JPG

A member of the Karen Tribe poses in front of hand made scarves for sale. The Karen tribe lives 1 hour north of Chiang Mai, Thailand and immigrated from Burma 200 years ago. The tribe allows tourists to visit their "old world" style village built from local trees and bamboo so they can sell hand made gifts to support an otherwise negligible income.

The tribe still lives in traditional houses built some 5-10 feet off the ground on stilts. Traditionally, farm animals are kept under the houses. The tribe still harvests food from nearby farmland. They have somewhat integrated into the modern Thail life style--they speak Thai in addition to their native language, many of the children attend local schools, their clothing is a mix of modern and traditional (you can see by the shirt she is wearing) and the religion of the tribe mixes Buddhism or Christianity with belief in, what we might call, a spirit-world.