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Lables: Ethnic Groups, Kadai Group, Lachi ethnic group
Proper name: Cu Te.
Other names: Tho Den, Man, Xa.
Population: 7,863 people (1999 census).
Language: Lachi language belongs to the Kadai language group (Tai-Kadai language family), which is in the same language group as that of the Laha, Colao, and Pupeo people.
History: The Lachi are the longest inhabitants in Ha Giang, Lao Cai provinces.

Production activities: The Lachi are experts at cultivating land, working on step terraces, and wet rice cultivation. They harvest sticky rice and regular rice by two different kinds of sickles. While still in the field, they pound the rice stalks on wooden pipes to remove the grains which are gathered up and taken home for storage. They have three different kinds of terraced fields, and work them with tools such as the pointed stick, hoe, and plough. Other fields are reserved for planting indigo and cotton.

Diet: The Lachi have a unique way to steam rice. First, rice is cooked to boiling in a big wok, and then it is steamed in an earthen pot. When the rice is done, it is not dry and sticky, rather than wet. The Lachi have many ways of storing foods, but drying and salting meat are the most popular ways. Smoked water buffalo’s skin is a particular delicacy for the Lachi.

The Lachi blacken their teeth as a sign of beauty. Young people like to have gold teeth as a kind of decorative accessory, or as a sign of being mature.

Clothing: Men wear long robes; each is made from five pieces of cloth. There is a row of buttons on the right underarm. They have long hair (often beyond shoulder length); they also wear turbans, and like to carry indigo bags around for tobacco, lighter, and other items. Women generally wear pants, only a few wear skirts. Their traditional clothing is comprised of a long dress with four panels, splits in front, and an embroidered bodice with a cloth belt. On festival occasions, Lachi women wear three long dresses, one on top of the other. Women like to wear long scarves that are three meters long. The favorite color is black indigo. Women wear earrings, and bracelets; men wear only bracelets. The traditional healer has his special clothes when he practices his worshiping ritual. It is a long and loose-fitting outfit, split at the front and back, with a silk belt. He also wears a big hat, secured with a string. In some of the rituals, he carries a big piece of dry water buffalo skin, or a straw hat.

Housing: The Lachi form villages on the hilly areas of Su Phi and Xin Man districts (Ha Giang province). The traditional Lachi house is a unique architectural mix of a stilt house, a house on the ground, and a storehouse-all built on a relatively small space. This combination of architectural styles is a unique cultural trait of the Lachi. Each house has two parts: the stilt section is the living quarters, and the ground-level section is the kitchen. The roof unites both sections.

When moving into a new house, the owner has to invite the ritual specialist to come to frighten away evil spirits. He does so by using three stems of reeds to sweep the four corners of the house, starting from the corner of the parents’ area. If the owner already has an altar at his old house, it will be replaced and located where the head of the family would stay in the new house. In the first 13 days of staying in a new house, it is a Lachi custom to always have a fire burning in the hearth. This is said to bring good luck.

Transportation: The Lachi use a combination of transportation favored by the mountainous and the valley people. Women use baskets carried, on the back by means of a bamboo or cloth tump line that is wrapped around the forehead, something like a girdle, made from either bamboo or cloth. Men use tump lines also, but they also have two strings to carry burdens on their shoulders in a manner similar to the Hmong people. The Lachi also use the shoulder pole to carry two baskets. The Lachi straps their babies on their backs during trips or while working on the field. Water pipes are a popular way to convey water to the house or to somewhere near the residential area. From the water site, water is stored in bamboo cylinders which are one and a half meters long; then is carried back to the kitchen for later use.

Using horses to transfer goods is also popular.

Social organization: It is popular for a family of three generations, or for several couples to share a house together. There is a head person in each kin line to take care of all the ritual activities. This individual isn’t viewed as a leader, only someone who knows how to conduct rituals. Various methods are used to choose this person, including reading the mystical signs of a chicken leg.

The Lachi name their children according to their father’s name, following this formula: father’s surname – the child’s name – first name of the person who bears that name. Women with children are called following this formula: the mother – the name of the oldest child – name of her husband.

The custom of having adopted parents for infants is very popular. On the morning of the third day after the infant born, the parents put a red string on a bowl filled with water; the first person who comes into their house will be the child’s adopted parents, and will name the child. If the infant cries too much, it will be considered that the name isn’t suitable. In that case, a fortune teller will be called in to find another suitable family to adopt the child again.

