16 Facts About Khmu people

Khmu people can be found in southwest China, and in recent centuries have migrated to areas of Burma, Thailand and Vietnam .

Accordingly, the Khmu people now recognize subdivisions among themselves which are differentiated primarily by dialect.

The many dialects of Khmu people differ primarily in consonant inventory, existence of register, and the degree to which the language has been influenced by the surrounding national language.

Western Khmu people dialects have fewer consonant phonemes and instead use phonemic register contrast of "lax" breathy register and "tense" modal register.

Khmu people are an agricultural society, although gathering, hunting, trapping and fishing are parts of the Khmu people lifestyle.

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Khmu people crops include rice, corn, bananas, sugar cane, cucumbers, beans, sesame and a variety of vegetables.

Khmu people culture is traditionally passed down by the recital of stories around evening fires.

Some Khmu people are heavily tattooed for both decorative and religious reasons.

In Laos, Khmu people are reputed for practicing magic, and some families still engage in the casting of spells and telling of fortunes.

Typically, entire Khmu people villages are enclosed in fences with three or four gates which separate the Khmu people from their granaries and barns.

Ancient Khmuic people believed and worshiped the sun spirit for safety and health.

Khmuic people believe that the early morning sunlight is pure and fresh, so exposing one's own body to the early morning sunlight makes one's own mind fresh, good tempered, healthy and active at work.

So, when the rice ripens and its color becomes yellow or orange, and about the time of harvesting, Khmuic people held small rituals to sacrifice rice souls or spirits on the rice fields, mostly are up land rice fields or swidden fields .

Khmu people cemeteries are traditionally divided into four sections; one for natural deaths, one for accidental deaths, one for children, and one for those who died away from home.

Traditional Khmu people animism puts emphasis on the concept of taboo, as villagers believe that violations of taboo result in vengeance of spirits.

Dances to propitiate the rice goddess are common among the Khmu people; they are performed in order to ensure a good harvest.