Red Thai is one of fifty-four distinct ethnic groups in Vietnam. (Some also live in Laos.) Their name is taken from the Red River in Yunnan, a southern province of China where they originated. Thai Daeng is a tonal language spoken by 176,000 people who are without any Scriptures or Gospel recordings.
The men are the leaders, but both men and women share such duties as plowing, fishing, cooking, and cleaning. The Thai Daeng are known for their intricate weaving; white deer on a sixty-year-old sarong are pictured here.
Most Red Thai are animists, mixed with a little Buddhism. They believe that spirits live in objects and pray to ancestors as well as to guardian and locality spirits, hoping to appease them and receive their aid. They know nothing of the One who died to set them free.
Winter 2007-08