The Akha Heritage Foundation 

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RELATED:

The Akha-Neil Diamond Connection

The Jerusalem Express:

Comparisons In Orthodoxy

Virtual Jerusalem Click Here

The Wall
 

  The Akha Weekly Journal is how you can keep up with whatis going on with the Akha. 
  We also have a list on the web called Indigenousworld@onelist.com 

   In a time when so many outsiders are denying that the Akhaeven have a culture, knowledge or traditions    at all worth
      preserving and have done so much to systematically
   eliminate these traditions and an incredible wealth of oral
   knowledge we would like to show that the Akha, as much as
     any other people, have a history, a legal system, a quite
      intricate culture as well as an extensive collection of
                        literature. 

  The weekly email journal gives updates of events here among
    the Akha as we work on providing medical services, clean
   water, literature development in Akha language, literacy in
   Akha language, seeds for nutrition, and advocacy services. 
   This is not a highly polished journal, this is more the result
    of whatever the week's work has involved, the highlights,
  interesting commentary and whatever else can be fit in while
                 bordering on exhaustion. 

   Anyone may subscribe by just sending an email to us here. 

                        Thank you 
                    Matthew McDaniel 

                    akha@loxinfo.co.th

 The Akha are a Hill tribe of hunter gatherers sometimes
 classified as aboriginal who live in China, Laos, Vietnam,
 Burma (Myanmar) and Thailand.  It is said that their roots
 brought them from Mongolia and Tibet with considerable time
 in China's Yunnan Province.  Seeking security for their
 villages and families they have often had to move south to
 avoid existing conditions of war where they lived.  Although
 often labeled as aliens they are more often than not refugees of
 war. 

 Due to rapid social and economic changes in this region, most
 dramatically brought about by western style capitalism, the
 lifestyle and very lives of these people are being destroyed. 
 They now are having great difficulty holding onto the land on
 which they live, they are increasingly being pushed into deeper
 poverty for the majority and they are facing increased
 problems of drug use, prostitution and imprisonment.  All
 results of marginalization. Prison for minor infractions is
 often used to extract large sums of money from families.  Due to
 the crack down on the use of black opium, the use of "much
 easier to hide" drugs such as heroin and meth amphetamine
 are on the rise. 

 The population of the Akha in these five countries may range
 as high as 400,000 or higher. 

 It is said that in Thailand alone there are 60,000 scattered over
 some 278 villages. 

 Villages may vary from very westernized to very primitive,
 living out their traditional lifestyles. 

 The villages that have been the most exploited for tourism may
 also show the highest signs of drug use and prostitution. 
 And with that comes AIDS. 

 Many people talk of the conditions in the villages without
 addressing the situation the Akha face.  Often they are not
 given ID cards.  This makes getting arrested an issue of great
 fear and the Akha are often arrested for not having an ID card.
 Even if they are not arrested their money is often taken by the
 police. 

 In addition, though the Akha are not necessarily native to
 Northern Thailand, many of them were born here after their
 families migrated to avoid war, and they deserve rights to a
 national identity just the same as laid out in the UN Draft on
 Indigenous Human Rights.  This lack of a national identity
 means that they have difficulty defending their right to the
 land they live on and farm and so they are often forced to
 move.  These moves break up villages and families, destroy
 their investment in the land and lead to decreased nutrition
 with the loss  of those food bearing plants.  (Ecocide) 

 The Akha also face inadequate medical care. 
 There are just about no services that go out to the villages and
 often the Akha are treated roughly in medical facilities they go
 to because of their dress and ethnicity. 

 Many Akha women are pressured into being sterilized or are
 sterilized against their will at these medical facilities.  Having
 no guarantee that their children will live and with a very high
 infant mortality rate, this is not acceptable to them, nor would
 it be to anyone else. 

 Often Akha families are sent home with an ill child and
 improper medicine.  The condition that went untreated will
 often kill the child.  Medication for fever and antibiotic will be
 given while the Akha has no idea of what was diagnosed if
 anything. 

 The Akha are often visited by tourists. This makes a lot of
 money for the tour operators who take part in this monkey
 show or human zoo, but the Akha see very little of this money
 which runs in the millions of baht per year.  As well there is
 very little likelihood that the tourist will gain any real
 appreciation for the horrible plight of poverty that these people
 live under or any true understanding of their traditional
 culture. 

