Fam Joy and Bounsou are dear friends, master artisans, and frequent contributors to TAEC’s museum research in all areas of cultural heritage. We are honoured to tell their story.
Originally from Sayabouly Province, Bounsou was in the army and working at a checkpoint in Sing District, Luang Namtha in 1985 when they met. Fam Joy would pass the checkpoint frequently and they would chat with each other. They got engaged and started living together in 1986, but they didn’t have a wedding ceremony until 2002. Fam Joy had been married previously, with two young sons who were raised by Bounsou.Together, they adopted a two-month old Tai Dam girl, and named her Thaen Youn. Adoption is relatively common in Laos, even across ethnic groups. Though Kmhmu, Bounsou has been fully integrated into the Iu Mien community of his wife. He speaks Mien fluently, and has undergone the traditional “kwa tang” Taoist ordination ceremony.Fam Joy shared about her cross-cultural marriage, “my family didn’t have any problem with it. They agreed with it, and were fine with him. He didn’t have a mother and father anymore, so he became part of our family.”Bounsou said, “in the beginning I didn’t understand their language, so we just spoke Lao. I didn’t study Mien, I just listened to them when we were in the fields and they were talking. I’ve become a son [of the community] now.”
> Watch as Bounsou plays his hand-crafted bamboo jaw harp.
