Katu

ABOUT

The Katu are an Austroasiatic ethnic group living in the Annam Mountains of southern Laos and central Vietnam. They believe in nature spirits, and also have a concept of a powerful (female) Creator Spirit inhabiting the Sky. Their traditional villages were built in a circular formation, surrounding the community hall, used for important meetings, feasts, and ceremonies.

Katu women weave textiles on a foot-braced backstrap loom – an ancient technique for creating cloth. Cloth is often decorated with beads, and sewn into simple skirts and tunics for wear. TAEC works with cooperatives of Katu women from Salavan and Sekong Provinces, promoting their backstrap loom textiles of cotton, banana fibre, and beads.

Learn more about the Katu in Champa Meuanglao Magazine.

Meet Monmala

Monmala Bounkheun is a master Katu weaver and close friend of TAEC. She is the organiser of the women’s weaving cooperative in Houay Houn Tai village, a position she was elected to by the community, and she’s held proudly for 6 years. She talks to buyers, oversees quality control, takes orders, and organises the schedule for women who sell in the community shop. Somewhere in this incredibly busy schedule she still finds time to weave her incredible beaded textiles.

Monmala tells us, “weaving is the original occupation of Katu women, it is very important for us. Usually, all girls should learn when they are about 7. My daughter is only 4, so she had not started yet, but I will teach her…I love weaving and I enjoy it.”

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