 Often times Anthropologists come to study the Akha without
 making any contribution to these people whom they base their
 study on and very little concern if they will even survive as a
 people.  Academic achievement for a western university degree
 seems to be the chief goal, like extracting indigenous
 intellectual property rights and going home. 

 For a long time which can be measured in decades western
 missionaries both Protestant and Catholic have exploited the
 poverty of these people to build church population bases.
 These missions, of a variety of denominations, came with their
 somewhat twisted and racist view of who indigenous people
 are and what ought to be done to them.  They often require for
 the most part that villages abandon their culture in its
 entirety.  The Catholic position seems to to be seeing the most
 hope of changing this view at this time.  However the
 Protestants continue to vilify the culture in any way they can,
 seem to know very little about it and prefer to talk Biblical self
 defensive jargon than to answer to the real issues which
 surround their work.  They prefer to cover their detrimental
 work with expressions like "Cultures are Fluid".  Demanding
 that the Akha abandon their culture 100% in order to receive
 help is the status quo.  Large concrete churches are built in the
 center of bamboo villages demonstrating the conquering and
 controlling arm of the mission.  Villages are often subjected to
 collective religious meetings or broadcasts over a PA system
 whether they are protestant or not.  Appointed pastors see to it
 that no vestiges of cultural practice are left in dress or
 behavior, song or dance. 

 And many people thought missionary work has changed since
 the days of Columbus?  Sorry, guess again. 

 The missions will go to very great length to claim they are
 culturally sensitive.  We say "Rubbish" 

 *** 

 Akha villages can be found in the low mountains as well as up
 in the clouds of the high mountains. 
 The more remote mountain villages may still practice their old
 traditional ceremonies if these ceremonies were not banned by
 a conquering mission.  Missions have required many of them
 to destroy or burn their village gates and swings. 

 There are twelve traditional ceremonies a year which have to
 do with the growing of rice and the health and well being of
 the village. 

 The Akha have an excellent collection of knowledge both of the
 forest in which they live and life. 

 Villages are not like cities.  Rather they are like extended
 families.  Many relatives living together.  Thus when a village
 is broken up and forced to move, a family is broken up,
 something which we would never consent to in the west unless
 of course it was being done to indigenous peoples like the
 American Indians for example. 

  In the process of looking for solutions to the severe poverty
 and exploitation that the Akha are 
  experiencing one must first ask some questions as to the
 background of this situation and similar 
  situations that Tribal Societies have experienced in history. 

  The first thing that is apparent is how little the situation has
 changed. 
  The experiences which the Akha are having now are not
 improvements on this cultural conflict. 

  Possibly one could start with some points worth mentioning. 

  First off, is there any likelihood that tribal societies will ever
 assimilate or that they want to or even 
  should? 

  Why must everyone be the same? 
  Today we see an ever increasing push to force everyone to join
 the mainstream consumer economy where 
  everything, every idea and every person for that matter is
 nothing more than a commodity to be traded or 
  provided with services, like it or not. 

  If one understands that the western economy is based on a
 model where there must be constant growth of 
  overproduction and consumption then it doesn't leave much
 room for anything else.  The idea that anyone 
  is different is irrelevant because the basis of the machine is
 that no one is going to be allowed to be 
  different so basically they can think what they want while
 being pushed into line. 

  This is much the same for the religious orders which follow
 on the heels. 

  The argument is valid that people should have a choice to
 NOT stand in this line, to not join this single 
  consumption model. 

  Tribal societies are a clear test case of this.  Although there
 will be a lot of people who partake in both 
  societies or cross the line into the larger society, the fact
 remains that many tribal people want to remain 
  just who they are, where they are, raising their families and
 their food that they live on.  As they have for 
  centuries. This should be their right. 

  Perhaps it is only in the west where the "Family" is so touted,
 where circumstances have actually departed 
  so far from this essential human reality in the direction of
 human alienation.   Try not paying your 
  property tax and see how long you get to live there? However
 tribal societies would laugh at anyone who 
  agreed to live under such duress. 

  But at this time as no other, the last corners of the earth are
 seeing roads plowed into them and these last 
  tribal societies are being told to "get out". 

  If people who consume so little to survive are now being told
 that those who have so much have no room 
  for them then it can only be seen as evidence at how far the
 situation has gone. 

  Why shouldn't tribal people have the right to Sanctuary, to be
 able to live in preserves, where jungle is 
  badly needed at any rate, and be protected there?  There is no
 logical reason not to allow it. Not to 
  demand it. 

