Headman of Mien

The main tasked of a Mien headman are: to direct village celebrations; maintain security; and preside at meetings of the elders. Decorum and politeness are stressed when elders meet to discuss the affairs of the village. In cases of disputes between villagers, the headman does not serve so much as judge as one who suggests alternatives for resolving the issue quickly and in a mutually acceptable way.

The headman is also responsible for the welfare of the villagers. Some years ago an anthropologist recorded the ceremonial names of the ancestors in a certain village during the absence of the headman. On his return the headman, who was most upset about this, politely explained to the anthropologist that if someone learned the ceremonial names of their ancestors he cloud use that knowledge in black magic against the villagers. The headman then asked for the list of names, which he promptly burned.

Village of Mien

The structure and location of the village is of less importance to the Mien than the individual household. There is no village gate, ceremonial building, or dancing ground-sometimes not even a very well-defined village area.

Mien favor a site on a gradual slope, with steeper slopes above and below. The site must also have a forest area with a stream nearby.

While most villages consist of only 10 - 25 houses, at least one in the Kamphaeng Phet area has over 200. Each village is made up of two or more clans, that of the founding headman tending to predominate.

Ornamentation of Mien

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On festive occasions women and children wear silver neck rings, occasionally multi-tiered. From the hooked ends at the back women may suspend silver chains to which bells, balls, dangles, and tiny grooming tools are attached, some of them brightened with cloisonne' enamel. A few women have ornamental pieces made of a network of chains, bells and dangles which cover the back from the neck to the waist, but most have silver only at the top with long silk burgundy tassels hanging to the waist.

Mien women, like the Hmong, wear arrow-shaped earrings with the shafts bent into circles. They also wear a variety of silver rings. A pair of heavy silver bracelets is worn by the women on their left wrists above a long silver chain, wrapped around the lower wrist. They do not wear the bracelets on the right wrist as it would interfere with their work.

Exquisite silver butterflies, birds, flowers, and geometric designs, as well as bells, balls, and tiny grooming tools come from the forges of the highly skilled Mien silversmiths.

Clothing of Mien (2)

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Girls are taught to embroider from the age of five or six. They start with the five original patterns, and gradually add to their repertoire as they gain in skill. A mother may make pants and tunic for her daughter when the child is four or five. Girls wear caps until they are nine or ten, although on festive occasions even small girls may wear turbans. By the age of ten a girl should be able to embroider her own pants, and from then on she spends countless hours creating beauty with her embroidery needle.

Both the sash and turban have 20 cm or more of embroidery at each end, using mostly the weaving stitch and horizontal/vertical stitch. Mien in the Chiang Kham area use seven meters of cloth for both turbans and sashes, while the Lao-Mien use only half that length. In both cases the cloth is about 50 cm wide. The sash is folded in half lengthwise, wound around the waist over the tunic, and looped in the back so that the embroidered ends hang evenly.

Women's turbans are wrapped in different ways according to the area. Lao-Mien women, using the shorter length of cloth, wrap their turbans very neatly, criss-crossing them front and back, with embroidered patches showing around the rim or across the crown. The Chiang Kham-Mien cover the crown of the head with red cloth, then wind the turban around many times, leaving the embroidered ends to stick up inside the roll on either side. Others wrap it loosely into a massive headpiece, being careful, of course, that the embroidery shows. Women consider it untidy for hair to show under the turban, so they pluck out any hair that might be exposed.

The ankle-length tunic is made of one straight piece in the back and two in the front. It is split nearly to the waist on the sides. The front edges of the Lao-Mien tunics have a 3 cm wide embroidered border to the waist, while the Chiang Kham-Mien often sew on a strip of cotton print material. Along the inside edge of the border is a ruff of red wool yarn, short and thick on the Chiang Kham style. The two strips of cloth forming the front of the tunic from the waist down are folded together and tucked up into the sash on one side, exposing the embroidered pants. A fine tunic has silk and bead tassels hanging at the tops of the split sides, a row of rectangular-shaped engraved or repoussed silver buckles down the front to the waist, and burgundy-colored braid with fine silver wire twisted around it attached to the edges of the garment.

