The austroasiatic carrying basket or ''kapha'' is a

wicker Wicker is a method of weaving used to make products such as furniture and baskets, as well as a descriptor to classify such products. It is the oldest furniture making method known to history, dating as far back as . Wicker was first documented ...

basket A basket is a container that is traditionally constructed from stiff Fiber, fibers, and can be made from a range of materials, including wood splints, Stolon, runners, and cane. While most baskets are made from plant materials, other materials ...

common to many

Austroasiatic The Austroasiatic languages ( ) are a large language family spoken throughout Mainland Southeast Asia, South Asia and East Asia. These languages are natively spoken by the majority of the population in Vietnam and Cambodia, and by minority popu ...

and

Austronesian peoples The Austronesian people, sometimes referred to as Austronesian-speaking peoples, are a large group of peoples who have settled in Taiwan, maritime Southeast Asia, parts of mainland Southeast Asia, Micronesia, coastal New Guinea, Island Melan ...

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

and

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

. It is carried on their back to go to the fields, but also at parties, where it serves as an adornment for the girls. Weaving these carrying baskets is a craft that has been passed down from generation to generation with a unity in style which has defined tribal identity and raised interest of ethnologists.

History

Since the arrival of European

ethnologists Ethnology (from the , meaning 'nation') is an academic field and discipline that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology). Scien ...

in the second hald of the 19th century, the austroasiatic carrying basket referred to by the French scientists as "''hotte''" attracted attention. Backpack baskets did not appear with archeological evidence in Europe until the end of the 13th century. While the origin date of the austroasiatic carrying basket remains uncertain,

André-Georges Haudricourt André-Georges Haudricourt (; 17 January 1911 – 20 August 1996) was a French botanist, anthropologist and linguist. Biography He grew up on his parents' farm, in a remote area of Picardy. From his early childhood, he was curious about technol ...

links the double straps of the Austroasiatic carrying basket with the arrival of

kaftan A kaftan or caftan (; , ; , ; ) is a variant of the robe or tunic. Originating in Asia, it has been worn by a number of cultures around the world for thousands of years. In Russian usage, ''kaftan'' instead refers to a style of men's long suit ...

from Mongolia, presuming that the gesture of putting on a coat and a basket are closely linked. It has been presumed that this carrying basket common to Austrasiatic people spanning from

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

can also be explained by geography, as mountainous areas such as the ones in Southeast Asia, make it more difficult to keep one's gravity center, thus explaining the double-saddle balanced shape of the basket. It can also be compared to those found in

Sikkim Sikkim ( ; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Koshi Province of Nepal in the west, and West Bengal in the ...

, in the Himalayas, which use one more band tied to the forehead for better levy.

Typology

Description

The austroastic carrying baskets is usually woven with

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

and

rattan Rattan, also spelled ratan (from Malay language, Malay: ''rotan''), is the name for roughly 600 species of Old World climbing palms belonging to subfamily Calamoideae. The greatest diversity of rattan palm species and genera are in the clos ...

materials; the base is made of hewn wood (for the baskets of the Ede) or bamboo (for the baskets of the M'nong). The basket is woven in the shape of a round cylinder, with two straps made of very tough braided forest rope, one end is knitted with the body close to the mouth of the basket, the other end is tied with the base of the basket. The hewn wooden base in the basket of the Ede people is also very special because it is a 4-sided wooden box, hewn completely by hand with a traditional ax from soft woods such as rice, forest toads. It is also special because it is plaited from the bark of the cow's hoof, the rope made from the bark of the tree gives it good toughness, so it has also been used to make leashes or armchairs for riding elephants. The austroastic carrying baskets are most often carried on the back, using support from "tumplines", or "burden straps" that wrap around shoulders in a way similar to

papoose Papoose (from the Narragansett ''papoos'', meaning "child") is an American English word whose present meaning is "a Native American child" (regardless of tribe) or, even more generally, any child, usually used as a term of endearment, often in ...

cradleboard Cradleboards (, , , , , Kazakh: ''бесік'', Kyrgyz: ''бешік'') are traditional protective baby-carriers used by many indigenous cultures in North America, throughout northern Scandinavia among the Sámi, and in the traditionally noma ...

s. Some berry pickers tie austroasiatic carrying basket to their hip instead. These knotted straps for carrying on the back are the most distinctive feature of these baskets which also indicate their proper use.

Variety

As irrigated rice paddies, maze and ray fields leave gund to terraced paddie fields, the Austroasiatc carrying bag also becomes more prevalent from Laos to Indonesia. Despite its geographical unity, the carrying basket is also easily identified through specific characteristics from one area to the other. The Karen People of Burma92

The square base is the most characteristic element of the austroasiatic carrying basket. It varies from one region and one tribe to another, depending on the available materials and the local customs. Thus, the base is made of hewn wood for the baskets of the

Rade people The Rhade or Êđê (Rade language: ''Rang De'') are an indigenous Austronesian peoples, Austronesian ethnic group of southern Vietnam (population 398,671 in 2019). Etymology The term ''Rhade'' is an old French language, French inscription of ' ...

