Should ethnic Lao people be considered indigenous to Cambodia? Ethnicity, classification and the politics of indigeneity

Abstract

The ethnic Lao are not well-known in Cambodia, despite constituting a substantial but unrecorded population there. Even though the Lao have lived in Cambodia for many generations, they were excluded from being considered ‘indigenous peoples’ when the category was legally introduced to Cambodia through the 2001 land law. Instead, they are not classified as ‘ethnic Lao’, except for the very few who were actually born in Laos. Here, I consider how the politics of identity in Cambodia has separated some highland ethnic minorities from the Lao. Many ethnic Lao in Cambodia quietly disagree with not being classified as indigenous. This contestation represents a similar dynamic to the differences of opinion between the Asian Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP) and the peasant organization, La Via Campesina, regarding advocating for indigenous and peasant rights, respectively. My objective is to demonstrate that the politics of indigenous categorization in Cambodia is complicated and fraught.

Keywords:

• Lao
• Cambodia
• indigeneity
• indigenous peoples
• ethnic classification
• peasant

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Ham Oudom for some useful information and for the assistance of the large number of people, especially ethnic Lao people and others, from northeastern Cambodia who have directly or indirectly helped me understand the circumstances of ethnic Lao people there. Thanks also to the two anonymous reviewers who provided useful comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Baird, “Construction of Indigenous Peoples.”

2. Ibid.

3. Karlsson, “Anthropology and the ‘Indigenous Slot’”; Erni, The Concept of Indigenous Peoples.

4. Martinez, Study on Treaties.

5. Karlsson, “Anthropology and the ‘Indigenous Slot’.”

6. Cobo, The Study of the Problem.

7. Kingsbury, “The Applicability of the International.”

8. Baird, “Construction of Indigenous Peoples.”

9. Chou, The Customs of Cambodia, section 9.

10. Bourotte, “Essai d’historie.”

11. Baird, “Construction of Indigenous Peoples.”

12. Breazeale, “Laos Mapped by Treaty”; Baird, “From Champasak to Cambodia”; Baird, “Different Views of History.”

13. Grabowsky, “Lao and Khmer Perceptions”; Grabowsky, “The Thai and the Lao”; Baird, “Different Views of History.”

14. Baird, “Construction of Indigenous Peoples.”

15. Ibid.

16. Ibid.

17. Ibid.

18. Baird, “‘Indigenous Peoples’ and Land.”

19. Baird, “Construction of Indigenous Peoples”; Baird, “‘Indigenous Peoples’ and Land.”

20. Baird, “‘Indigenous Peoples’ and Land”; Milne, “Under the Leopard’s Skin.”

21. Boubotte, “Essai d’historie.”

22. Grabowsky, “The Thai and Lao.”

23. Ibid.

24. Archaimbault, “L’histoire de Campasak”; Wilson, “Champassak in the Nineteenth Century.”

25. Baird, “From Champasak to Cambodia.”

26. Ibid.

27. Breazeale, “Laos Mapped by Treaty”; Baird, “From Champasak to Cambodia”; Baird, “Different Views of History.”

28. Ibid.

29. Baird, “Various Forms of Colonialism.”

30. Baird, “Different Views of History.”

31. Dam Chanty, pers. comm., Ban Lung, 5 August 2015.

32. Baird, “Different Views of History.”

33. Baird, “Construction of Indigenous Peoples.”

34. Ibid.

35. Gordon Paterson, pers. comm., Ban Lung, 13 July 2014.

36. Baird, “Best Practices in Compensation.”

37. International Rivers et al., “Lower Sesan II dam.”

38. Radio Free Asia, “Hundreds Protest Dam Plans.”

39. Radio Free Asia, “Protests Against Dam Developer.”

40. Khouth, “Indigenous Minorities in Cambodia.”

41. Men, “Civil Society Urged.”

42. Baird, “Translocal Assemblages.”

43. Dam Chanty, pers. comm., Ban Lung, 15 July 2014.

44. Baird, “Different Views of History.”

45. Keo Souhot, pers. comm., Ban Lung, 5 August 2015.

46. Baird, “From Champasak to Cambodia.”

47. Chou, The Customs of Cambodia.

48. Baird, “From Champasak to Cambodia”; Baird, “Various Forums of Colonialism”; Baird and Hammer, “Contracting Illness.”

49. Morton and Baird, “From Hill Tribes.”

50. Gray, “The Indigenous Movement.”

51. Erni, The Concept of Indigenous Peoples; Baird, “Colonialism, Indigeneity and the Brao.”

52. Baird, “The Construction of Indigenous Peoples.”

53. Baird, “Different Views of History.”

54. Baird, “The Construction of Indigenous Peoples.”

55. Ibid.

56. Ibid.

57. ILO, Convention Concerning.

58. Claeys, “The Right to Land and Territory”, 10.

59. Colchester, “Indigenous Rights,” 2.

60. Colchester, “Reply”, 24.

61. Kuper, “The Return of the Native.”

62. Karlsson, “Anthropology and the ‘Indigenous Slot’,” 417.

63. Bowen, “Should We Have a Universal Concept,” 14.

64. Li, “Ethnic Cleansing.”

65. Karlsson, “Anthropology and the ‘Indigenous Slot’.”

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ian G. Baird

Ian G. Baird is Assistant Professor of Geography at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is also affiliated with the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, the Asian American Studies Program, and the Nelson Institute of Environmental Studies at UW-Madison. As a Canadian, he completed his Ph.D. in Geography at the University of British Columbia in 2008. Baird has a broad array of interests, but is especially focused on research related to large dam development and fish and fisheries in the Mekong River Basin, and large-scale plantation concessions, indigeneity, political conflict and insurgency, and marginal histories in Southeast Asia. He mainly works in Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand, where he lived and worked for many years.