Paper short abstract:

Ethnic classification by the state entails confusion with regard to ethnonyms and ethnogenesis. The Tai Neua of Laos are a case in point.

Paper long abstract:

This presentation does not deal with the Tai Neua who 'exist' as ethnic group according to the official census of the Lao PDR. It is about the Tai Neua who sometimes appear in colonial and postcolonial literature as allegedly making up the majority of the population of Houaphan province, NE Laos. There is no direct connection between both of them unless we contend ourselves with references to language family (Tai-Kadai) and religion (Buddhist). The 'real' Tai Neua of Luang Namtha province locate their origins in China where they form part of the ethnic category 'Dai' and stand out with regard to their specific script and ritual practice. However, the 'imagined' Tai Neua of Houaphan seem to be Lao who came to settle in the remote mountain valleys close to the Vietnamese realm at the behest of the king of Luang Prabang from the 15th century onwards. Presumably through their appearance in royal chronicles as 'Northern Tai' and their notable local dialect, the French colonial administrators considered the Lao müang of Houaphan as ethnically 'different' and more closely related to the Tai Deng and Tai Dam.

The case study focuses on aspects of ethnogenesis and ethnic classification by the state, taking the multi-ethnic population of Houaphan as case study for a discussion in a broader context of upland-lowland interaction, state-periphery relations, and colonial knowledge production.