Reference : H-1-1-3

Name of creator(s) : Lucien and Jane Hanks

Scope and content : Jane R. Hanks began her research in 1963 by surveying the upland tribes living in the Mae Kok/Mae Kham rivers drainages in northern Thailand’s Chiang Rai Province. The Akha way of life reflects balanced gender roles. In the context of the community and household, a demarcation is made between the areas of male and female capacities and responsibilities, and between the practical and ritual spheres. In her work Hanks sketches a woman’s life and projects it into the cosmological sphere, where the meaning of sexual intercourse among the Akha is developed. The power of Akha women to conceive is perceived in its relation to Akha society and the spirit world.

Extent and medium : Typescript