Special Issue 2, August 2015 Published by the Center for Lao Studies ISSN: 2159-2152 www.laostudies.org ______________________ Special Issue 2, August 2015 Information and Announcements i-ii Introducing a Second Collection of Papers from the Fourth International 1-5 Conference on Lao Studies. IAN G. BAIRD and CHRISTINE ELLIOTT Social Cohesion under the Aegis of Reciprocity: Ritual Activity and Household 6-33 Interdependence among the Kim Mun (Lanten-Yao) in Laos. JACOB CAWTHORNE The Ongoing Invention of a Multi-Ethnic Heritage in Laos. 34-53 YVES GOUDINEAU An Ethnohistory of Highland Societies in Northern Laos. 54-76 VANINA BOUTÉ Wat Tham Krabok Hmong and the Libertarian Moment. 77-96 DAVID M. CHAMBERS The Story of Lao r: Filling in the Gaps. 97-109 GARRY W. DAVIS Lao Khrang and Luang Phrabang Lao: A Comparison of Tonal Systems and 110-143 Foreign-Accent Rating by Luang Phrabang Judges. VARISA OSATANANDA Phuan in Banteay Meancheay Province, Cambodia: Resettlement under the 144-166 Reign of King Rama III of Siam THANANAN TRONGDEE The Journal of Lao Studies is published twice per year by the Center for Lao Studies, 65 Ninth Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103, USA. For more information, see the CLS website at www.laostudies.org. Please direct inquiries to [email protected]. ISSN : 2159-2152 Books for review should be sent to: Justin McDaniel, JLS Editor 223 Claudia Cohen Hall 249 S. 36th Street University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104 Copying and Permissions Notice: This journal provides open access to content contained in every issue except the current issue, which is open to members of the Center for Lao Studies. Once a new issue is published, the contents of this issue will be made freely available. We agree with the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. Authors who publish with this journal retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non- exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work. For all others requesting permission to republish, resell, or repurpose material, please contact the CLS at [email protected]. Editors: Justin McDaniel, University of Pennsylvania Vatthana Pholsena, Institut d’Asie Orientale, Lyon, France Editorial Board: Soulinhakhath (Steve) Arounsack, California State U., Stanislaus, USA Ian G. Baird, University of Wisconsin – Madison, USA Carol J. Compton, Independent Scholar, USA Nick J. Enfield, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, The Netherlands Anne Frank, (retired), University of California, Irvine, USA Gregory Green, Cornell University, USA Gary Lee, Bilingual Welfare Service Team, Cabramatta Community Centre, Australia Mark Pfiefer, Texas A and M University, Corpus Christi, USA Boike Rehbein, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany Phitsamay Sychitkokhong Uy, Ph.D. Candidate, Harvard University, USA The Journal of Lao Studies, Volume 5, Issue 1, pps i-ii. ISSN : 2159-2152. Published by the Center for Lao Studies at www.laostudies.org ii JLS Announcements and Information Cover by Gregory Green. Image of Vat Sisaket, Vientiane, Laos adapted from: Smyth, H. Warrington. Notes of a Journey on the Upper Mekong, Siam. London: Published for the Royal Geographical Society by J. Murray, 1895. pp. 75. CLS Board of Directors: Prany Sananikone, University of California at Irvine, CA, USA (Chair) Gregory Green, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA Amy Bowers, Consultant, Wisconsin, USA Bounlieng Phommasouvanh, Retired, CA, USA Samantha M. Saechao, EOPS/CARE Program Coordinator, Redding, CA, USA Phoumy Sayavong, Laney College, Oakland, CA, USA Panechanh Sinantha-Hu, Manager/Owner Medical Office, Redding, CA, USA Genevieve K. Siri, Phoenix, AZ, USA Vinya Sysamouth, CLS Executive Director, CA, USA Announcements: Call for Article Submissions for the JLS: The study of Laos and the Lao has grown significantly over the past decade. With the opening up of some historical and manuscript archives, the improvement of communication and transportation, and the launching of joint Lao-foreign research projects, Laos has attracted a number of new scholars in diverse fields of expertise. The Journal of Lao Studies (JLS) is an exciting new scholarly project which is expected to become the first and most prestigious venue for researchers who work on Laos. We are now accepting submissions of articles, book review suggestions, review articles (extended reviews of major publications, trends in the field, or of political, social, or economic events). These submissions can cover studies on Laos, the Lao diaspora (Northeast Thailand, Europe, the Americas, Australia, and so on), or studies in regards to