Beliefs: The Lachi worship ancestors on holidays and festival occasions. Men worship up to three generations, women up to two generations. According to their custom, children will have to remember the anniversary day of their parents’ death for their whole life. On those days, they can’t plant anything new, can’t borrow or lend money. It is considered not a good day for growing and flourishing.

There is an altar for each man in a family. Altars are put in a range as following: father, the youngest son, than the next youngest, and lastly the oldest son. Each altar is only considered as completed after 3 times of conducting worshiping rituals.

Education: General knowledge and popular experience are orally passed down from generation to generation. There is a rich treasure of legends and fairy tales that explain to young people the wonders of natural and cultural phenomenon.

Artistic activities: On the New Year occasion, girls and boys sing duets together, to the accompaniment of a three- stringed instrument and a kind of clarion. Drums and gongs are also very popular.

Games: On Lunar New Year, young men and women gather at a big field to play shuttlecock, spinning top, and swing. They also play swing on the August Festival. Children like to play a game that uses bamboo tubes for target shooting.

This article written by Lanh Nguyen from Vacation to Vietnam
For original article, please visit:
http://vacationstovietnam.com/lastest-travel-news/lachi-ethnic-group.html
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Lables: Ethnic Groups, Khmu ethnic group, Mon-Khmer Group
Proper name: Kmu, Kho Mu, Kum Mu.
Other names: Xa Cau, Kha Klau, Mang Cau, Tay Hay, Mun Xen, Pu Thenh, Tenh
Population: 42,853 people (1999 census).
Language: The Khmu speak a language that belongs to the Mon-Khmer language group (Austroasiatic language family).
History: The Khmu are one of the oldest inhabitants in the northwest of Vietnam. There are also some Khmu in the mountains of Thanh Hoa, and Nghe An provinces who immigrated to Vietnam from Laos.

Production activities: The Khmu live mainly by cultivating terraced field, thus they are called “Xa an lua”. Outside the mainstream of population who are nomadic, the rest of the Khmu have settled in one place and follow an agricultural cycle. They plant mainly rice and corn, but also pumpkin, bean, and other root vegetables. Their tools includes the axe, knife, hoe, and especially a pointed digging stick used to make holes in the ground when planting seeds. These can be single or double sticks with an iron head, and can be used for many years. Gathering fruit and hunting still play an important role in their economy. Handicrafts include basketry, particularly of household items, and in some places, the Khmu do forging, carpentry, and textile weaving. Trading is mainly done on the barter system, by exchanging goods for goods. In the past, shells called kxoong were used as currency. The Khmu raise water buffaloes, cows, chickens for transportation, food and religious purposes.

Diet: The Khmu like to steam rice and corn, ” mixed with cassava. They love to eat spicy, sour, and bitter foods, and grilled foods like cheo, nam pia, ca chua, etc.

Clothing: The Khmu dress in a style similar to the Thai, but a little bit different in their way of decorating the front of women’s blouses with linear patterns of coins and snail shells. Today, the majority of Khmu, especially the men, dress in casual clothes like the , Thai and the Viet.

Housing: Today, the Khmu live in the provinces of Yen Bai, Son La, and Lai Chau. Because they are nomadic peoples, their villages are usually small and scattered all over. Their house are built on stilts and made with columns, bamboo wattle walls, and bamboo floors. In many places today, the Khmu have built more permanent houses.

Transportation: The Khmu use carrying baskets with handles placed on the forehead, with a noose for the shoulder. In addition, they also use several kinds of carrying bags. Those Khmu who are farmers use bamboo baskets carried by shoulder poles.

Social organization: The Khmu have close relationships with those in the same family line and those who are neighbors, especially their Thai neighbors. Each village has inhabitants from different family trees. Each of these has a leader. There is already segregation between rich and poor in the village. The Khmu’s surnames are from names, of animals, birds, plants; they can be divided into three groups. Those who bear animal’s names include tiger, fox, civet cat… Surnames like bird’s names include the great horn bill, wagtail, hen, and greater coucal… The group that has plant’s names includes garlic, fern, etc. In addition, there are some names of inanimate objects such as pig muzzle, soup ladle…

Marriage: Marriage among the Khmu is by free choice. In marriage, remnants of matriarchy can still be seen through customs as living with the girl’s family, husband bears wife’s name, remarrying to the wife’s siblings, the husband’s sisters. Some steps that a marriage has to go through are pre-engagement ceremony,, a period when the groom stays with the bride’s family, wedding at the bride’s house, and the ceremony that brings the bride to the husband’s home. Young men and women are free to date, but the marriage decision belongs to parents, especially to the bride’s mother’s brother. He also decides the amount of money and gifts that the groom has to give to the bride’s family.

