During my trekking experience through the mountain region of Northern Vietnam it dawned on me that the majority of the tour guides had been women. It lead me to wonder of the confidence these women have developed being on the front line of tourism. Proudly representing their culture and interacting with visitors from all over the world.
I had researched about an organization called Sapa O’Chau (thank you Sapa). It is a local run enterprise that provides sustainable tourism opportunities for communities while preserving local culture. Sapa itself is a picturesque town built up into a hill which surrounds a lake. It has a hint of European essence about it with a coffee shop on every corner and is a vibrant hub for both the nearby village people and tourists.
The indigo trail I had been on, had lead me here. I knew that indigo was a central part of some of the people’s lives here and I was keen to experience it first-hand. Through Sapa O’Chau I had organised a full day of handicrafts plus a three day trekking experience. My local tour guide and translator Sy, was employed by Sapa O’Chau four years prior knowing very little English, unlike today. She regularly leaves her village while she works away sometimes for days at a time guiding tourists on scenic treks and cultural experiences throughout the Hoang Lien Son mountain range also leaving her husband with their three children at home.
I was driven to my craft teacher Soms house who lives in a Black Hmong village nearby to Sapa. Black Hmong people are a sub group of the Hmong ethnic group who originate from southern China. Many migrated down and settled in the northern mountain regions of Laos, Vietnam and Thailand a few hundred years ago. Each sub group of the Hmong have their unique language and customs that are distinctive to the other by the costume styles they wear. The name Black Hmong comes about as they over dye their traditional hemp and cotton made garments with indigo until they become so dark they almost appear black. I was particularly interested in the Black Hmong craft traditions being the batik, embroidery and indigo dyeing processes that are used to decorate these traditional outfits.
The Black Hmong people will generally have only a handful of handmaid outfits. All being in the same style but decorated with the individuals own unique designs and each for a different occasions It is traditional for the women to handmake a new outfit in time for the celebrations of the New Luna Year. The Hmong women take great pride in this process of handmaking their garments. From a young age they are taught by their mothers and grandmother to prepare for these traditional skills of making clothes not only for themselves but for their future families.
Once the handicraft lessons were over Som my teacher asked if I would like to go with her to a funeral being held nearby. Sadly her cousin had passed away a few days prior. I accepted the offer as I knew a funeral is one of the most important events for Black Hmong people.
We dressed in indigo attire and walked down into the valley to a traditional Hmong style house. In the centre of the house were two men playing a drum and a reed pipe. Playing these instrument are extremely important. It is in the Hmongs belief that the sound of the reed pipe helps guide the deceased spirit to its ancestors. The beat of the drum is to notify the ancestors that the spirit is on its way. In a corner inside the house was a bloodied carcass of a sacrificed water buffalo. Another important element to the ritual as the buffalo spirit is to accompany the human spirit on their journey to after life.
7. I suspected many of these occasions where an opportunity for young people to mingle in the hopes to find romance. Once I arrived I understood what it was that gave these normally quiet souls the confidence . Happy water as Sy called it, was a homemade rice spirit and it was surely taking its effect. It was quite lively and this funeral had been taking place for a few days. Inside and the guests were dressed in their best indigo attire. Over on a table I did notice a lot of bottles and it wasn’t long before I was invited to have a drink. I learned there was a sequence that had to be played out first. I too became happier as the game went on. I would of loved to have stayed but the day was ending and Si had to get me back to Sapa before she could go home to her family. I left with so much more understanding of the cultural important in sending off their loved ones.
Rice spirits has a place in many traditions here. Another use is to aid fermentation in indigo vats . It is joked about amongst the women that the Indigo vat is like a drinking man. Tending to their vats the women are observing the smell and the colour and will dose with the spirit accordingly. An indigo vat is a living thing that needs just the right amount of warmth, just the right amount of alkalinity and just the right amount of spirits for it too to be happy.
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I’ve come to see and understand how Indigo is binded within culture and daily life here. It’s a colour tied to history and has central importance for not only the Black Hmong hill tribe people but also other hill tribes that have farmed and dyed with indigo for centuries. Indigo is regarded as sacred and it is tended to with the upmost of importance.
If you have a passion for textiles arts and crafts then trekking tours through Northern Vietnam are the best way to immerse into this craft culture. You’ll walk through villages and see women weaving hemp. On the way to the next village where you may see farmers preparing soil for hemp growing or even catch them as they harvest. You’ll see gardens of indigo and smell fermentation in the air from nearby vats. You’ll see babies crawling around their mothers are who are busy on their embroidery pieces and school children on their breaks selling their handicrafts to tourist who pass through their village.
Sapa O’Chau do a wonderful service for locals and tourists. They have an array of cultural experience options as well as offering comfortable accommodation. For more information follow the link below to their website. Enjoy!
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