construct bee gums with the hope that a colony will nest there and their honey subsequently harvested. The Akha are skilled hunters. Hunting is a male activity and a very popular one. It is a favorite pastime and a means of obtaining food. The barking deer is, perhaps, their favorite prey. Guns obtained from trading in the larger towns have begun to replace the use of crossbows in hunting. Belief system Akha religion—zahv—is often described as a mixture of animism and ancestor worship that emphasizes the Akha connection with the land and their place in the natural world and cycles. Although Akha beliefs and rituals involve all of these elements, the Akha often reject the casual categorization of their practices as such saying it simplifies and reduces its meaning. The Akha way emphasizes rituals in everyday life and stresses strong family ties. Akha ethnicity is closely tied to the Akha religion. It might be said that to be considered an Akha ethnically by other Akhas is to practice the Akha religion. The annual ritual cycle consists of nine or twelve ancestor offerings, rice rituals, and other rites such as the building of the village gates. Many Akha rituals and festivals serve to seek "blessings" (guivlahav) from ancestors, which are according to the Encyclopedia of World Cultures, "...fertility and health in people, rice, and domesticated animals." Akha beliefs are passed down through generations by oral recantation. The Akha believe that the being who created earth and life gave Akha the "Akha Zang" (Akha Way), their guidelines for life. Akhas believe that spirits and people were born of the same mother and lived together until a quarrel led to their separation, upon which spirits went into the forest and people remained in the villages. Since then, Akha believe that the spirits have caused illness and other unwelcome disruptions of human life. The Akha year is divided into the peoples' season (dry) and the spirits' season (wet). During the latter, spirits wander into the village, so they must be driven out as part of a yearly ancestor offering. Both people and rice are considered to have souls, the flight of which causes disease. The most important and revered position in Akha spiritual matters is given to a village leader, whose ritual responsibilities include initiating the annual rebuilding of the village gates and the swing as well as advising and instructing villages on important