About
eight million of Vietnam's current 86 million population comprise 53 ethnic
groups divided into dozens of subgroups some with a mere hundred or so members,
giving Vietnam the richest and most complex ethnic make-up in the whole of
Southeast Asia. Ethnic minority groups with members numbering upwards of
500,000 include the Tay, Thai, H'mong, Muong, Hoa, Dao and Nung. Kinh (or Viet)
people make up about 88% of the population.
The
vast majority of Vietnam's minorities live in the hilly regions of the Northern
part, down the Truong Son mountain range, and in the Central Highlands - all
areas which saw heavy fighting in recent wars. Several groups straddle today's
international boundaries, spreading across the Indochinese peninsula and up
into Southern China.
Little
is known about the origins of many of these people, some of whom already
inhabited the area before the ancestors of the Viet arrived from Southern China
around four to five thousand years ago. At some point the Viet emerged as a
distinct group from among the various indigenous peoples living around the Red
River Delta and then gradually absorbed smaller communities until they became
the dominant culture. Other groups continued to interact with the Viet people,
but either chose to maintain their independence in the highlands or were forced
up into the hills, off the ever-more-crowded coastal plains. Vietnamese legend
accounts for this fundamental split between lowlanders and highlanders as
follows: the Dragon King of the south married Au Co, a beautiful northern
princess, and at first they lived in the mountains where she gave birth to a
hundred strong, handsome boys. After a while, however, the Dragon King missed
his watery, lowland home and decamped with half his sons, leaving fifty behind
in the mountains - the ancestors of the ethnic minorities.
While
the ethnic-Vietnamese and Chinese live mainly in urban centres and coastal
areas, the remaining people, an estimated 10% of Vietnam's total population,
are found primarily in the high country. Undoubtedly the most colourful of the
hill tribes reside in the Northwest and Northeast, in the plush mountain
territory along the Lao and Chinese borders, while many of the tribes in the
Central Highlands and the south can be difficult to distinguish, at least by
dress alone, from ordinary Vietnamese. The French called them Montagnards
(meaning 'highlanders' or 'mountain people') and still use this term when
speaking in French or English. Some have lived in Vietnam for thousands of
years, while others migrated into the region during the past few centuries. The
areas inhabited by each group are often delimited by altitude, with later
arrivals settling at higher elevations. Most of the individual ethnic groups
share basic, similar traits in their daily lives and are often most easily
identified by differences in language, physical features and traditional dress.
They have a rural, agricultural lifestyle and show similarities in village
architecture and traditional rituals and have a long history of inter-tribal warfare.
Many of the tribes are semi-nomadic, cultivating crops such as 'dry' rice using
slash-and-burn methods, which have taken a heavy toll on the environment.
Because such practices destroy the ever-dwindling forests, the government has
been trying to encourage them to adopt more settled agriculture often at lower
altitudes, with wet (paddy) rice and cash crops such as tea coffee and
cinnamon. Still, despite the allure of benefits like subsidised irrigation,
better education and health care, a long history of nonconformist attitudes,
coupled with a general distrust of the lowland ethnic-Vietnamese majority,
keeps many away from the lowlands. As is the case in other parts of Asia, the
rich, inherent culture of so many of Vietnam's ethnic minorities has slowly
given way to a variety of outside influences. Many tribes have been so
assimilated into mainstream Vietnamese society that very few even dress in
traditional garb. Most of those who do are found in the remote villages of the
far north, and even there it is often only the women who do so, while the men
more typically have switched over to Vietnamese or western-style clothes. While
factors such as the introduction of electricity, modern medicine and education
do create advantages, unfortunately such evolution has brought about the
abandonment of many age-old traditions. A more recent, and perhaps equally
threatening, outside influence is the effect of tourism. With growing numbers
of people travelling to see the different ethnic minorities, further exposure
to lowlanders and a developing trend toward commercialism will likely worsen
the situation. In some areas, such as Sapa and Bac Ha, adorable children who
used to just stare, laugh or run away at the sight of a foreigner have begun to
warm up, often expecting handouts of money or candy.
