Mlabri Tribe

Mlabri Tribe In Thailand

 
Mla are known as yellow leaf or “Mlabri”. The meaning of the name “Mlabri” can be separated into two words. The first word is “Mla” meaning human, this is the word the tribe use to call themselves. The second word “Bri” meaning forest, this is just a word to add after, thereby they have the word Mlabri which means “barbarian tribe” but they would like to be known as “Mla tribe”. This means “human” because they are not barbarians. They live in the forest. Mlabri is what they are called by others but not what they call themselves.

"Yellow leaf" is the name given to them by other people but they do not like being called this because it makes them sound like ghosts, which they are not. They are human like us. “Yellow leaf” is a name that the “Mla tribe" do not like being called, and to not call them yellow leaf, honors.

     Them they will call others “Gwao” “Yellow leaf” came from “Mla” people living in the forest; they find goods from the forest such as taro, potatos, bananas, bamboo shoots, animals and bees. They live at a singular place for around 2-3 days then will move the place continuously and will choose where to move to by having a discussion between families. Sometimes they will move to an other place, not for food, but because they fear people will come to disturb or hurt them.

So, when a stranger comes or even when they hear people’s voices near the area that they lived, they would escape rapidly. They would do this because they had experienced relatives of theirs being shot and hurt in front of them in the past. This makes them fear people so they move continuously, make very little noise and also do not dare to make fires.

      The banana leaf that they make their huts, changes color from green to yellow and then eventually dries, this is the origin of the word "Yellow leaf" but the word that they are proud of and want other people to call them is “Mla” Source: The Mlabri community at Baan Boonyuen, Moo 13, Thambon Vieng, Rongkwang district, Prae province.

 

Informants:
1. Weera Srichawpa
2. Phin Srichawpa
3. Nlikarn Chawphanaprai
4. Duangporn Naamjaikiri 5. The youths: Mai, Nueng, Amara and Kaewta

Mlabri village

Mlabri village

The History of Mlabri community Baan Boonyuen Moo 13.Thambon. Rongkwang, Rongkwang district, Phrae province.

     Currently the Mlabri people live in Boonyuen Suksanae, an area of land owned by Mr Eugene Robert Long, an American missionary. This is because in the past the Mlabri people lived in an area owned by the Hmong tribe whom they worked for. However, the Hmong people paid the Mlabri very little for the work that they did.

This was until a journalist came to visit and wrote about the way that the Mlabri people lived and their low standard of living.

Mr Boonyuen came to the village of the Hmong tribe area and felt compassion towards the Mlabri tribe and wished to help them improve their standard of living. He persuaded the Mlabri people to come and stay with him in Boonyuen Suksanae and helped them to make a better life for themselves.

 Source: The Mlabri community at Baan Boonyuen, Moo 13, Thambon Vieng, Rongkwang district, Prae province.

Informants: 

1. Weera Srichawpa
2. Phin Srichawpa
3. Nlikarn Chawphanaprai
4. Duangporn Naamjaikiri
5. The youths: Mai, Nueng, Amara and Kaewta

Life style : Born

       When the women in the Mlabri village will deliver, they will go to deliver in the place that away from the village and have women who could help. Men are forbidden to go to that place. During the birth, men will go out to collect food in the forest. They will use a splinter of bamboo to cut the umbilical cord then use a banana leaf or hemp to cover the baby. The umbilical cord of the baby is buried, and then the mother carries her baby back to her house. The Mlabri do not have lie by the fire after childbirth. They do not have to do any hard work such as carrying water from the pond or prepare food and after around 2-3 days they are able to do hard work or travel to other places, remarkably most of the Mlabrie would like to have a male child.
            Naming/ Calling and Surname.
            In the original, Mlabri tribe has surname like E-Mert, Ip-raw, U-du but in the current time was not using the original surname when they would like to derivation of a relative or a sibling, they will asked a question. When they combined in multi-family, then will asked the name of husband or wife, father mother or grandparents in seeking the relatives because in the past they live in the forest and live with other families.
            Calling the child’s name will have father name to the end of every name which indicate that children are whose and also can tell the rank of the child from the name and asked the question too.
            Present time, Mlabri tribe are not used the original surnames. They have a new name and surname. Surname that they used is related to forests such as Sri chawpha (Chawpha is the forester), Naamjai Kiri, Chawphanaprai, Doisak etc.
            The name change in Mlabri tribe will have to change since have to marriage by using the husband's name to replace their own name and added “Ya” in front of   the wife's name. Mlabri do not change their name often, they will change only when marriage. The Naming of the children depend on the convenience of parents such as follow their own family or some people will naming children according to their respective situations.
Source: The Mlabri community at Baan Boonyuen, Moo 13, Thambon Vieng, Rongkwang district, Prae province
Informants:    1. Weera Srichawpa
                    2. Phin Srichawpa
                    3. Nlikarn Chawphanaprai
                   4. Duangporn Naamjaikiri
                   5. The youths: Mai, Nueng, Amara and Kaewta.

