The jewelry amassed by a family are the outward display of their wealth, worn by the women at the New Year festival. Clothing and handicrafts were not until the last ten years regarded as marketable products. With encouragement from the Thai government and the King s Royal Project, co-operatives have been set up to manufacture and market their traditional goods, which are now big business in the markets of Thailand, and can be purchased at countless outlets throughout the world. The hill tribes are predominantly animists, although amongst the Karen, Yao and Akha there are Christian and Buddhist minorities. Animists believe that conscious spirits with powers over humans exist throughout their surroundings.
Some spirits are protective and beneficial, others are potentially harmful.
By adopting the correct way of life, and making offerings to enlist the help of good spirits, life will be harmonious. The tribes also believe that certain members of their society are able to communicate with this complex spirit world, and these shaman are of great importance to everyone's quality of life. For most of northern Thailand's mountain peoples, paying respect to the spirit of one's dead ancestors is of the greatest importance. Death is seen as a passage into the spirit world, and is celebrated as such with careful ceremony. All the groups make sacrificial offerings to their guardian spirits usually by presenting food, such as chickens and pigs.