The Mlabri people of the mountainous region of northern Thailand were nomadic hunter-gatherers until 20 years ago. They have begun to settle in recent years, but their original customs and play from their life in the forest still endure.
Over three years we conducted a survey of Mlabri children play. Among their games were straddling banana trees (ngën khïng lam kuëy), playing and swinging on vines (ngën mòq), hide and seek (hnpok tò mlaq), tag (ban tot tò mlaq), spear throwing (dor khòt), and cutting grass (ngën thet hny hnyay). These are the same games that Mlabri children played in their pre-settlement life in the forest.
This kind of play must have contributed greatly to exceptional physical abilities of the forest-dwelling Mlabri, and cultivating these skills since early childhood must have been deeply connected to their survival in the past. Studying the play of Mlabri children, and the role it plays in their development, could be useful in understanding the roots and significance of modern childrenʼs play as well.
