About

The Tai Dam are an ethnic minority predominantly from northwest Vietnam and Laos. They are part of the Tai peoples and ethnically similar to the Thai from Thailand and the Lao from Laos. Tai Dam means “Black Tai”. This name comes from the black clothing worn by the group, especially females. The Tai Dam’s language is similar to Lao, but Tai Dam use their own unique writing system and traditionally rejected Buddhism. According to the Tai Dam’s creation story, the Lo Cam family is to be the ruling class and the Luong the priests.