Wa

族About this people

The Wa people inhabit the Wa Highlands — a rugged mountain area straddling the southwestern Yunnan border with Myanmar — primarily in Ximeng and Cangyuan Wa Autonomous Counties. Related Wa communities (Wa, or Va, people) live across the border in Shan State and Sagaing Region of Myanmar. The Wa language belongs to the Palaungic sub-group of the Mon-Khmer branch of the Austroasiatic family.

The Wa traditionally lived in hilltop villages of bamboo longhouses and maintained a subsistence economy of upland dry-field rice cultivation, hunting, and gathering. Traditional Wa society was organised around the village chief and community councils, with elaborate codes of hospitality and inter-village relations. The Wa homeland is notable for its very high annual rainfall, which supports dense mountain forest.

The most distinctive Wa cultural artefact is the wooden drum (muge): large hollowed-log drums, sometimes over two metres in length, are kept in the drum house of each village and beaten for ceremonies, village assemblies, and festivals. Drum-making is a specialist male craft involving ceremony at each stage. The Wood Drum Festival (every January or February) involves the ceremonial pulling of a new drum into the village with communal singing, dancing, and feasting. Wa women are noted for their long skirt of woven cloth and silver hoop earrings. Hair-cutting ceremonies mark significant life transitions. Wa basket weaving, using rattan and split bamboo, produces distinctive household and carrying vessels.