Lanten People

On Sunday, November 11, We had dinner with Andy's friend Veronique in Bangkok. She and Andy worked together in Hoixay, before he died. She was the founder and director of Bokeo Social Enterprise (BsE), where Andy volunteered. BsE Bokeo Social Enterprise (BsE) was created by four partners in 2008, to support development through entrepreneurship, promoting "local products and private economic initiatives in rural communities in Northern Laos." Veronique has been a good friend to us, staying in touch, letting us stay connected. She has left Bokeo and the work of BsE has been absorbed by Free Trade Laos in Vientiane.

Over dinner she tells the story of the Lanten People of Ban Nam Chan. Later, she sends along, via email, a written piece about the people, describing who they are, where they have come from, their crafts, and the tension between the traditional way of life and modernization. Here is a brief quote from the piece from one of the Lanten people about their history:

“The name of our people is Lanten. It is Chinese and means ‘liquid to dye cotton’. My people have the skills to produce their own natural colours to dye their clothes and we continue until now. Sometimes we are also called Lao Houay as we only settle on river shores. The river is very important in Lanten daily life. The water is used to wash our clothes and to make bamboo paper. If a location has no river, the Lanten will not settle there but move on.

We are originally from China. Our ancestors left 200 or 300 years ago due to jealousy and fighting amongst the people living there. There were only a few Lanten and their enemies were numerous. First, our ancestors moved to the south of China, where they crossed the sea to Vietnam using three bamboo rafts. In the middle of the sea there was an accident and two bamboo rafts sank. All those passengers died. The surviving Lanten were very sad. The remaining raft reached North Vietnam, where the refugees went ashore and continued by foot to reach Oudomxai and Luang Namtha. Most stayed there, but some continued their journey and headed for the Mekong River. They marched on, and as before, some families decided to stay along the way, at the shores of the rivers of Nga (ງາ), Ngaw (ງາວ), Saen (ແສນ), Lae (ແລ), and at the Houay Pung brook (ຫ້ວຍປຸງ) and many other places.

Travelling with the Lanten was a man known as Mister Dachan (ດາຈັນ). One day, he went hunting in the forest. For many days, he was walking through the forest until he arrived at a brook, where a dead elephant was lying. Delighted, he returned to the Lanten and told them to follow him and take the meat of the elephant to eat. Upon arrival, all realized that this place was perfectly suited for a settlement. They decided to stop their journey and called their new village Pha Sang (ຜ່າຊ້າງ) or Nam Sang (ນ້ຳຊ້າງ). But because the old people could not pronounce it nicely, today it is called Nam Chang (ນ້ຳຈ້າງ).”

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These books are made by hand

Tuesday, November 12, we arrived in Vientiane, Laos. That afternoon, we meet Veronique's friend Anousone Phimmachanh, who directs Free Trade Laos, an organization dedicated to finding commercial outlets for the crafts of Lao people. We have coffee at a coffee shop that could be just as well be located in Cambridge or any other college town. She brings along blank books that are made by the Lanten women. These books are hand-made in the Lanten village of all hand-made materials—bamboo paper and cotton that has been dyed with the traditional blue dye of the people. There are bamboo closures sewn onto the books.

I purchased all of the books she had in stock. Twelve books have simple brown and white silk embroidery on the front; eighteen books are plain. I will bring these back to the United States and see if there might be a retail outlet or two that can sell these special books. It would be a good source of income for the villagers, who can produce 30-40 of these books each month, depending on the season.