  Why should tribal peoples be forced to join the western
 economy? 
  Should choice of economy be listed as a basic human right?
 One would think so. 
  Why should they not have the choice to consider their form of
 education acceptable without having the 
  western form of education forced on them with its increasing
 emphasis and collaboration with the 
  marketplace? 

  Possibly allowing even one tribal society to exist is like
 leaving one piece of evidence that once life had 
  some value, once not everyone needed, wanted or wore a
 watch.  That at one time there was a spiritual 
  way to live and grow up that wasn't something which had
 been reduced to just words in religious books. 

  Sitting in a hut watching an Akha women carry on endless
 conversation with her child as she goes about 
  her work makes such mockery of foolish western notions
 made up to ease the conscience like "quality 
  time". One would laugh if it weren't so tragic. 

  Tribal societies don't assimilate well for very possibly the
 reason that they don't want to. 

  Assimilation is a term of denial used by the social system
 which is rolling over them and taking away 
  what they have. 

  In America it was the land. 
  In Brazil it was the land. 

  With the Akha it is the land. 
  It is the same everywhere. 
  And in little more than a hundred or so years of this new
 model almost all of the worlds resources have 
  been put in jeopardy. 

  The tribal peoples become a slave class in a cash society so
 much more hardened than they. 
  Many of the men end up in prison, many of the women end up
 as prostitutes while drug addiction, 
  alcoholism, suicide and diseases such as AIDS are the actual
 reality of "assimilation" and "development" 
  programs.  The larger society comes up with all kinds of
 rationalizations as to why this occurred but can 
  never admit to the causes which are not convenient to talk
 about. 
  Like a bird in a cage, tribal societies die more often than
 become enslaved.  To live among them one 
  would quickly see why. 
  More often they are being asked to give up all which they have
 in exchange for what, for many good 
  reasons, appears to be less than nothing. 

  It is the vast difference in these two realities and who the
 looser usually are that makes the work to assist 
  Tribal peoples so crucial.

  It is not just a matter of helping them till they assimilate,
 because this in reality is not what is occurring, in 
  reality they are dying. 

  More often than not, "Assimilation" or "Development" as it
 is so politely put, is not what they want and 
  should not be forced on them by governments, religious
 groups or well meaning NGO's. 

  Tribal societies one after the other are being wiped out in this
 fashion. 

  And this is what appears to be ignored. 

     We are a very small organization working as individuals in
 Northern  Thailand. 

     We have been working with the Akha now for seven years. 

     Our goals are to assist the Akha people in preserving their culture,
 language and traditions as they see fit. 

     In this process we help with medical needs, produce literacy
 materials and construct clean water systems. These are our chief areas
 of work, 
     although we often find ourselves providing other forms of
 assistance as well. 

     We are more than glad to take people into the villages who have
 some skill to donate or the capacity to pay for a project to be
 accomplished, but we 
     are not a tour company and we do not believe in “showing the
 Akha” to people as some kind of monkey show. We are well aware,
 that often a 
     single camera taken into an Akha village to take their pictures,
 represents more money than a household will see in a year. So
 photography for the 
     sake of photography is certainly beneficial to the tourist who wants
 to “been there, done that” but represents nothing for the Akha who
 provide 
     the subjects, hence our distaste for this activity. 

      Goals We Have: 

    1. Akha "911" Ambulance Service, improved medical care 
    2. Clean Wells 
    3. Literacy and literature: 100 Akha books in print by late Dec.
 1999 
    4. Gardens and Seeds for nutrition 
    5. Advocacy 
    6. Work with orphans 
    7. Hospice 
    8. Educational opportunities 
    9. Photographic, video and audio record 
    10. Alternatives to prostitution 

     For More about how our work began: 

    Click Here

 PROJECTS: 
 These projects currently running on an ongoing basis. 

 1.  Medical Assistance 
 2.  Wells 
 3.  Literacy and literature 
 4.  Gardens and Seeds 
 5.  Advocacy 
 

 PROJECT 1: 
 MEDICAL Assistance 

 Medical Section Pages 
 Click Here 

 Medical: 

 First aid services to villages. 
 Taking people out to clinics. 
 Arranging surgeries for things such as hernias, deformities,
 improperly healed injuries and internal illnesses. 
 Transport for Dental work 

 Special Medical Projects Section: 

 Ah Poh: 

 Ah Poh is an Akha girl from Burma who's lip was scarred in an
 accident. 
 Click to see photo 

 Photo section of medical conditions: 
 Click Here 
 

 PROJECT 2: 
 WELLS 

 Wells and water systems: See photos 

 When working on the literacy we were already involved in medical
 assistance so it was only natural to look for ways to reduce health
 problems in villages. The most obvious was to improve their water
 systems. 
 We have finished our first well which cost $1,000 but we think the
 next ones will be cheaper at about $600 each. 

