Nickie- Lots of good questions! I cannot answer them all, but can only give my thoughts:
Re language: they probably do speak their own dialect, but if they go to government schools, which is likely, they will probably learn Vietnamese. I know this is true here in Thailand- the hilltribe children who go to government schools learn Thai, but may speak their tribal language in their home villages; it's also the case among the Tai, who might speak a local dialect at home. Maybe someone who has spent time in this area could answer this better.
I don't know either if these groups are Buddhist, animist or both. It may vary from village to village. (Actually, according to Patricia Cheesman's fine work on Lao-Tai textiles, a more relevant term would be 'shamanistic', rather than animist.) Typically, I would expect the symbolism to relate to the journey to the other world. In the indigo cotton banner I posted the main motif is known as a 'lantern' and is to light the way to the spirit realm. This motif is often used on shamanic textiles. Buddhist textiles would probably have the mythological beasts from the Himmaphan forest. There isn't much information on this type of textile, but if I come across anything I'll post it.
I have no idea of the circumstances under which this might have been woven. My understanding is that usually they are heirlooms in the family, so I would think they would be carefully woven. At least in my experience the ones from Laos are finely woven and made of good materials. Sometimes they are cut in half, supposedly to satisfy handing it down to two different heirs, tho I'm not totally sure about this.
Do post your photos- it would help to see more.
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