Bad Luck

If you are a member of the Akha Hill Tribes in Laos, giving birth to a set of twins is not a good thing.

In the Akha tradition, a set of twins, born to a village family, brings very bad luck to the entire village. There are serious consequences.

Tradition dictates that the infant twins are killed. The family that the twins were born to are banished to live alone, in the jungle, for three years. All of the livestock owned by the family are destroyed, as are their buildings.

After the three year banishment has expired, the family may move back into the village and resume normal life.

I do not write about this to pass judgement, but only to note the existence of this fascinating, yet seemingly brutal, custom.

Like many hill tribe traditions, the ban on twin births is fading as the more modern Lao culture permeates hill tribe practices. It is, however, still adhered to by some village groups in Northern Laos.

There are many different tribal groups in Laos, as well as across much of SE Asia. Over the last two journeys, I have been to Akha, Hmong, Khmer, Black Tai, White Tai and Khmu villages, as well as others. There are a dizzying array of tribal languages, divisions and subdivisions, cultures and beliefs. Animism mixes with Buddhism and ancestry veneration to create a mosaic of religious belief.

One unifying quality that I encountered in every village was the unfailing generosity of the people I met, even in villages suffering extreme poverty.

I will be very happy when I next have the opportunity to visit a Lao village.