Sila ethnic group

Proper name: Cu De Su.

Other names: Kha Pe.

Population: 594 people.

Language: Sila language be¬longs to the Tibeto-Burmese language group and is closer to Burmese.

History: The Sila migrated from Lao.

Production activities: In the past, the Sila used to practice nomadic farming, but they have shifted to the cultivation of rice and corn on swidden fields. Hunting, fishing and gathering are still significant to the economic livelihood of the Sila.

Diet: The Sila enjoy both glutinous and ordinary rice and soup cooked from forest vegetables. Their main protein source comes from fishing and hunting.

Clothing: Women wear black or indigo-dyed dresses that reveal the midriff. The blouse is buttoned under the right arm. The upper part of the dress is decorated with plenty of silver and tin coins; the collar and the two sleeves are decorated with different cloth bands of various colors. Headgear varies according to age. Women often carry handbags woven from hemp fiber. Teeth painting is still popular nowadays. Men paint their teeth red and women paint their teeth black.

Housing: The Sila are concentrated in several villages in Muong Te district of Lai Chau province. They live in houses built directly on the ground. A house usually has two compartments and two lean-tos, eaves and an entrance. The ancestral altar is placed in the innermost corner on the left, on which are put a small rice wine cup and a gourd. The kitchen hearth is placed at the heart of the house, where the important stone tripod is located. The most important stone, where the ancestors live, will take care of the fire and have its back turned towards the ancestral altar.

Transportation: The Sila usually use gui (carrying baskets). In addition, they also know how to use the wooden boats for travel and transport on rivers.

Social organization: Sila villages used to be ruled by Thai village officials. Division of social classes has not occurred. There is high sense of communality.
Lineage relationships are very close. While there are many different names and family branches, Hu and Po are two dominant family groups. Due to the concept that the same name and family branch name mean the same ancestors, it is easy for a person who lives away from relatives to move to other family branches and honor the same ancestors. Each branch of a lineage is headed " by a male elder, no matter if he is the first or the second son. Twice a year, on the occasion of the Lunar New Year and during the new rice festival, a ceremony is held by the branch head to pay tribute to their common ancestors, where typical offerings include squirrel meat, crab, pigeon, pipe wine, some paddy plants, taro and a bunch of pearl- barley leaves. People do not burn incense; rather, they burn beeswax candles on the ancestral altar. The lineage's sacred ritual objects, such as drums, horse bells, gourds and wine cups, are placed on the ancestral altar. When the head of the lineage passes away, the newly elected head must wait three years before he can transfer these ritual objects to his own house. The lineage head plays an important role among members within the lineage in events such as marriages, funerals, allowing a member to leave or accepting a new member. Persons of the same lineage cannot marry each other.