| Abstract: |
Xam Neua and Xam Tai Districts in Houa Phanh Province, Laos, are nationally and internationally famous for hand-woven textile production. The purpose of this paper is to reveal the cultural reasons that women in these areas weave so much and so often. The villagersÂ’ lives are based on the division of work between men and women, and weaving is categorized as one aspect of womenÂ’s work. Because all Lao-Tai women in these districts must master the skill of weaving, the majority of women engage in textile production. This ability of all women to weave is a salient feature of textile production in Xam Neua and Xam Tai Districts and indicates that weaving textiles is embedded in the cultural context of village life. Today, this cultural context is changing rapidly, but women continue to weave textiles for their own use as well as for sale. I have conducted research in Houa Phanh Province since 2010 and have stayed there for a total of eleven months. Based on this research, I identify the reasons that Lao-Tai women in the districts continue to weave, focusing especially on marriage customs and textiles as gifts that are exchanged.
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