Open Collections

Pitek, Emily

Database of Religious History (DRH)

The Lamet are native to the northwestern part of what is now known as Laos. This entry focuses on the Lamet living in this region around the time of 1940, and draws primarily from the work of principal ethnographic authority Karl Gustav Izikowitz. At the time Izikowitz was conducting field work among the Lamet (1936-1938), the region was governed by France, and was known as French Indochina. Despite being under French political rule, the Lamet culture was not greatly influenced by European culture. Each Lamet village is an independent unit, and no formal political office exists beyond the level of the village. However, the Lamet have seven totemic, patrilineal, exogamous clans that cut across villages and regulate marriage ties. The most important social unit is the house group, which is comprised of an extended family led by a housefather. Each village includes several house groups. There is somewhat of a hierarchy among the housefathers, with those who are lem (wealthiest) having greater influence within the village. The individual most closely resembling a chief is the xǝmiā (priest of sacrifice), whose authority varies in each village depending on personality and status. The xǝmiā’s responsibilities include performing all sacrifices to the various spirits of the village, ensuring order is kept and the spirits are not disturbed, and supervising the community house. The position is hereditary in the male line. Religious ceremonies focus around hunting, agriculture and the seasonal cycle, death/burial rites, and maintaining the good will of spirits to ensure the wellbeing of the village. Lamet supernatural beings include village spirits, ancestor spirits (also known as house spirits), and forest spirits. Additionally, rice possess a spirit in the same way that a human possesses a soul. Medicine men are also present, and use divination to determine which spirit is causing illness and what needs to be done to appease the spirit. For the Lamet, religion does not exist in a distinct sphere of life, but is bound up with the functioning of society as a whole. Consequently, this entry considers the religious group to be coterminous with the society.

Other

eng

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0392077

Non UBC

Unreviewed

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/