The Si La (also Sila or Syla) are an
ethnic group
An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
of about 3,151 people living in northern
Laos
Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...
and another 600 living in two villages: Nậm Sin and Seo Hay of
Lai Châu Province,
Northwest
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sep ...
region,
Vietnam.
Culture
The Si La people speak a
Tibeto-Burman language closely related to
Hani
Hani may refer to:
People
* Hani (name)
* Hani (producer), a record producer and remixer from New York City
* Hani (singer), a South Korean singer and member of EXID
* Hani people, an ethnic group of China and Vietnam
Places
* Hani, an island ...
(Edmondson 2002). Their primary occupation is the cultivation of
cereal
A cereal is any Poaceae, grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, Cereal germ, germ, and bran. Cereal Grain, grain crops are grown in greater quantit ...
s, augmented by
hunting
Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...
and
foraging. One of the most distinctive Si La customs is
tooth painting: men traditionally painted their teeth red, while women painted theirs black. The custom is increasingly uncommon among the younger generation.
References
{{Authority control
Ethnic groups in Laos
Ethnic groups in Vietnam