Funerals: Funerals of the Khmu include many religious rituals. There is an especially a long worshiping ritual for the dead person, which last for hours before the corpse is buried.

New House: Moving to a new house is a happy occasion not only for the family, but also for the whole village. The owner kills pigs and invites the villagers over for a feast. This is also an occasion for them to perform communal cultural activities.

Festivals: Besides the Lunar New Year, the Khmu also celebrate the New Rice Festival, which is held after the October (Lunar calendar) harvest. This is a happy occasion for the whole village after a period of hard working. This New Rice Festival also displays distinctive cultural trait of the Khmu. Moreover, they still have many rituals connected to agriculture and planting.

Beliefs:  The Khmu believe that there are 5 most important spirits, the spirits of Heaven, Earth, Serpent, Ancestor, and the House. These are spirits who bring good things to the people, but sometimes when they get angry, they will sow disaster. Rituals for the House Spirit occur on New Year’s or festival occasions, or when there are ill people in the house. An altar for the House Spirit is placed on a high shelf in the kitchen. Ancestors are worshiped in a private room to avoid the gaze of strangers. Each family line still keeps the custom of worshiping the founding ancestors with distinctive rituals and actions. Calendar: Beside using the Thai’s calendar, the Khmu also count hours and days according to the ca la table to arrange for a marriage or to build a new house.
Education: Many people know how to read and write in Thai.

Artistic activities: There is a beloved and familiar folksong melody called Tom. It is both lyric and historic, sung in a call and response way. The Khmu like to dance, to play different kinds of flutes, and to play home-made bamboo instruments. They are especially noted for one kind of clarion.

Games: During the holidays, children often play badminton, humming-top, and other traditional games.

This article written by Lanh Nguyen from Vacation to Vietnam
For original article, please visit:
http://vacationstovietnam.com/lastest-travel-news/khmu-ethnic-group.html
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Lables: Ethnic Groups, Khang Ethnic Group, Mon-Khmer Group
Proper name: Mo Khang.
Other names: Hang, Bren, Xa.
Local Groups: Khang Dang, Khang Hoac, Khang Don, Khang Sua, Ma Hang, Bu Hang, Ma Hang Beng, Bu Hang Coi, etc.
Population: 3,921 people.(1999 census).
Language: The Khang speak a language belonging to the Mon-Khmer language group (Austroasiatic language family). They also speak Thai fluently.
History: The Khang are one of the oldest inhabitants in the Northwest of the country.

Production activities: The Khang are agriculturists cultivating their crops on swidden fields, using digging sticks to make holes in the ground for planting seeds. They can he characterized according the three different categories: nomadic Khang who work on terraced, swidden fields; semi- nomadic Khang who work on both terraces and fields; and permanent cultivators who work on both terraces and fields. They plant sticky rice, corn, cassava, sesame, etc. Animal husbandry is fairly well-developed* especially raising pigs, chickens, ducks, water buffaloes, and cows. The Khang are well-known for their plaited furniture, including trunks, rattan chairs, trays, carrying baskets, etc. They also are very good at making and rowing wooden boats. Their boats are widely purchased by other ethnic groups.

Diet: The Khang like to eat sticky rice, or sour and spicy dishes like sour preserved fish, vegetable, or a combination dish made from a spice, meat, chili, garlic, and mint, all mixed together and then steamed. The tradition of inhaling liquid through the nose (tKu mui) is a distinctive Khang cultural trait. They like to drink white wine, rice wine, and to smoke tobacco, also by pipe.

Clothing: The Khang dress like the Thai.
Housing: There are two types of houses, temporary and permanent ones. Stilt houses are generally made as a single central room with a double roof. Wings or bays and annexes are not common to Khang architecture. A single doorway opens to the main staircase in front.

Transportation: The Khang use baskets to carry things, and boats to transport people.
Social organization: Khang social relations have largely been influenced by the Thai groups, as the Khang do not have their own distinct social organization. The highest position in a village is called quan cai, almost like a management position in a Thai village. Within the Khang’s village, there has been segregation between the rich and the poor. The majority of Khang villages are composed of small patriarchal families. However, there remain some remnants of a matriarchal system, such as the custom of living with the wife’s family, the important role of the uncle on the mother’s side, etc. The head of a family line still plays an important role.

