Past and present houses of ethnic minorities in the Central Region

Abstract

The author analyses the changes in the houses of ethnic minorities in the Central Region together with the changes in socio-economic life since those tribes have resettled.  The less durable houses on stilts were suitable to nomadic life, when rice was cultivated in terraced fields.  These have been supplanted by more durable brick houses when the family settled down and used water rice cultivation.  The process is not the same in all cases, varying with the socio-economic conditions of each community and even with each family.  This should be taken into account when attempting to improve and stabilize the lives of the ethnic minorities in the Central Region.