User talk:NoFlyingCars/Kudzu

To anyone interested in updating Kudzu article:

The article does not mention traditional uses by the Khmu, the indigenous people of Northern Laos. These uses are significant because they have been fundamental to the survival of Khmu culture for thousands of years. The thin white ribbon inside the stem of Puerana lobata (commonly called "tropical kudzu"} today continues to be used to tie the umbilical cord of village-born babies and to make rugged carry bags that have many applications, the most important of which has been to gather subsistence food, medicine and fiber essentials in remote mountainside forests. Until recent years the cord also was used to make fish nets. Images of Khmu opening the stem, removing the fiber, drying it in the sun and then transforming it into strong durable cord are included in several videos available on YouTube (search "Khmu bag"). Other than from my personal observations and experiences and those communicated to me by Professor Damrong Tayanin (Khmu name Kam Raw) of the Department of Linguistics and Phonetics of Lund University in Sweden, who grew up in a Khmu village (see http://person.sol.lu.se/DamrongTayanin/kammu.html), there appears to be very little written reference material. I am the principal sponsor of a poverty reduction project targeting the Khmu, and that is why I know of these uses. It also is why I cannot edit the article (COA). NatureBag (talk) 00:07, 20 January 2010 (UTC) NatureBag (talk) 19:20, 6 May 2010 (UTC)

Traditional use of Kudzu
The article does not mention traditional uses by the Khmu, the indigenous people of Northern Laos. These uses are significant because they have been fundamental to the survival of Khmu culture for thousands of years. The thin white ribbon inside the stem of Puerana lobata (commonly called "tropical kudzu"} today continues to be used to tie the umbilical cord of village-born babies and to make rugged carry bags that have many applications, the most important of which has been to gather subsistence food, medicine and fiber essentials in remote mountainside forests. Until recent years the cord also was used to make fish nets. Images of Khmu opening the stem, removing the fiber, drying it in the sun and then transforming it into strong durable cord are included in several videos available on YouTube (search "Khmu bag"). Other than from my personal observations and experiences and those communicated to me by Professor Damrong Tayanin (Khmu name Kam Raw) of the Department of Linguistics and Phonetics of Lund University in Sweden, who grew up in a Khmu village (see http://person.sol.lu.se/DamrongTayanin/kammu.html), there appears to be very little written reference material. I am the principal sponsor of a poverty reduction project targeting the Khmu, and that is why I know of these uses. It also is why I cannot edit the article (COA). NatureBag (talk) 00:07, 20 January 2010 (UTC) NatureBag (talk) 19:21, 6 May 2010 (UTC)