The way of life and the customs of the Sgaw people are those of living with the forest. The first generation of people who settled down and started to earn a living here led a simple life, whose livelihood has relied on the forest ever since. The culture that has been passed on from generation to generation in the S’gaw society has resulted in the respect towards nature and an intimate tie between humans and trees.

 

As a proof of this Sgaw belief, the ‘navel tree’ is a brilliant example. Each S’gaw person owns one such navel tree, ‘De-Po-Tu’ in the local language. At birth, the father would put the baby’s placenta in a bamboo tube, then tie it to a tree. The tree would be picked by its strength and its ability to bear fruits for human or animal consumption. The emergence and existence of the navel trees are regarded as a spiritual bridge connecting humans and trees. Therefore, the more people there are in the village, the more trees and forest areas there are around it. The navel trees and, by extension, other trees might be the beginning of the community’s serious commitment to protecting common goods.

 

A profound aspect worth noting is that a birth of one person naturally leads to the needs for resources for survival and for a navel tree. It is like birth registration with nature, to inform mother nature that another living creature has been born, which would add an extra burden. Nevertheless, the birth does not only mean a one-sided strain for nature, but also a future humanpower to protect and conserve it.

 

The story of the navel tree has journeyed through time until today. Along the way it stumbled upon obstacles, such as when newer generation babies are born in the hospital in town. It was difficult at first to explain this belief to the doctors; however, after having visited the village and witnessed the forest of the tall-standing navel trees that have been planted by the previous generation themselves, they eventually understood. The navel trees explain themselves best through the nature’s language. Today, the first question that the nurses and doctors ask a Sgaw person who goes to give birth at the hospital is whether they are a Sgaw person, so that they could keep the placenta for the ritual.

 

Forests are essential to the lives of human and wild animals alike because they provide sources of food, air, herbal medicine, and shelter. In addition to the abovementioned belief, villagers have also recognized the values of the forest for survival.

 

According to the villagers, “we live because we have forest and water”. Everyone thus clearly sees the real values of the forest. As values are attached to the protection and care, wisdom in various aspects emerge to prevent, directly and indirectly, the forest and its resources from being exploited and destroyed by greedy people.

 

I would like to talk about the following custom, which is a part of another wisdom that has resulted from a long-standing experience in the forest. The Sgaw people know each and every tree in the forest. By this, they do not only know them by names, but also their characters. The characters here refer to their flowering and fruiting season, their preferred climate, and their preferred position in the forest. Some tree names are even used to indicate the exact location in the forest, for instance, “Chodohmohde”, which means a mountain pass where twisted pine trees grow. Memorizing leaf characteristics, wood scents, wood colors, and tree shapes are considered normal. The death of any tree, by natural cause or otherwise, would instantaneously become a conversation topic among the villagers. The attention to smallest details leads to a consultation process when an irregularity is detected in order to prevent possible hazards, such as wildfire. Such action is repeated until it becomes consolidated in each specific Sgaw community.

 

The Sgaw people know their own community inside out including the personalities of the members. The people in the same community and among other Sgaw communities would know what the advantages and disadvantages of a community forest are, where certain plants and animals are found, which villages have them and which ones do not.

 

Passing on and learning of the wisdom to take care and protect as well as to use the forest take into account the issue of sustainability. The villagers here support and rely on each other. They have a tribal costume made of wild herbs that has been learned through generations.

 

Huay Hin Lad Nai village is located in the middle of the valley surrounded by forest in Wiang Pa Pao District, Chiang Rai province.

 

“He-Ko” recalled when he first arrived here. It was a small community consisting of few households. The village was named after the Mae La Ki stream that flows through it. In the past, small houses were built with bamboo and roofs were thatched with “Ko”, local palm leaves. Family members lived together in an extended family. Setting up a village at that time was done by a leader, who performed an ancestral ritual. Moving village was easy, and the main reasons were diseases. Pinpointing where the appropriate location of the new village would be required fortune telling and informing the guardian spirits and the sacred entities for wellbeing of the villagers.

 

The handfasting ceremony of the Sgaw people is performed every year before ploughing the rotational crops.

 

The handfasting tradition involves tying the hands of the descendants and letting the community members give them blessings, so that their ‘Kwan’ or guardian spirits stay with them for a long time. The Sgaw have 37 Kwans consisting of animals and insects, like barking deers, deers, birds, grasshoppers, etc. In the Sgaw belief system, the human body is not composed of a single element but also spirits of many other living creatures as well. The absence of one animal simply means the missing part of the Sgaw life. This belief has led the Sgaw people to respect and value the environment around them. The handfasting ceremony is a time when the Sgaw descendants are reminded of sharing, not only among fellow human beings, but also plants, wild animals, and insects.  

 

On the handfasting ceremony day, highest importance is given to not harming living creatures in the forest. The spiritual leader will give a blessing to every family and say the Sgaw prayers that have been passed on until today to the guardian spirits of the forest.

 

On the banks of this small river are all kinds of plants and vegetables that can be collected and cooked into various dishes. Almost all the young people know in their heart what each plant is called and whether it is edible. They mostly ask from the elderly in the community. Every year when they go into the stream, they would encounter tiny shrimps, crabs, and fish that are hiding between rock cracks. In some seasons when they go fishing for cooking, they get to learn about the spawning season and hatching season so as to avoid catching them during these periods.

 

The new generations learn the lessons from previous generation through “Tha”. “Ue Tha” or singing Tha does not only provide a good source of entertainment, but also include wisdom and moral to lead one’s life. As a result, the Sgaw people value the principle of caring in their way of life.

 

Seeds lie at the heart of rotational farming practice. Seeds are an important heritage of local plant species that has been passed on since the ancient times.

 

Towards the end of February, the season starts to change and the air becomes warmer. When that happens, leaves fall and pile up on the ground, becoming fuels and fire risks.

 

As wildfire kills both saplings and big trees every year, villagers have been cooperative in terms of preparing the fire control area and organizing a fire watch team. The villagers have observed that certain wild animals, such as barking deers, pheasants, jungle fowls, and others, give birth or lay eggs in the dry season, so it is important for the villagers to monitor wildfires and reduce the pollution.

 

 

This story is the product from the series of workshop on “Creative and Strategic Communication for Sustainability” organized by UNDP and Realframe with the support from the EU