Display of various Khmu' baskets made in Houa Khong Province

Photographer

Bowman, James

Date

• January 4, 1973

Summary

• Five different Khmu' baskets, each serving a different function, are displayed in front of a house in the Khmu' village of Phou Luang Nyai (PC 4651) in Houa Khong Province. The villagers originally came from the village of Mokkachok in Luang Prabang Province as refugees. Starting with the basket on the far left, it is used for carrying harvested, un-milled rice from the rice fields to the village. The two smaller baskets are used for harvesting, i.e., a basket is worn around the waist and the grains plucked from the stalks are placed in it. When the basket is full, its contents are dumped into the larger basket seen on the left. The tube-shaped basket is carried by probably young girls when carrying items from the highland fields or tools. The basket on the far right is used generally by adult women for larger items like firewood or tools required to work in the fields, or perhaps items purchased in the local market or harvested from forest and fields, like banana stalks. Baskets for carrying rice are generally only used to carry rice and not other items. There are traditions as to how and what is used specifically to handle rice in the Khmu' culture. The baskets are generally made of a combination of bamboo and rattan.