Cotton Weavers of Bắc Hà (La Chí)
2019 6m HD 1.85
Heritage Shorts #3
In the third of a new series of short films from Heritage Centre Sapa in association with Open Cinematic, we meet Vàng Thị Ngải of the La Chí and her daughters. The La Chí are one of the lesser known of Vietnam’s 54 minority ethnic groups with a population of approximately 12,000 people. They are the oldest inhabitants of both Hà Giang and Lào Cai provinces.
It is impossible to say which ethnic group first engineered the majestic terraced rice fields, but the La Chí have ancient folk stories that mention terraces. They are now experts at cultivating land and working on wet rice cultivation. Other fields are reserved for planting indigo, cinnamon and cotton.
Knowledge is orally passed down from generation to generation in La Chí families, who have a rich collection of legends and fairy tales that explain to young people the wonders of natural phenomena.
Typical La Chí homes are built on stilts with three distinct zones. This creates the unique architectural mix of a stilt house, where the family live, a cooking area on ground level and a storehouse. All built in a relatively small space, the roof unites the three sections.
La Chí women wear a four-panelled cotton dress with splits in front over an embroidered bodice with a cloth belt. They wear a pair of trousers or a skirt along with a headdress embroidered with intricate silk details.
Despite the widespread availability of cotton fabric at markets across Vietnam, for the La Chí, remarkably, cotton cultivation remains a living tradition.
