Thailand Karen Hill Tribe Silver Beads and Hill Tribe Silver Jewelry, Thai Karen Hill Tribe Silver Jewelry is 97.5-99% genuine, pure and high silver content, this purity make the hill tribe silver content higher than sterling silver jewelry(92.5%), thus easy to bend and shape into forms but still maintain its aesthetic, unique and very pleasing jewelry. Akha, Iumien, Lisu, Karen are all hill tribe groups in Thailand. Hilltribesilveronline.com brings you cheap, affordable handmade hill tribe silver jewelry, wholesale price available, handmade hill tribe silver jewelry, pendants, beads, bracelet, charms, findings, hill tribe silver jewelry from northern Thailand. We also offer you informative articles about hill tribe silver jewelry and how to take care of it. See the site for detail.
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History of Hilltribes in Thailand, hilltribe silver jewelry, cheap wholesale hilltribe silverware
The heartland of Southeast Asia has always been on the edges of civilization. The great empires, such as Pagan in Burma, Sukhothai in Thailand and Angkor in Cambodia, were built in the plains, where rice grows easily and theru are trade routes to the sea. For the rulers of the time - as well as for the governments of today - the writ of law petered out in the jumble of limestone hills and teak forests of the north. From the Tibetan plateau, of the Himalayas, several great ranges of mountains flow out in a big curve, first east, then sweeping southward.
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Lying between them are the upper reaches of three great Asian rivers - The Yangtze, Mekong and Salween. Where these rivers diverge, the hill country spills out in a disorganized mass, around the borders of Burma, Chinag, Laos and Thailand. The roads, even today, are pathetically inadequate, and trails winding from ridge to ridge are the normal means of contact and transport. Dusty in the dry season, slippery with mud in the wet, they link hamlet to hamlet across hundreds of miles of broken terrain. Little wonder that these hills have long had a reputation for lawlessness and intrigue, from the fiercely independent princes of Burma's Shan States to roving mercenary armies. Thei remoteness has also made them the stronghold of mainland Asia's last ethnic minorities - the hill tribes of Thailand.
Until recently, Thailand was the only country in which it was possible for travellers to visit hilltribe villages, and is still the only country without travel restrictions. As a result, the six principal tribes who have settled in Thailand are by far the best known, but there are, in the Yunnan of China and Burma in particular, many others. Their ethinic diversity and highly distinctive cultures makes them some of the most intriguing and appealing minorities anywhere in the world, all the more so in the face of what is happening to the towns and cities of Southeast Asia.The street life of Bangkok has changed almost out of recognition in the last two decades, with expensive cars, department stores and condominiums as prominent as in any other major world city, but life in the more remote hilltribe villages has changed little in centuries. For tourists who are looking for more than just a beach holiday in Thailand, trekking in the North has become one of the country's major attractions.
The main area of hill-country in Thailand is the exotically-named Golden Triangle - along the borders with Burma and northwest Laos and the confluences of the Meknog and Mae Kok rivers -and this is where most of tribal groups are concentrated. In the settelment of the North, they are newcomers; the main migration started only at the beginning of this century. A census of studies put the hilltribe population at a little short of half a million in 1983, most of this since the end of the Second World War.
The Karen (known to the Thais as Karieng and Yang) arrived fro mthe west, across the lower Salween River in Burma. The Lisu (Lisaw in Thai), Lahu (Muser) and Akha (Eekaw) crossed into Thailand mainly from Burma's Shan State in the north, while the Hmong (Meo) and Mien (Yao) crossed over the Mekong River from Laos. These migrations are, however, just the final stages of a much longer history of movement, and the ultimate origins of most of the tribes is shrouded in uncertainty. And, as none except the Mien have written records, there is little chance of unveiling their early history.
The oral tradition, though, is strong, and at times the epic and complex genealogies give tantalising glimpses of social upheavals and great journeys in the distant past. Certain Hmong legend, for example, recount cold lands with long winter nights, which might suggest northern Asia or the Tibetan plateau, while the Mien have a legend concerning a sea crossing, which might have bee from southeast China.
Long recitations, committed to memory and passed on from generation to generation are, in fact, essential for continuing the culture. Among the Akha, for example, it is important for a man to be able to remember his complete genealogy, right back to the first man, Sm Mi O, nad this now covers more than 60 generations. Although the beginning of these genealogies is as much absorbed in legend and religion as is the Book of Genesis in the Christian Old Testament, the surprising thing is how closely they correspond with one another. Genealogies and other histories form Akha in different countries have similarities so close as to confirm their accuracy. All this, remarkably, is passed on by word of mouth, but such feats of memory are an everyday skill among peoples who have had no other means of preserving their past.
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