Marriage
Ethnic Lao partners have a considerable degree of freedom in choosing a
spouse, although there is some preference for cousins. Parents may
propose a potential spouse and must be consulted about potential
marriage partners. A payment like a bride-price is made, and its value
varies considerably. The marriage ceremony usually takes place in the
bride's family home. At the center of the ritual is a spirit-calling
ceremony. Groups were allowed before 1975, when they were outlawed, and
reemerged unofficially in the 1990s. Divorce can be initiated by either
party and is not uncommon. Among patrilineal groups, parents play a
much more active role in choosing spouses for their children. Among the
Hmong, there has been some practice of so-called marriage by capture.
Residence in these cases is patrilocal. Polygyny is found among some
highland groups.
Domestic Unit.
A tendency toward matrilocality among ethnic Lao means that the main
house at the center of a group of related women almost always contains
a stem family. The oldest daughter and her husband move out after the
marriage of the next daughter but try to live nearby or in the same
compound. The main house usually is inherited by the youngest daughter,
who is responsible for the care of aging parents. The proximity of
nuclear households and their continued relationship with the main house
creates the appearance of a modified extended family. However, these
new units move eventually, separate from the original main house and
become main houses. Among highland patrilineal groups, there are large
houses containing extended families of related brothers, while in the
southern highlands, there are extended families of related women. Men
generally are recognized as the household head for religious and
political purposes.
Inheritance
Aside from the inheritance of the main house by the youngest daughter
among ethnic Lao, inheritance tends to be equal between sons and
daughters. Residential practices determine what is inherited, with
those moving away, most often sons, selling land to their sisters or
leaving it in their care. The passing on of a house and productive land
signals the passing of authority from one generation to another.
Jewelry and woven cloth pass from mothers to daughters. Among
patrilineal highlanders, houses and land, if they are held by
residentially stable groups, are passed through sons, usually the
eldest, while daughters are given a substantial dowry.
Kin Groups
Kinship among the Lao is reckoned bilaterally, and there is little
genealogical consciousness beyond two generations except among the
former aristocracy. Patrilineal clans and lineages can be found among
the Hmong, Iu Mien, Khmu, and others; these clans are exogamous.