An ornate apron/cape is worn for weddings and other special occasions. The band at the top is decorated with red, white, and black strips of cloth edged with saw-toothed red applique. The body of the garment is adorned with patches of cross-stitched embroidery and bold applique patterns of symmetrical shapes with many lobes and curlicues. It can be worn either as a cape or an apron and is embellished with silver buttons, coins, dangles, and chains. The ends of the sashes have long tassels of beads and burgundy or red silk thread. A simpler version is used as a baby-carrying cloth.

A man's suit consists of a loose-fitting jacket that crosses over the chest and is closed by eight to ten silver ball-shaped buttons sown the right side, worn with Chinese-style pants. Both garments are made of black or indigo homespun cloth, although some older men wear satin jackets for festive occasions. The jackets of younger men are embellished with red, black, and white piping around the edges and have patches of embroidery, sometimes forming pockets. As men grow older, the decorative features are gradually reduced until they are devoid of color. The finer jackets are edged with silver-wound braid, as are women's tunics. Turbans are only occasionally worn for ceremonies.

Mothers make delightful caps for their babies and small children. Little girls wear close-fitting caps of black or indigo homespun cloth, covered with fine embroidery. A large red woolen pompon encircles the top, and ball-shaped ones may be added over the ears. Small boys' caps are made of red and black cloth, with bold appliqued patterns, edged with white braiding. A large red pompon is attached to the top, and others to the embroidered band around the edge.
Large shoulder bags made from black and white striped Tai cloth are embellished with bands of embroidery, thick tufts of red and white wool yarn down the front, and pompons across the bottom. Other bags are made of black cloth with applique. Square embroidered or appliqued bags without straps are used to store silver jewelry and money.

Clothing of Mien (1)

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ClothingGroups of black-turbaned, red-ruffed women on low stools bending over their embroidery are sufficient to identify a village as being Mien. Needles fly while tongues keep pace with the village gossip as these highly-killed embroiderers produce ornate caps for their children and sumptuously-patterned pants for themselves. Surprisingly they work from the back of the cloth, and cannot 'see' the pattern until it is turned over.

The costume of a woman consists of loose-fitting pants, ankle-length tunic, sash, and turban, all garments are black or indigo, and are made of cotton homespun cloth, with the possible exception of the tunic, which may be of machine-made material.

Elderly Mien have childhood memories of their mothers weaving all the cloth needed for the family. They grew their own cotton, and spun it into thread either with hand spindles or spinning wheels. Eventually they turned to the use of cloth purchased from the Tai in Laos. Today most of the cloth used for Mien embroideries in Thailand comes from the Shan in Kengtung State, or Northern Thai weavers in Chiang Kham District. Many Mien women prefer to dye their own cloth, using either chemical dyes or their own home-processed indigo dye.

Every Mien woman devotes her finest skills to embroidering the two matching panels forming the main part of her pants. Five standard designs used at the bottom of the pant legs form the border. Four of those designs use the weaving stitch, and the fifth the horizontal/vertical stitch. The weaving stitch, so called because it consists of all vertical lines that resemble weaving, was originally the only type of embroidery used. The horizontal/vertical stitch, which follows the warp and weft of the cloth with a lacy effect, was introduced later, but is also an old technique. At one time only the borders of the pantlegs were embroidered.

Women found that cloth woven by the Tai was quite satisfactory and gradually discontinued weaving. Having more time, they added more and more rows of embroidery to their pants. To day the entire garment, except for the waistband and crotch, is covered with embroidery.
Diagonal cross-stitch embroidery has come into use during the past 40 to 50 years. There may still be a few elderly women who never learned the technique. We met one such old woman (now deceased) who had gone as a refugee with her family to the United States in 1979.

Apart from the five standard patterns, the embroidery on the pants is the expression of each individual. She may draw from a great repertoire of Mien designs, or she may innovate as she wishes. Many of the designs have been given names, but the same design may be given different names by different people. As far as can be ascertained, there is no mythical or religious significance to the patterns.

Formerly silk thread was used for embroidery floss, and many Mien produced their own. As they used natural dyes the number of colors was limited. Today Mien women in Thailand use pearl cotton crochet thread, embroidery floss, weaving thread with a sheen, or wool-like acrylic yarn. These market threads bring a wide range of bright colors to modern Mien embroidery.
Mien recently come from Laos, or who consider themselves to be 'Lao-Mien', use a great deal of pale blue in their embroidery. Those called the 'Chiang Kham-Mien', however, use red hues (magenta, and various shades of pink and golden orange) as the dominant colors. There is no prescribed number or set of colors, although some women favor using five.