Three Lahu Nyi (Red Lahu) Marriage Prayers: Lahu Texts and Ethnographic Notes

Abstract

During the course of my anthropological fieldwork among the Lahu people in the hills of north Thailand, I devoted much time to the recording and translation of ritual prayers and chants. Analysis of these texts was of fundamental importance in my studies of Lahu religious ideas, for often the ritual word made clear what remained nebulous in the ritual act or in everyday language. But apart from their usefulness in explanation, the ritual texts are intrinsically valuable as a contemporary expression of the cultural heritage of this preliterate mountain folk. It is for this reason that I record here, both in translation and in the original language, the texts of marriage prayers given to me by three elders of my study village. A brief description of the ceremony suggests the setting for these recitations. The Lahu text is given for language scholars and for future generations of Lahu, who for the most part are still unable to record their own cultural heritage. I hope my translations will give some idea of the beauty of Lahu oral poetry.