The Mlabri (
Thai:
มลาบรี) or Mrabri are an ethnic group of
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 ...
and
Laos, and have been called "the most interesting and least understood people in Southeast Asia". Only about 400 or fewer Mlabris remain in the world today, with some estimates as low as 100. A
hill tribe in northern
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 ...
along the border with
Laos, they have been groups of nomadic
hunter-gatherers. Those in Thailand live close to the Hmong and northern Thai. Those living in Laos live close to other ethnic groups.
Nomenclature
The name ''Mlabri'' is a Thai/Lao alteration of the word ''Mrabri'', which appears to come from a Khmuic term "people of the forest". In
Khmu, ''mra'' means "person" and ''bri'' "forest". They are also known locally as ''Phi Tong Leuang'' (Thai: ผีตองเหลือง, Lao: ຜີຕອງເຫລືອງ) or "spirits of the yellow leaves", since they abandon their shelters when the leaves begin to turn yellow. See
Fact of The Words "Yumbri" and "Mlabri"
Genetics
Genetic analysis of the Mlabri group by Hiroki Oota and colleagues led them to believe that their
mtDNA
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA ...
has little diversity, suggesting the Mlabris originated 500 to 800 years ago from very few individuals. However, this was contested in the journal
PLoS Biology
''PLOS Biology'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering all aspects of biology. Publication began on October 13, 2003. It is the first journal published by the Public Library of Science. The editor-in-chief is Nonia Pariente.
In a ...
in 2005 in an exchange of articles between Hiroki Oota and his colleagues and Tony Waters.
Lifestyle
The Mlabri traditionally lived a nomadic lifestyle. They moved frequently, and had no permanent houses, instead making temporary shelters from palm leaves and bamboo-string. They wore only a loin-covering of bark or cloth, though most Mlabri now wear factory-made clothes gained by trade with other hill tribes. They are hunter-gatherers, with most of their food coming from gathering. Women give birth alone in the forest and infant mortality used to be very high.
The Mlabri have few regimented social ceremonies, and are said to have no formal religious system, though they believe in forest spirits and other nature spirit. Marriages are made with simple request; there is no bride-price. The dead are buried near where they expired, and the tribe moves on.
In 1938, Austrian anthropologist
Hugo Bernatzik
Hugo Adolf Bernatzik (26 March 1897 – 9 March 1953, born and died in the city of Vienna), was an Austrian anthropologist and photographer.
Bernatzik was the founder of the concept of alternative anthropology.
Biography
Hugo Adolf Bernatzik was ...
published an ethnography of the "Yellow Leaf People" which contained his brief observations of the tribe in the early 20th century.
Since the 1990s, the Mlabri in Thailand have settled into more permanent villages in
Phrae
Phrae (; ) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in northern Thailand, capital of Phrae Province.
The town occupies ''tambon'' Nai Wiang of Mueang Phrae District. It has an area of nine kilometres2 and a population of 17,971 (2005). Phrae is 555 km no ...
and
Nan
Nan or NAN may refer to:
Places China
* Nan County, Yiyang, Hunan, China
* Nan Commandery, historical commandery in Hubei, China
Thailand
* Nan Province
** Nan, Thailand, the administrative capital of Nan Province
* Nan River
People Given name
...
provinces. The houses they live in are made of cinderblock and wood, with metal roofs and even electricity. Mlabri children have started going to public schools, and their health care has improved. It was reported in 2013 that the Mlabri's suicide rate has risen.
[Long, Mary, Eugene Long, and Tony Waters (2013) "Suicide Among the Mla Bri Hunter-Gatherers of Northern Thailand." ''Journal of the Siam Society'' (v. 101).]
/ref> Mlabri villages have some economic activity. While still hunting and gathering, the Mlabri now engage in highland farming and hammock weaving, besides working as day laborers.
One of the Mlabri settlements in Nan Province is under the patronage of Princess Sirindhorn.
References
Bibliography
* Bernatzik, Hugo, ''The Spirits of the Yellow Leaves'' Leipzig 1938; London: R. Hale. Translated by E. W. Dickson. 1958.
*Long, Eugene, Mary Long, and Tony Waters. The Demography of a Settled Hunter Gatherer Group in Thailand." Journal of the SIam Society (v.105) 2017.
* Long, Mary, Eugene Long, and Tony Waters. "Suicide Among the Mla Bri Hunter-Gatherers of Northern Thailand." Journal of the Siam Society (v. 101) 2013.
* Nimonjiya, Shu, "From Ghosts to Hill Tribe to Thai Citizens: Towards a History of the Mlabri of Northern Thailand." ''Aseanie'' 32: 155-176, 2013.
* Oota, Hiroki and others, "Recent Origin and Cultural Reversion of a Hunter-Gatherer Group", ''PLOS Biology
''PLOS Biology'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering all aspects of biology. Publication began on October 13, 2003. It is the first journal published by the Public Library of Science. The editor-in-chief is Nonia Pariente.
In a ...
'', 2005 March, volume 3, number 3.
* Rischel, Jurgen. ''Mlabri and Mon-Khmer: Tracking the history of a hunter-gatherer language''. The Royal Danish Society of Sciences and Letters 2007.
* Schliesinger, Joachim, ''Ethnic Groups of Laos, vol. 2'', White Lotus 2000, pp. 187–197
* Siam Society. "The Mlabri" Special issue of ''The Journal of the Siam Society'' Vol 51 (2) 1963
* Waters, Tony, "Comment on 'Recent Origin and Cultural Reversion of a Hunter-Gatherer Group," PLoS Biology
''PLOS Biology'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering all aspects of biology. Publication began on October 13, 2003. It is the first journal published by the Public Library of Science. The editor-in-chief is Nonia Pariente.
In a ...
2005 August, volume 3, number 8.
* Trier, Jesper ''Invoking the Spirits'' - fieldwork on the material and spiritual life of the Mlabri, pp. 325, 2008 July
External links
* Long, Eugene, Mary Long, and Tony Waters. The Demography of a Settled Hunter Gatherer Group in Thailand." Journal of the SIam Society (v.105) 201
*Long, Mary, Eugene Long, and Tony Waters (2013) "Suicide Among the Mla Bri Hunter-Gatherers of Northern Thailand." ''Journal of the Siam Society'' (v. 101).
RWAAI (Repository and Workspace for Austroasiatic Intangible Heritage)
Mlabri in RWAAI Digital Archive
Ethnography as a Contact Sport The Mla Bri and the Long Family of Phrae Thailand by Tony Waters
{{Authority control
Ethnic groups in Laos
Ethnic groups in Thailand
Khmuic peoples
Hunter-gatherers of Asia