Lausanne World Pulse – Perspectives Articles – Peoples of the Buddhist World CD-ROM: A Resource for Those Ministering in the Buddhist World
By Greg Hamon
November 2006
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Photos from Peoples of the David Treat. |
The barefoot girl in a red tunic cautiously approached the smoky fire. Next to the fire sat an old woman diligently concentrating on the task before her. “Grandmother,” the girl asked, “what are you doing with those bugs?”
“Come here, child, and I will teach you,” the old woman said without looking up, waving away the smoke drifting in her direction. The little girl shooed away some chickens nearby, squatted next to her grandmother and watched as the old woman added another handful of beetles to the wooden bowl. None escaped the old woman’s eye and quick hand. The pestle quickly ground them, producing a sickening, crunching sound. Soon the contents of the bowl turned a bright red.
“Your red tunic was made with the dye from these beetles,” she said. “I learned this from my grandmother and she learned it from her grandmother before her. This knowledge has been passed down from our ancestors. In fact, our tribe is named after this beetle.”
“Tell me a story about the old times, grandmother,” the little girl pleaded, eyes now fixated on the red pulpy mess being squeezed through a piece of old t-shirt.
“Well,” said the old woman wistfully, “the old times were hard. Our ancestors were once a proud people who lived far away in another country, but our enemies came and made us slaves. How sad our ancestors were! The evil king carried us here to this place and here we were forced to farm to feed him and his army for more that five generations. During all these years of suffering as slaves, we prayed earnestly to Buddha and sacrificed to our ancestors and the spirits of the forest for protection and we survived! Finally, the Buddha answered our prayers and sent a good king who had mercy on us and granted us freedom. Still, we remain far from our homeland. Despite the suffering, our people have always served the ancestors, the spirits and had strong faith in the Buddha. Your grandfather once served him as a monk. It was the same with all the men in our village. I had to wait a long time before his service was over before we could get married….”