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Akha educational System and Oral Literature

Akha and Hani societies are 'post-literate' in the sense that they stem from highly developed Yi-Chia groups which possessed a script, as their histories tell us. They are 'pre-literate' in that they had 'lost' their script; they say 'they ate their books of buffalo-hide when they were hungry' (Lewis, 1969, Vol. 1: 35; Yang Wanzhi, 1991).

Mnemesis, the memorising and oral transmission of 'traditional knowledge', including their history of overcoming problems, their use and reproduction of ecological resources, and their reaction to external political pressures, are part of their capacity to survive, their 'survival system'. Not all their 'oral literature' can be considered such, however.

It is impossible to understand Akha culture and history without knowing a wide range of different oral texts and the value given to each of them by the Akha themselves, that is to say their village leaders (Dzoema), teachers and reciters (Pirma or Boemaw) and technicians (Badzji). While Nanga, self-taught lay person, may occasionally be helpful, specialists have been trained over many years to be responsible for the transmission of history and traditional knowledge.

A distinction can be made between the following genres:

1. Archaic and standardised oral Phima/Dzoema texts, whose wide distribution among Akha and Hani sub-groups indicates antiquity.
2. Folk-tales, stories, legends told especially by elders. These may be derived from the historical Phima/Dzoema texts, or be popular stories explaining contemporary phenomena, or have a moral rather than historical intention, deriving perhaps from neighbouring tribal or lowland groups. Examples are stories of the 'twin saved from the flood in a pumpkin', 'the origin of rice', 'the hunting of the ten suns leading to darkness' etc.
3. Children's 'fairy tales', of the sort familiar to so many cultures. They have educational value, but cannot be taken seriously as historical records. They include stories about Mawhui and Mawnyi, and several stories about tigers, spirits, and pehseu (werewolves and vampires) (Hansson, 1984b).

The Archaic Oral Texts

The 'archaic oral texts' are part of a large 'corpus' of pre-literate and maybe partly even 'post-literate' poetic and ritual-related literature. Some texts may go back to a common background with the Yi/Lolo, who had a literate class of Bemo (cf. Akha Phima or Boemaw). They are the possession of trained Phima teachers and reciters, trained as Phiza (students) over a period of ten years or more.

Phima belong to different Phima schools, of which there are three or four in Thailand. Training of Phizas (studets) requires a literal, word-by-word, concentrated, 'meditative' type of memorisation. Before each major recitation 10-20 generations of deceased Phima and ancestors are invoked to witness and check the faithfulness of their memory. Cosmic irregularities are expected to occur in case of incorrect memorisation (Geusau, 1983a: 268).

The language of 'archaic oral texts' is not easily understandable by a lay-person. This indicates that 'old language' is being used, although the age of the texts has not been established. What has been established however is that Phima or Boemaw from Akha groups with considerable language differences, nonetheless possess almost identical 'archaic' texts. Even Hani and Akha who separated more than 800 years ago share archaic texts with a high degree of mutual intelligibility. These texts are recited at ceremonial occasions, and other opportunities are taken to recite them in order to teach Akha customary law.

© Leo Alting von Geusau, based on Geusau (2000)