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 Tribal
people are almost universally forced to live in
relatively inhospitable terrain, and the groups in
southeast Asia are no exception. The mountains are
lovely, but the growing season is short, irrigation
is problematic, and erosion makes agriculture chancy
at best. But people adapt, because they must. They
work out technologic reponses to the environment,
embrace them, and retain them tenaciously.
Though the government of Viet Nam is striving to
expand the availability of electricity, much of the
pre-industrial technology remains. Tools for hunting
change little because newer weapons are too
expensive. The technology of agriculture changes
little because the rice terraces remain the same.
But that mix of voluntary and compulsory
traditionalism gives rise to objects of great beauty
as well as efficiency. We love especially those
things that demonstrate “the desire for beauty” in
every day life on the part of even the most stressed
communities.
• Great baskets for every job-specific to task,
gender, age, and tribe
• Tools for woodworking (bow drills, push drills)
and house-building
• Implements for hunting (by crossbow and by musket)
• Objects for fishing-traps, creels, knives,
net-making tools
• Tools for raising rice, harvesting opium, and
other crops.
• Tools for weaving
• Paraphernalia for enjoying betel chews
The list is long, the variations on simple themes a
subtle joy to discover.
Click to see
Tools for Living >>>
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