Salavan Province Culture introduces Salavan Province Culture Tour information about People, Language, Costumes, Cuisine, Festivals, Song and Dance, Traditional Crafts, Architecture, Museums, Religion, Historical Sites, Ethnic Villages, Intangible Cultural Heritages.
Ethnic Culture
Many of Southern Laos' 17,000-plus Alak live in Salavan, having migrated from Vietnam's Central Highlands. Their palm and thatch houses encircle communal spirit houses on stilts.
A few thousand Katu inhabit Salavan's forests, and live in long rectangular houses. They often share villages with Alak, Ngae, and Ta Oy. Like the Alak, Katu women once tattooed their faces, and though most families are monogamous, some men have more than one wife. However, they must pay a dowry equal to 15 buffaloes, or live with their wives' families to work off the debt. Katu sacrifices buffaloes to the spirits, which protect their villages, and employs shamans who are paid with chickens or silver.
Originally mountain people, Ngae have migrated to river valleys in recent years, and share villages with Suay, Lao, Alak, and Ta Oy. Some live around the Tad Lo area.
The Pako dwell in Salavan's mountainous Samouay District near Vietnam, and they mostly subsist by slash-and-burn farming. They do not weave, and mostly speak their unique language.
The province's Phouthai frequently mix with similar Tai people, and are often considered a single group. Though many practice Buddhism, they cling to their traditional animist beliefs. Each Phouthai village has one or more female shamans, called moi yau, who mediate between the people and spiritual worlds by going into a trance. In their most sacred festival, Pi Tian (Spirit of Heaven), the community offers sacrifices and prayers to the spirit that they believe resides in paradise above.
The Suay have their own language and are among Salavan's earliest inhabitants. Though never part of the Khmer civilization, they wear Khmer khamas (chequered cotton fabric). Once known as skilled blacksmiths, most are now rice farmers, who also raise livestock and gather forest products. Suay live in bamboo and thatched houses on stilts in villages away from their fields. They believe in a mix of animism and Buddhism.
Salavan's Tong live in northern Salavan and Vapi Districts.
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