Yao/Mien knives

[Andrew]

Originally Posted by yuanzhumin

I would be very grateful if you could give infos or show pictures on the weapons and tools used by the Yao/Mien people, a minority spread in the hills of China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand.
I have seen once a taoist sword they use for shamanic ceremonies, but I don't remember very well how it looks. Does anybody have pictures to show ?
Any reference to share ?
Thanks
yuanzhumin

Yuan, take a look at this book for some discussion (and scant photos) of Mien swords/knives: Lewis, Elaine and Lewis, Paul, Peoples of the Golden Triangle: Six Tribes in Thailand. Thames and Hudson, Ltd., 1984.

I have a number of weapons unreliably attributed to the Mien and related Hilltribes ("Montagnard"), but nothing with really good provenance as to a specific group/tribe. Here are some I would argue are likely from these groups: