmar, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Nepal, and southern China and are t ...
. Their home region is in the provinces of Sainyabuli (Hongsa and Phiang districts) and Bokeo ( Pak Tha District). In Thailand, most Lua settle in Nan province, close to the border with Laos.


Cultural history

The Lua's traditional beliefs are characterized by
animism Animism (from Latin: ' meaning ' breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all things— animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather syst ...
and shamanism. Some Lua, influenced by their Lao and Thai neighbors, have adopted Theravada Buddhism, while a few have converted to
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
, but without renouncing their original ethnic beliefs. The Lua believe that the natural surroundings are full of good and evil spirits. They worship their respective villages' local spirits. The most highly respected genie called ''bhuka'' is celebrated for three days during Lao New Year ''(Songkran)''. In order to win the spirits' blessings for a good harvest, a newlywed couple, help in cases of natural disasters or diseases, etc., the Lua try to appease them with offerings of pigs, poultry, rice or liquor. Traditional Lua villages display a "spirit gate" to protect them from all evils coming from the outside world. To mediate between the living and the spirit world, each village chooses a male shaman, called ''khawcam''. There is some academic debate whether the Lua have already settled in their present home area since the 1st millennium AD (like the Khmu) or migrated there from northern
Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
in a later period. More certainly, the Lua of Thailand has only arrived there in the late-19th or early-20th century. Some scholars, however, believe that the Lua were the original inhabitants of Thailand's Nan Province, before moving to Laos and later re-migrating to their original homeland. Following the communist victory in the Laotian Civil War (that was in the same period as the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
), many Lua families escaped Laos to seek refuge in the Luang Prabang Range area of Nan Province across the border in
Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
. There was a large concentration of Lua refugees at Ban Vinai Refugee Camp in Thailand. In the early 1970s and 1980s, Lua families relocated to the United States. Today, there is a large Lua community in the state of California, expanding from Santa Rosa, Fresno, Modesto, Stockton, Sacramento, and other parts of the state of California, and also including the states of Minnesota, Tennessee, Washington, Iowa, and Illinois. Families who remained in the camps in Thailand resettled in Sainyabuli and neighboring provinces in the mid-1980s and early 1990s, where the Lua people had been originally displaced due to the wars in Southeast Asia.


Further reading

* Judy Lewis and Damrong Tayanin. Minority cultures of Laos: Kammu, Lua', Lahu, Hmong, and Mien. 1992. , *


References


External links


Improving Care for the Lua’ CommunityChonthira Sattayawatthana, Lua of Nan City (in Thai)

{{Ethnic groups in Thailand Ethnic groups in Laos Ethnic groups in Thailand Khmuic peoples