hill tribe
Highland ethnic group
Hill tribe refers to ethnic minority groups living in the mountainous regions of Southeast Asia, particularly Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Myanmar.
These communities—including the Hmong, Karen, and Akha—maintain distinct languages, traditional dress, and cultural practices.
The term appears in tourism and anthropological contexts but can carry patronizing overtones, suggesting primitive or exotic peoples separate from mainstream society.
- mountainousHaving many peaks
- slash-and-burn agricultureFarming by burning clearings
- folkloreInherited cultural narratives
- highlandElevated, mountainous land
- mountain villageSmall settlement at elevation
clan · oral history · animism · spirit house · ancestral spirits · Karen · deforestation · rituals · Hmong · ethnicity · silver jewelry · kinship · lineage · terracing · rice wine · weaving · communal living · urban migration