MAE YAO, Thailand - The hill tribes of northern Thailand have survived
centuries of displacement, hardship and discrimination. But now their uniquely
colorful culture is under a new threat, albeit a well-meaning one: Christian
evangelism.
Ake Chermu has a pivotal
role in this village, where faith in animism runs deep. Ake,
67, is the shaman, the religious leader who keeps alive the ceremonies
associated with the rice harvest or when new homes of bamboo are built.
For the moment, this community of the Akha hill tribe
in northern Thailand's Chiang Rai province still
honors Ake. They let him lead them in the close to 20
religious rituals, some of them including animal sacrifices, that they have
across the year.
Yet the shaman turns melancholy as he ponders on how long this essential
feature of Akha life will be around. "I am
worried about the change. Because to be Akha, you
have to follow all the rituals," said Ake, who
cuts a quiet figure with his small build, his watery brown eyes and his soft
voice.
The source of his worry lies in a neighboring Akha
village - Christianity has made its presence felt there, causing the community
to trade the shaman and animism for the Bible and monotheism.
On Sundays, this village exudes an air of enthusiasm toward this new faith as
people sing hymns to the accompaniment of guitars in two churches and listen to
young preachers deliver passionate sermons.
For women such as Mi Pa, 41, a recent convert to the Baptist Church, her Akha village has put a stop to events that marked the Akha culture - the annual swing ceremony, building the
wooden spirit gate and the harvest festivals.
"The priest asked us to stop the old traditions, which included
worshipping spirits," she said. "Now we have Christmas. The entire
village celebrates."
But now, it is not only the likes of Ake who are
troubled by this shift to Christianity among the Akha,
one of the six main tribal communities that have carved out a colorful niche in
this mountainous part of the country along the Myanmar border.
Concern is increasingly being expressed also from an unlikely quarter - tour
guides who operate in Chiang Rai.
After all, the hill tribes are the main draw that attracts tourists in the
thousands to northern Thailand - a fact amplified by the posters and postcards
of the hill-tribe people that are visible in the local airport and in the shop
windows along Chiang Rai's narrow streets.
"Tourists come here expecting to see a village that is very authentic and
typical of the hill tribe culture. So they are not happy when they find
churches in the villages," said Charlie Keereekhamsuk,
a tourist guide for more than six years.
An increasing number of guides and tour companies are opting against taking
tourists to villages where the people have converted to Christianity, he said.
"There is a big difference in the village culture after the churches have
come in. In Akha villages, it is very clear."
An Akha cultural-rights activist is hardly surprised
by such growing concern, given the inroads that church groups, largely from the
United States, have made over past 40 years.
"They have succeeded in converting close to 50 percent of the Akha villages in Thailand, and they are aggressively going
after the rest," said Mathew McDaniel of the Akha
Heritage Foundation, based in the Thai town of Mae Sai.
"Tourists don't want to see these tribal people with a church foisted on
them," he said. "They are offended by what is happening: people being
made clones of groups like the Baptists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, other
Protestant churches and Catholics from Italy."
One day, McDaniel argues, the Akha identity in this
part of Thailand may well cease to exist. "Their rituals, the spirit
healing, belief in animism is what makes them Akha.
It gives them their cultural identity, their unique place in the world."
Pastor Kenu Chalermliamthong,
however, sees it differently. The hill-tribe people can still retain their
culture even after converting, since it is "only one aspect of their lives
- religion", said Kenu, a Baptist minister who
belongs to the Karen hill tribe.
The churches are not asking the hill tribes to change their clothes or the way
they live, he added. "But when they convert, the people have to give up
their old customs and habits, superstitions and faith in animism."
Currently, there are more than 70,000 Akha living in
close to 300 villages spread across the forested parts of northern Thailand.
Besides the Akha, the other ethnic groups who make up
the nearly 1 million hill-tribe population in this Southeast Asian country are
the Lahu, Lisu, Yao, Hmong and Karen.
The majority of Thailand's 62 million people are Buddhists and the country
respects the individual's right to religious freedom. Consequently, the local
media, government officials and the Buddhist clergy have treated as a non-issue
the spread of Christianity among the hill-tribe people reputed for their belief
in animism.
"Thai governments have shown little attention to the hill-tribe
communities," Chayan Vaddhanaphuti,
an anthropologist at Chiang Mai University, said in an interview. "They
have also ignored them on economic and social matters."
Studies done by Chayan have revealed that the
hill-tribe people often convert because of the perceived benefits church groups
offer. "They are assured education, scholarships and health
services," he said. "It is these benefits and not religious passion
that have attracted more hill-tribe people to convert."
In this new religious environment, "the shamans and the spirit and
cultural leaders have no place", Chayan said.
"The old, traditional knowledge that has been passed down to the community
comes to an end."
According to Budsaba Maiwong
of the Chiang Rai-based Mae Salong
Tour Co, visits to the hill-tribe villages and overnight stays are what 70
percent of the tourists arriving in Chiang Rai
request. "It is so popular because it is unique, the way the hill-tribe
people live, the way they dress. It is different from the rest of the
country."
These semi-nomadic people migrated to Thailand from Burma (now Myanmar),
southern China and Tibet a long time ago, and have lived on mountain slopes in villages
that appear untouched by the many advances in modernity. An Akha
house, for instance, is made of bamboo and has no windows and food is prepared
over an open fire.
It is shamans such as Ake who helped give these
semi-nomadic communities their unique character by keeping alive the flame of
animism. "You cannot be a proper Akha person,
relate to our history, ancestors, if you give up spirit worship," he said.