Thai Hill Tribes Silver- background
The various Hill Tribes live in the area known as the Golden Triangle, where Thailand, Laos and Burma (Myanmar) all come together. The Hill Tribes consist of six distinct groups, each with its own characteristic dress, customs and styles of ornamentation. The Tribes are known in Thailand as the Karen (Kariang, Yang), the Hmong (Meo), the Mien (Yeo), the Akha (Kaw), the Lahu (Mussur), and the Lisu (Lisaw). All of the tribes do silversmithing.
The tribal villages are scattered over an immense area. Some can only be approached on foot; others are serviced by primitive dirt (mud) roads. The people have a difficult existence, growing rice and wresting their other needs from the jungle. In this border area, they are plagued by the activities of smugglers, rogue soldiers and opium warlords.
The people in many of the tribes have learned the collectors in the outside world are tremendously interested in their crafts. They have success in making basketry, musical instruments, jewellery, tools, utensils, weapons, traps and clothing for sale to townspeople.
Watching how the jewellery is made took me back to my first silversmithing class years ago. Silver ingots are flattened by pounding with hammers. The resulting sheet is cut with jewellers’ saws, inch-by-inch, and wire is repeatedly pulled through ancient draw ties.
Repousse work is accomplished by hammering thin silver sheets into black tar moulds. The silver they use is soft; they use a .999 pure silver, not the .925 sterling to which we are accustomed. The jewellery they create, with such tremendous effort, has enormous consequence to them; not just as objects of value but also as items of classic beauty and symbolic significance. The pieces go together surprisingly fast, but on inspection we notice that there are no two pieces that are exactly alike; each has its unique, handmade characteristics.
Buying this silver from the Hill Tribes helps the Hill Tribes maintain their culture through providing work for the villages. Without such work, the young people are forced to drift into the towns, looking for city-work. With a steady flow of orders, they hope to continue to train the young people in their silversmithing traditions and to reverse the city trend and continue their tribal culture.
