A Vietnamese proverb says, "Oh squash, have mercy on the pumpkin. Although you are not of the same variety, you are cultivated in the same place. This proverb reminds Vietnamese that the country has 54 ethnic groups living on the same land despite different material and spiritual living conditions. Two core values are essential to keep building the great nation that is today Vietnam: living together and helping one another.
Originally Hindu, the Cham converted to Islam under the influence of Indian merchants present in Southeast Asia in the thirteenth century. They follow a caste system quite similar to theirs but they offer a more important position to women. "Among the Cham, the children carry their mother’s name: it is no longer a surname, but a matronym. The sisters of one family live together under the same roof. But it is the youngest daughter who is designated as the primary heiress and therefore has the responsibility to care for her parents. The other girls will have a share of inheritance except if they have brothers, then they won’t have anything.” Le Duy Thai from the Museum of Ethnography of Vietnam.
Today, there are about 130,000 Cham people. They live in the provinces of Binh Thuan, Ninh Thuan and An Giang. Their traditional clothes show a very sharp weaving technique and a unique design. Each social layer has an outfit of its own.
The first Dzao (Yao) arrived north of Tonkin more than 800 years ago. These nomadic peasants live in the mountains (between 400 and 1500m), sometimes in very remote areas. Their staple foods are rice, corn and sweet potato. They also enjoy sweet rice wine, which they make themselves and drink in bowls. They never miss an opportunity to offer it to their guests. The Dzao language is one of the five language families of the Far East.
Generally, Yao women wear short tight pants and a long tunic that goes down to the knees. Men's clothes are simpler: indigo trousers and a long-sleeved shirt embroidered by their wives. The children wear a colorful cap. Clothing color varies depending on where they live. The Dzao are indeed divided into several subgroups: there are the White Trousers Dzao, Sapec Dzao, Tight Pants Dzao, Long Tunic Dzao, Green Dzao, Red Dzao, Black Dzao, and others yet.
The Giay reside mainly in the mountainous provinces of Lao Cai, Ha Giang, Lai Chau and Cao Bang, where they live from aquatic rice and livestock.
Their houses (stilts houses or mud houses) are built on the hillside amid terraced rice paddies. These dwellings have several rooms, the middle one being always reserved for guests and to worship ancestors.
Giay women wear silk or black satin pants with a red belt. For the top, they can wear any color but white.
Good to know: the Giay ethnic group has several appellations (Dzay, Nhang, Pu Dzay ...)
Leaving China, the Hoa arrived by boat in southern Vietnam in the middle of the 17th century. Fleeing the advancing Manchus, they were granted the right to settle in the Mekong Delta. A century later, the Hoa created the "Cho Lon" market (literally "the big market") along a tributary of the Saigon River. Today, Cho Lon is the Chinatown of Saigon. The Hoa are involved in agriculture and commerce and largely contributing to the country's economy. Five congregations represent them in Saigon: Guangdong, Hainan, Zhaozhou, Fujian and the Hakka.
The Khmer were the first inhabitants of the Mekong Delta and Saigon region. The names of the ancient cities have also a Khmer origin: Sa Dec - where lived Marguerite Duras - comes from "Psar Dek" which means "Iron Market", as for the former name of Saigon, "Prei Nokor" - the "Forest City" - it is still customary for some Cambodians and for the Khmer Krom minority ("Khmer from below") of the Mekong Delta.
The Lolo ethnic group is from Yunnan, China. The first Lolo arrived north of Tonkin about 400 years ago. In Vietnam, they are about 5,000 and are divided into two groups: Colorful Lolo and Black Lolo (bourgeois). The traditional houses are built on stilts and shelter below domestic animals like water buffaloes, cows, pigs, ducks, hens, dogs and cats.
A distinguishing feature of Black Lolo: they craft themselves bronze drums used for funeral ceremonies. The family members are very close to each other and live in the same hamlet. Each family line has several branches, of which one man acts as "leader". He is responsible for ancestor worship, solidarity between family members and the preservation of sacred drums that allow communication between the world of the living and the afterlife.