Marriage: In the past, Khang young people were free to marry their loved one, but the marriage affair had to go through many ceremonial steps. After four or five days of sleeping over at the girl’s house, if the couple is content with each other, they got engaged. Then, the couple had to go through some complex ceremonies. After three years staying at the wife’s family, the young couple had to present themselves to relatives of both sides. Only then, could the groom’s family have a ceremony to bring the bride home. This was the most important ceremony.

Funerals: The Khang have the custom of dividing family possession for the dead: things like bed covers, mattresses, knives, bowls, dishes, trunks, water jars, and baskets, etc., and which belonged to the dead. All of these are placed at the head of the grave, where a high pole is also buried. Hung on the pole is a wooden bird and a shirt that the dead used to wear. After returning home from the funeral, the family and relatives have to stand on the ground floor of the house, and the uncle (the mother’s brother) will cut a lock of hair from everyone. These are put into a bowl of fresh water, which also holds a smoked egg or fish. This bowl is left on the path leading to the grave for the purpose of scaring the dead away so that its spirit won’t come back to disturb family and loved ones.

Beliefs: The Khang believe that each person has five spirits. A main one on the head and the others are on the four limbs. When a person dies, the main spirit becomes good spirit, and will watch over its descendants. The rest become wicked ghosts and will always harass the living. The Khang also believe in many other spirits, like creek spirit, village spirit, etc. The Khang worship the spirits of both parents. A religious ceremony for them is arranged once in every three years. This is the most fun ceremony; the family invites relatives and other villagers over. They eat, then dance for the whole night.

Festivals: The Khang celebrate the Lunar New Year and the New Rice Festival. They also have ceremonies that connect with agriculture, and the like.

Artistic activities: The Khang’s ballads reflect daily activities. Many people know Thai songs and poems, or folk songs.

This article written by Lanh Nguyen from Vacation to Vietnam
For original article, please visit:
http://vacationstovietnam.com/lastest-travel-news/khang-ethnic-group.html
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Lables: Ethnic Groups, Hre Ethnic Group, Mon-Khmer Group
Proper name: The Hre got their names from Local River. For example, “the Kre” came from the Kre river in Son Ha district; the Hre from Hre river in Ba To district; the Dinh from Dinh river in An Lao district, etc.
Other names: Cham Re, Chom, Thuong Ba To, Moi Luy, Moi Son Phong, Moi Da V.ach, Cham Quang Ngai, Moi Chom, Re, Man Thach Bich.
Population: 94,259 people.(1999 census).
Language: The Hre language belongs to the Mon-khmer language group (Austroasiatic language family). Before 1975, there was a writing system, modified from the Latin alpha¬bet. It was used widely, but now has diminished in popularity.
History: The Hre are among the oldest inhabitants of the Truong Son-Tay Nguyen area.
Production activities: A majority of the Hre grow rice in wet fields, while only a small minority work on dry terraced fields. They practice widen agriculture, using simple tools like the digging stick (to make holes in the ground for planting seeds), axe, machete, and rake. They harvest their rice by hand. Their cultivation style is like that of Central Vietnamese farmers, using water buffalo to pull a plough or harrow, sowing rice sprouts and then transplanting them, and using a sickle to harvest rice plants, etc. Nevertheless, the traditional slash and burn, or widen, practice can still be seen. Each family raises water buffaloes, dogs, and chickens. Plaiting and weaving is the only handicraft works, and are not so popular nowadays. In particular, there is very little weaving done today. Goods are traded directly for each other’s products. Hunting, gathering fruit, and fishing are important sources of foodstuffs for every family.

Diet: The Hre eat rice as daily food. On special occasions like holidays and festivals, sticky rice is also served. In addition to rice, other important foods are self-provided, as are salt with pepper. After each religious ritual, the sacrificed animal’s meat is used for food as a treat. The spathe of an area tree is made into dishware, and they eat using their fingers. Popular Hre drinks are fresh water, green tea, and rice wine sipped through straws or tubes. Smoking tobacco and chewing betel nuts are popular habits.