ethnic groups found in Laos (Hmong, Akha, Khmu, among others). Language: Lao and English are the main languages, other languages are welcomed. Please check with the editors first before submitting articles in other languages not listed here. Introducing a Second Collection of Papers from the Fourth International Conference on Lao Studies (4ICLS) By Guest Editors: Ian G. Baird1 and Christine Elliott2 The Fourth International Conference of Lao Studies (4ICLS) was held at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison) in Madison, Wisconsin, in the United States, from April 19–21, 2013. The conference was organized by the Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Center for Lao Studies (CLS), based in San Francisco, California. 4ICLS brought together over 250 scholars, students and community members from around the world with various interests related to Lao studies. During the conference, a total of 38 panels and 120 individual presentations addressed a wide range of topics. As with past international Lao studies conferences, 4ICLS defined “Lao studies” broadly so as to include not only scholarly research related to ethnic Lao people, but also peoples from all ethnic groups found in Laos, including but not limited to the Hmong, Iu- Mien, Khmu, Lue, Lamet, Tai Dam, Brao, Akha, Jrou and Brou. The government of Laos presently recognizes 49 major ethnic groups and over 160 subgroups (Lao Front for National Construction 2005). In addition to these groups, the conference covered ethnic Lao peoples (and speakers of other Tai languages) living in other countries in Asia such as Thailand, Cambodia, Viet Nam and China. Research presentations related to people from all the ethnic groups found in Laos but who live in other parts of the world, including former refugees and their descendants and other immigrants to North America, Europe and Oceania, as well as those with roots in Laos but who now identify as Lao Americans, Hmong Americans or simply Asian Americans, also contributed to the conference. This is the second special issue of the Journal of Lao Studies (JLS) that includes papers presented at 4ICLS. The first issue, which came out in March 2015, included a short introduction, much like this one, and eight full-length research articles focusing on a wide range of topics. This issue contains this introduction and seven additional full- length research papers, all of which passed through a rigorous double-blind peer-review process (two or three reviewers per paper). We are grateful for the helpful feedback provided by the many prominent scholars who agreed to serve as referees. Their comments were crucial for ensuring the quality of the final published papers. We also thank Rebecca May for her expert support in copyediting the papers. This special issue explores two important but considerably different areas within Lao studies: upland peoples and Tai linguistics. The first group includes four papers 1 Ian G. Baird: Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 550 N. Park St., Madison, Wisconsin, 53706 USA, [email protected] 2 Christine Elliott: Faculty Assistant, Program in English as a Second Language, University of Wisconsin- Madison, 5134 Helen C. White, 600 N. Park St., Madison, Wisconsin, 53706 USA, [email protected] The Journal of Lao Studies, Special Issue 2, 2015, pps 1-5. ISSN : 2159-2152. Published by the Center for Lao Studies at www.laostudies.org 2 Introduction related to upland peoples from Laos, all of which rely on ethnography as their primary method of study. The first paper in this group discusses the people from the Kim Mun ethnic group in northern Laos, the second considers upland ethnic minorities in Xekong Province in southern Laos, the third examines people from the Phounoy ethnic group in the far north, and the fourth relates to Lao Hmong people living at the Wat Tham Krabok Buddhist temple in Saraburi, central Thailand. The second focus of this special issue is Tai linguistics, particularly Lao language varieties and other related Tai dialects. There are three articles in this group. The first deals with the history of “r” in the spoken and written Lao language. The second discusses the relationship between the language of “Lao Khrang” people in central and northern Thailand—people who were originally from the Luang Phrabang area in Laos—and the variety of Lao currently spoken in Luang Phrabang today. The third relates to the language of ethnic Phuan/Phouan people living in northern Cambodia. The first paper, written by Jacob Cawthorne, a PhD candidate in the Asia Institute at the University of Melbourne in Australia, examines the ritual life of ethnic Kim Mun people in northern Laos.