Since "Lahu", the name of their tribe, means "hunter", the Lahu (Mussur) obviously pride themselves on their skills in hunting and trapping. They are also famous for their knowledge of herbal medicine.
The Lahu are an independent people, physically larger than the members of the other tribes, but rather than their greater stature leading to aggressiveness, they love entertainment and the easily life.

Lahu women wear several kinds of distinctive dress, although the men clothe themselves pretty much uniformly. The women wear colorful turbans and like to sport beautiful earrings, usually of silver.

This is another mountain-top tribe with their houses on stilts, and a "basement-corral" for their many domestic animals: chickens, pigs, ducks, and buffaloes.

• TRADITIONAL LOCATION(S): Central Highlands of the Payap
• MAJOR TRIBAL DIVISIONS: Black Lahu (77%) and the Yellow Lahu (23%) or the Mussur Daeng and Mussur Kwi
• POPULATION: (1992) est. approx. 40,000 in Thailand and 300,000 in China, Burma and Laos
• LANGUAGE(S): Yi branch of Tibeto-Burman family; Lahu Na (dominant) & Lahu Shi (occasionally).
• FAMILY GROUP: Extended family unit with an emphasis on the grandparents sharing raising of children
• RELIGION: Spirit worship with heavy overtones of Christianity in nearly all villages
• VILLAGE SETTLEMENTS: Prefer living above 1200 meters but many have now moved to lowland areas.
  

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