Housing: The Hre live mainly in the mid-west of the country, in Quang Ngai province (Son Ha, Ba To, and Minh Long districts), and in Binh Dinh province. There are a few Hre communities also living in Kon Plong district of the Kon Turn province. They live in houses built on stilts, with three entrances: one at each end and one in the center. Two rows of columns support the cross beams which are ornamented with a pair of animal horns. The upper part of the walls lean outward. The wooden floor, located opposite the hearth, is slightly higher than the rest of the floor in order to create a comfortable posture when lying down, as the feet are lower than the head. In the village, houses are built on hillsides. Hre houses are constructed along slopes in such a way that they are prevented from being swept away by a stream’s current. Clothing: Today, most of the Hre dress in casual clothes like other Vietnamese. However, some women still wear the long traditional skirt, though not exactly like the one in the olden days, which were made of cotton, had flower-patterned rows on each side, and had two layers. Traditionally, men wore loincloths, and wrapped scarves around their heads. When on a long trip, or during a holiday, they wore shirts. Woman wore the traditional skirt (mentioned above) with a shirt and a veil. Both sexes wear jewelry made from brass, silver, aluminum, and beads; the men do not wear earrings.

Transportation: The Hre carry baskets on their back, with one handle on each shoulder. There is the densely plaited one for rice, less-tightly plaited ones for cassava arid firewood. The men, while working in the forest or when lighting, carry a bag-like basket which has 3 separate parts. They also carry rice and other things with a shoulder pole, or on the top of their heads.

Social organization: The Hre village elder enjoys high respect and influence. In the past, Hre society was deeply divided between the rich and the poor, tending toward servitude. Most of the servants were those who could not pay their debt to the creditor, and thus become indentured servants. This phenomenon was more severe among the Hre than in any other Thuong ethnic groups. Together with servitude was the concentration of land in one person’s hand, which also leads to the concentration of power in one person. Nevertheless, the village structure still displayed high communal traits.

Marriage: Where the newly wedded couple settles after the wedding depends on negotiations between the groom’s and the bride’s families. The majority will build their own houses after they have the first child. In the wedding, there is a bonding ritual for the bride and groom, in which they exchange a bowl of rice, betel nuts, or they could be tied together by one string, etc. A widow can marry her husband’s brother, and a husband can marry the sister of his deceased wife. However, cousins or half-siblings can’t marry each other.

Birth: A child is born right next to the hearth fire with the help of a midwife. The placenta is cut by a knife, and wrapped around the spate of an area tree and buried outside the house or in the forest. The mother rests for about a month, and has a diet that does not allow her to eat fish, egg, banana, chicken’s white meat, etc. There is a ceremony to name the infant when he or she is one month old.

Funerals: Hre coffins look like wooden boats. The corpse is left at home for couple of days prior to burial at the village cemetery. The shape of a grave looks like a long little hill, with a tiny house on top of it. The deceased’s private possessions are also buried with him, including food, household furniture, clothes, tools, etc.

Beliefs: The Hre have many religious rituals and taboos because of their belief in animism: there is a spirit in every single object, and man is controlled by other super- natural powers. Therefore, when the Hre are ill, in trouble, pregnant, having difficulties in giving births, during funerals, building new house, or during planting and harvesting time, or when eating the newly harvested rice for the first time, etc, there is always a ritual for each of these occasions. Each family does the worshiping privately. Only when praying for peace and health, the village will hold a communal ritual.

Festivals: The biggest festival is water buffalo sacrifice, whether it is done privately or communally. The Hre’s New Year is in October, after the rice harvesting. However, many villages celebrate the Lunar New Year now. They pray for prosperity of water buffaloes and pigs on New Year. Also there is ancestor worshiping to ask good health for everyone in the family. The common New Year feast has sticky rice cake, wine, pork, etc. The village performs a communal ritual to pray for good weather.

Calendar: The Hre calendar is like that of the Vietnamese. There are bad days and good days in a month, and days that are good or not good to do specific things.

Artistic activities: Popular instruments include different kinds of gongs, drums, and instruments made from bamboo and calabash, as well as flute, two-string Chinese violin, etc. Women play hand-held bamboo sticks which are tapped together. The two most popular folksongs are Kaleu and Kachoi. Fairy tales (Hmon) are handed down from generation to generation as precious cultural possessions. There are a great variety of different themes in fairy tales. Rower and geometric patterns on textiles and weaving products are also very traditional.

This article written by Lanh Nguyen from Vacation to Vietnam
For original article, please visit:
http://vacationstovietnam.com/lastest-travel-news/hre-ethnic-group.html
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