or it is made of bamboo for the baskets of the M'nong. The Moi and the Khas people seem to be acquainted with the one-strap front-carried baskets so typical of the ''doko'' Nepali baskets found in the Himalayas. Different from most other Austroasiatic ethnic groups, these one-strip carrying bags have also been noted in Yunnan. Austroasiatic carrying bags usually have double straps to be carried on the back with more stability. The

Katu people The Katuic people (also Co Tu, Ca Tang; ; Katu language, Katu: ) are an ethnic group of about 102,551 who live in eastern Laos and central Vietnam. Numbered among the Katuic peoples, they speak a Mon-Khmer languages, Mon-Khmer language. Katuic la ...

are known for their wide variety of carrying bags while the

Churu people The Churu (or Chru) people are a Chams related ethnic group living mainly in Lâm Đồng province, Lâm Đồng, and Bình Thuận province, Bình Thuận provinces of Central Vietnam. They speak Chru language, Chru, a Malayo-Polynesian languages, ...

are notorious for having the most heavily decorated Austroasiatic carrying bags.

Craftmanship

An austroasiatic carrying basket is usually made of bamboo, a bamboo that only men are authorized to fetch in the forest, in June and July during the

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...

season in Southeast Asia. Only during these months have the bamboos reached an ideal level of development. They are neither too young nor too old. Straight bamboos, which knots are widely spaced and the top forms a sharp curve, are the best for making hoods. Once cut, these bamboos are dried in the sun for a week before being split into strips. Special knives which are small and extremely sharp with a pointed end are used to split these bamboos. The decisive factor is the skill and meticulousness of the basket weaver. Making a hood takes a lot of time, in order to decorate it with traditional patterns.

Use

Rice measure

The tribal populations calculate the quantity not in weight but in volume of basket and the yield in number of baskets harvested for a basket sown. According to the

Tampuan people The Tampuan (also spelled ''Tompuan'”Tompoun” or “Om Poun” called in their own language or ''Tampuon'', ''Tumpoun', ) are an indigenous ethnic group living in northeast Cambodia. Numbering about 31,000, the Tampuan people live in the moun ...

, when one basket is sowed, it can reap as many as thirty five of the same-sized paddy baskets. During harvest, the carrying basket was personalized as the skin and body of the rice to which promises and threats were made in popular rites: thus, a knife was stabbed in the ground or in a tree behind the carrying basket as an

apotropaic Apotropaic magic (From ) or protective magic is a type of magic intended to turn away harm or evil influences, as in deflecting misfortune or averting the evil eye. Apotropaic observances may also be practiced out of superstition or out of tr ...

sign of threat and protection. In modern days, the austroasiatic carrying basket rice measurement has often been replaced by a kerosene tin.

Tribal identity

Along with the big jars known as '' sra peang'' and the gongs, the family's baskets are often part of the treasure and wealth of Austroasiatic indigenous families. In Ratanakiri, the carrying bags of ''kapha'' are seen carried by ominous statues on roundabouts as a sign of welcome and topographical identity amid fears of losing it.

Dance and esthetics

The austroasiatic carrying baskets are often included in tribal dances. In fact, the carrying baskets are not only used for practical reasons, they are also part of a certain tribal esthetic. Thus, the Jeh-Tariang tribe has three differing carrying baskets, the largest being used to carry wood. According to their custom, a young bride must cut logs into five pieces which – and this is essential – must remain linked to each other, like the five petals of a flower. These logs of love will be part of her

dowry A dowry is a payment such as land, property, money, livestock, or a commercial asset that is paid by the bride's (woman's) family to the groom (man) or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price ...

delivered in the very same carrying basket, one of the gifts she will give to her future in-laws to keep them warm in winter.{{Cite web , last=Cao , first=Nguyên , date=2020-07-26 , title=Le "bois de fiançailles" des Gie Triêng à Kon Tum , url=https://lecourrier.vn/le-bois-de-fiancailles-des-gie-trieng-a-kon-tum/822722.html , access-date=2023-07-08 , website=Le Courrier du Vietnam , language=fr , archive-date=2023-07-08 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230708173617/https://lecourrier.vn/le-bois-de-fiancailles-des-gie-trieng-a-kon-tum/822722.html , url-status=live

Gallery

File:កាផាជនជាតិដើមភាគតិចច្រាយ.jpg, Tampuan version with its specific black and red rattan File:The papoose of people Ede.jpg, Rade version with its distinct oversized bambo base File:Bag, E De people, rattan, bamboo - Museum of Vietnamese History - Ho Chi Minh City - DSC05770.JPG, A more complex carrying bag of the De people in Vietnam File:Quiver, E De people, bamboo - Museum of Vietnamese History - Ho Chi Minh City - DSC05773.JPG, Carrying bag with a rattan cover from Vietnam File:Carrying A Rice Basket, Pleiku, 13 December 1962.jpg, 1962 picture of a carrying bast in Pleiku, Vietnam File:កាផា.jpg, A carrying bag from Mondolkiri as seen from above

References

* ''Doko'' (basket), traditional Nepalese carrying basket Bunong culture Hmong culture Jarai people Basket weaving Utility vessels Containers