Strangers in the hills

Abstract

Lao nationalism is usually thought to have emerged only at the end of the French colonial period during the Lao Renovation Movement (1941–1945), placing its origins much later than elsewhere in Southeast Asia. Yet when surveying Lao palm leaf manuscripts, it is evident that Lao scribes were writing in uniquely modern ways about themselves and others as early as 1890, three years prior to French colonization. They wrote in response to recent upheavals seen in the north amidst the Ho Wars (1869–1889) and the related migrations from south China during the mid- to late 19th century, and their accounts included highly-charged descriptions of newly arrived ethnic groups that subtly redefined what it meant to be Lao. These developments suggest an earlier origin to Lao ethnic nationalism at the turn of the century, which anticipated the later, more intense changes to appear in the French colonial era (1893–1945). Emphasis is placed on significant connections between the precolonial and colonial periods.