 If you are interested in this project . 

 Click Here

 PROJECT 3: 
 LITERACY AND LITERATURE 

 We are developing literacy materials for the Akha. 
 These materials are in Akha Language. 
 We also encourage Akha people to write their own stories or anything
 else they wish so that we can print it for them. 

 We are working on a new Akha to Akha dictionary as well. 

 Artwork You Can Have 
 Child's Workbook artwork that you can have and other artwork as we
 add it. 

 If you need a specific art item, we can usually provide it for a
 language project, a donation is nice, but really no charge. 
 And of course we can add it to our collection. 
 Our artist has his own stylization as seen here, hope it works for you. 

 Printing Press Project Photo 
 

 More about our literacy project. 
  Click Here

 PROJECT 4: 
 GARDENS AND SEEDS 

 We discovered that there was such a narrow variety of vegetable seeds
 locally available that access to vegetables which could offer needed
 vitamins for health was very limited.  We have begun gathering and
 distributing vegetable seeds as one might find in great variety in the
 west. 

 You can help by gathering vegetable seeds of any nature that you can
 find and sending them to us which we in turn distribute in the villages
 for free.  This added variety of vegetables greatly assists families by a
 simple means. 
 
 

 PROJECT 5: 
 ADVOCACY 

 This includes things like this web site, helping to deliver factual
 representations of the Akha in a time when they repeatedly see their
 story distorted. 

 It also includes advocacy for the Akha on this end, such as clearing up
 misunderstandings between villages or other communities, police,
 health officials and other agencies. 
 

 WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP: 

 Of course we are always in need of funds. 

 But we are also in need of things like infant clothes, Band-Aids, paper,
 pencils. 
 Please contact us for a complete list of currently needed items or
 assistance. 
 

 VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: 

 We can use volunteers with medical, dental or administrative skills
 including with computers, we have very little funding so a volunteer
 must be self supporting while living on this end. 
 

 ENDANGERED PEOPLES AND NON PROFIT NGO
 CONSULTING: 

 Real help for the little folks who are just trying to help people. 

 Look! 

 We found that it was difficult to build a simple web site that we could
 maintain ourselves without a tech, but now we have it figured out and
 would be glad to help you. 

 We also discovered that funding is very hard to come by, people won't
 share information much and so forth. 

 But grass roots support is crucial to keeping an effort moving. 

 There is some legal paperwork and banking procedures that are a
 must as well. 

 A good web site, a weekly update of your work, prompt
 communication and clear understandings with people who have the
 potential to help as to what your needs are and are not. 

 Keep focused and never give up. 

 Endangered Languages Consulting, literature, literacy development,
 printing and bindery. 
 Effective Non Profit Organization setup and work 
 Effective Web Sites, how to build, inherent problems. 
 Non Profit support structure minimums 
 Effective Grass Roots fundraising for the startup individual or
 organization effort 
 Cutting through the Bull. 
 

 CONTACT INFO: 

 The Akha Heritage Foundation is
 a 
 Registered Non-Profit
 Corporation 
 in Salem, Oregon, USA. 

 We Are Currently Applying for 
 Association Status in Thailand. 

 The Akha Heritage Foundation 
 386/3 Sailom Joi Rd. 
 Maesai, Chiangrai, 57130 
 Thailand 
 
 

 The Akha Heritage Foundation 
 4790 12th Ave NE 
 Keizer, OR 97303 
 USA 
 

                             US Address: 

                             Donations by check or money
                             order may be sent to: 

                             The Akha Heritage Foundation 
                             PO Box 6073 
                             Salem, OR 97304 
                             USA 

                             Donations by direct banking
                             can be transferred to: 

                             Wells Fargo Bank 
                             Akha Heritage Foundation 
                             Acc. # 0081-889693 
                             Keizer Branch 
                             Keizer, Oregon, USA 

                             Web Site: 

                             Akha.com 
                             Akha.org 

                             E-mail: akha@loxinfo.co.th 

                             Mirror Web Site:
                             http://www.thailine.com/akha