The Hmong (or Mong) originate from the mountainous regions of southern China and northern Vietnam. They’re excellent hunters and farmers (they grow on small plots embedded in rocks). Referring to their outfits, they’re called Black Hmong, Flower Hmong, Green Hmong, Red Hmong or White Hmong. Women usually wear hand embroidered skirts, tight-sleeved blouses and walk barefoot.
According to local beliefs, the Hmongs receive three souls at birth: the first remains after death, the second part goes to the afterlife and the third is reincarnated.
With 1,600,000 individuals, the Muong are the largest ethnic group among the 53 minorities in Vietnam. They live in the provinces of Hoa Binh, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An and Phu Tho. Located at the foot of a mountain or near a river, a Muong village usually comprises about forty homes. All live in stilt houses, under which are domestic animals (buffalo, pigs, chickens, cows ...) and farm implements.
Muong outfits are still made of traditional motifs. Women wear a white bandeau, a short blouse, a narrow skirt down to the ankles and a blue belt.
With a million people, the Nung ethnic group is one of the most important tribes in northeastern Vietnam. They are mainly in the provinces of Cao Bang, Lang Son, Ha Giang, Tuyen Quang and Bac Kan. The first Nung arrived in Vietnam about 300 years ago.
The Nung grow food crops (rice, maize and potatoes) in flooded valleys, as well as fruit trees (mandarin and persimmon) on the hills. They also have a fine craftsmanship, such as carpentry, weaving or ceramics.
The Nung are particularly fond of pork fat dishes. During traditional celebrations, they eat several kinds of rice cakes.
Most Nung live in stilt houses; others built houses surrounded by mud walls. Cults have an important place in the Nung ethnic group : they worship their ancestors, the genius of the earth, the Compassion Buddha, door ghosts, floor ghosts ... and they also have spiritual exercises in case of natural disaster or epidemic.
The Pa Then are mainly found in the province of Ha Giang, in northern Vietnam, where they live from rice and maize cultivation. The villages usually comprised about thirty homes. In the Pa Then families, half of the children are named after the mother and the other half after their father.
Pa Then women have two different outfits. The daily outfit is made of a short jacket and a wide indigo skirt. On feast days, women are dressed in red and yellow with a long tunic to the calves and a handmade embroidered skirt. Their head is surrounded with a long ribbon that forms a sort of cloth tray.
The Pa Then have a very original traditional festival: "dancing over the fire". After listening to magic formulas recited by the marabout, boys jump directly into the fire. This ceremony aims to express respect for their first God: the genius of fire.
Tay people live in the valleys and low mountains of the Northeast. Great farmers, they grow rice (flooded terraced), corn (on steep slopes), sweet potatoes or fruit. Tay villages are often at the foot of a mountain or near a river. Houses are mostly on stilts, with a location below for domestic animals (buffaloes, cows, pigs, chickens, ducks ...).
Tay traditional clothing is simpler than other ethnic groups. Women wear indigo trousers and a long tunic with tight sleeves.
The majority of Tay practice the cult of ancestors and spirits. An ancestor altar is placed in the center of the house and guests or pregnant women are not allowed to sit on the bed in front of it. The ritual master plays a very important role. It is he who decides the young wedding date, the time of the burial of a dead person or the construction of a new house.
Landing by the Black River in the early 11th century, the Thai were one of the first ethnic minority to arrive in Vietnam. They were able to settle in fertile valleys to cultivate flooded rice.
The Thai ethnic group today has about 1,500,000 individuals divided into two main groups: Black Thai and White Thai, as identified by the color of their clothing. Black Thai women wear a high-necked blouse and a velvet or black satin long tight skirt. White Thai women wear a black skirt and a white V-neck blouse.
All life revolves around rice growing, so they celebrate the first thunder of the New Year. Thais are polytheistic and believe death is nothing but the continuation of life in another world…
