Lisu Silversmiths at Huay Ja Khan Village : Silver Jewelry Creator of the Tribe

Abstract

This paper titled in “Lisu Silversmiths at Huay Ja Khan Village : Silver Jewelry Creator of the
Tribe” illustrated two Lisu silversmiths residing at Huay Ja Khan Village, Village No.9, Ping Kong Subdistrict, Chiang Dao District, Chiang Mai Province. These silversmiths were different from the city
people in terms of their culture but owned high skills and abilities in exquisitely and delicately
crafting silver jewelry to the Lisu people at Huay Ja Khan Village. In fact, silver jewelry was really
important and usually used together with the tribal dresses. These silversmiths were widely praised
and respected by people in the tribe at both their own village and other villages with regard to
their abilities, skills and creativity as these played a crucial role in designing the silver jewelry
patterns that outstandingly represented the Lisu identities. This paper therefore presented the
contents and analyses covering four main aspects: 1) Lisu tribe and silver jewelry in their lifestyle,
2) Lisu silversmiths at Huay Ja Khan Village and their roles in crafting the silver jewelry, 3) silver coin
and pure silver as key materials for Lisu silversmiths at Huay Ja Khan Village, and 4) silver jewelry
made by Lisu silversmiths at Huay Ja Khan Village.