Life style : Death

In the past, if in the village has people die, Mlabri will take the body of dead person away from they live. There is no cemetery for bury a dead body because they move to other place always. Where people die, they take the banana leave to cover and decorate with the area with the stone and leave, no dig a grave. Then the older pray to send the spirit to other world. When the places that they live have the people die, then they will change to a new place. Now, when someone dies in the village, they will take the dead to bury in the graveyard of the village. By dig holes and then use a stripes of bamboo as the floor and cover the dead with their blanket and take a drink or dessert of the dead that was used put on the grave area. The days to perform the ceremony is depends on the dead body family, during the body is in the village, if the family has a lot of the relatives, they much buy pork to give to them that come to joining in the ceremony. They will not invite any person just only there relatives joined the ceremony to drink, and then bury. When in the village has the people die, every villagers will not go to any where, not work and do not bathe or wash during have the funeral ceremony in the village. They can bathe after the ceremony finish.
  Source: The Mlabri community at Baan Boonyuen, Moo 13, Thambon Vieng, Rongkwang district, Prae province.
Informants:    1. Weera Srichawpa
                    2. Phin Srichawpa
                    3. Nlikarn Chawphanaprai
                   4. Duangporn Naamjaikiri
                   5. The youths: Mai, Nueng, Amara and Kaewta.

Life style : Entertainment

      In the Past, Mlabri people did not have any instruments to play as their own because they feared that others would hear them. They have only just made swings from vines for their children but when they move down to live with the Hmong people, the Mlabri youth start to use the Hmong’s toys such as using bamboo as guns etc.  .

Source: The Mlabri community at Baan Boonyuen, Moo 13, Thambon Vieng, Rongkwang district, Prae province.
Informants: 1. Weera Srichawpa
2. Phin Srichawpa
3. Nlikarn Chawphanaprai
4. Duangporn Naamjaikiri
5. The youths: Mai, Nueng, Amara and Kaewta

Life style : Hunting

  In the past, Mlabri people did not know how to make a trap so they hunted the animals by using spikes as tools. For hunting, they lay down food, and then use the spikes to kill the animals. The men will take responsibility for hunting.

Source: The Mlabri community at Baan Boonyuen, Moo 13, Thambon Vieng, Rongkwang district, Prae province.

Source: The Mlabri community at Baan Boonyuen, Moo 13, Thambon Vieng, Rongkwang district, Prae province.
Informants: 1. Weera Srichawpa
2. Phin Srichawpa
3. Nlikarn Chawphanaprai
4. Duangporn Naamjaikiri
5. The youths: Mai, Nueng, Amara and Kaewta

Life style : Counting Days, Months and Years.

      The Mlabri people have never kept a strict record of the date, instead they will make observations from the natural world to tell them which season it is, such as in the summer they observe bees when they look for nectar, for winter they look at the leaves changes in color and for the rainy season they look at rapid climate change such as the weather changing from cold to hot to heavy rain. They use the sun as an indicator for the time of day.   .

Source: The Mlabri community at Baan Boonyuen, Moo 13, Thambon Vieng, Rongkwang district, Prae province.
Informants: 1. Weera Srichawpa
2. Phin Srichawpa
3. Nlikarn Chawphanaprai
4. Duangporn Naamjaikiri
5. The youths: Mai, Nueng, Amara and Kaewta