Ethnologists
typically classify the Montagnards by linguistic distinction and commonly refer
to three main groups (which further splinter into vast and complex
sub-groupings). The Austro-Asian family includes the Viet-Muong, Mon-Khmer,
Tay-Thai and Meo-Dzao language groups; the Austronesian family, related to
Indonesians and Pacific Islanders, were probably the earliest inhabitants of
the area but are now restricted to the central highlands, speaking
Malayo-Polynesian languages; and the Sino-Tibetan family encompasses the
Chinese and Tibeto-Burmese language groups, originating in southern China and
at different times migrated southwards to settle throughout the Vietnamese
uplands. Furthermore, within a single spoken language, there are often myriad
varying dialectical variations.
Despite
their different origins, languages, dialects and hugely varied traditional
dress, there are a number of similarities among the highland groups that
distinguish them from Viet people. Most immediately obvious is the stilt house,
which protects against snakes, vermin and larger beasts as well as floods,
while also providing safe stabling for domestic animals. The communal imbibing
of rice wine is popular with most highland groups, as are certain rituals such
as protecting a child from evil spirits by not naming it until after a certain
age. Most highlanders traditionally practise swidden farming, clearing patches
of forest land, farming the burnt-over fields for a few years and then leaving
it fallow for a specified period while it recovers its fertility. Where the
soils are particularly poor, a semi-nomadic lifestyle is adopted, shifting the
village location at intervals as necessary.
Based
on their languages, the ethnologists have divided the Vietnamese nation into
eight groups as follows:
1.
Mon - Khmer (Ba Na, Brau, Bru Van Kieu, Cho Ro, Co, Co Ho, Co Tu, Gie Trieng,
Hre, Khang, Khmer, Kho Mu, Ma, Mang, M'nong, O Du, Ro Mam, Ta Oi, Xinh Mun, Xo
Dang, and Xtieng)
2.
Tay - Thai (Bo Y, Giay, Lao, Lu, Nung, San Chay, Tay, and Thai)
3.
Tibeto - Burman (Cong, Ha Nhi, La Hu, Lo Lo, Phu La, and Si La)
4.
Malayo - Polynesian (Cham, Chu Ru, E De, Gia Rai, and Ra Glai)
5.
Viet - Muong (Chut, Kinh, Muong, and Tho)
6.
Kadai (Co, Lao, La Chi, La Ha, and Pu Peo)
7.
Mong - Dao (Dao, H'Mong, and Pa Then)
8.
Han (Hoa, Ngai, and San Diu)
Listed
in alphabetical order:
01.
Ba Na ethnic group
02.
Bo Y ethnic group
03.
Brau ethnic group
04.
Bru Van Kieu ethnic group
05.
Cham ethnic group
06.
Cho Ro ethnic group
07.
Chu Ru ethnic group
08.
Chut ethnic group
09.
Co ethnic group
10.
Cong ethnic group
11.
Co Ho ethnic group
12.
Co Lao ethnic group
13.
Co Tu ethnic group
14.
Dao ethnic group
15.
E De ethnic group
16.
Giay ethnic group
17.
Gia Rai ethnic group
18.
Gie Trieng ethnic group
19.
Ha Nhi ethnic group
20.
Hoa ethnic group
21.
Hre ethnic group
22.
Khang ethnic group
23.
Khmer ethnic group
24.
Kho Mu ethnic group
25.
Kinh (Viet) ethnic group
26.
La Chi ethnic group
27.
La Ha ethnic group
28.
La Hu ethnic group
29.
Lao ethnic group
30.
Lo Lo ethnic group
31.
Lu ethnic group
32.
Ma ethnic group
33.
Mang ethnic group
34.
Mong (H'Mong) ethnic group
35.
M'nong ethnic group
36.
Muong ethnic group
37.
Ngai ethnic group
38.
Nung ethnic group
39.
O Du ethnic group
40.
Pa Then ethnic group
41.
Phu La ethnic group
42.
Pu Peo ethnic group
43.
Ra Glai ethnic group
44.
Ro Mam ethnic group
45.
San Chay ethnic group
46.
San Diu ethnic group
47.
Si La ethnic group
48.
Tay ethnic group
49.
Ta Oi ethnic group
50.
Thai ethnic group
51.
Tho ethnic group
52.
Xinh Mun ethnic group
53.
Xo Dang ethnic group
54.
Xtieng ethnic group
This
article written by Lanh Nguyen from Vietnam Heritage Travel
For
original article, please visit:
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