Why the Akha Wear Black Dresses (Akha/Thai)

A long time ago, an Akha man saw a beautiful woman and wanted her to be his wife. However, she was not Akha, and he knew her parents would not approve. Still, he loved her very much and asked,” Will you be my wife?”

The woman loved the man and said, “Yes. But, what shall we do about my parents? They will never agree to this marriage.”

The man said, “Let us try. Perhaps they will not come to our wedding.”

But the parents came, saw their daughter in her brightly colored clothing, and took her home.

Still, the woman and man were determined to be wed. They sat and thought. The woman looked at the man and said, “I have an idea. In my village, the women wear clothes of many colors. You must ask the women in your village to wear black to our wedding. I will wear black. If my parents come, they will not know who I am.”

Once again, the parents came to the village to take their daughter home, but they could not find her. There was no woman wearing brightly colored clothes.  All the women looked alike in their black clothing. 

The couple were happily married. 

To this day, all Akha women wear black, just to be safe.