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The Khang have a custom that when sick people receive medical treatment but can’t get well, their families invite a shaman or a healer to give them spiritual encouragement. Whoever recovers after the worship will ask to become an adopted child of the shaman. The more people that get well, the more children the shaman adopts. At the beginning of the year, biological children and adopted children from different places gather at the shaman’s house to organize a Kin pang ceremony to thank their adoptive parents. The shaman decides an appropriate day for the get-together. Lo Van Bun is a senior villager in Chieng On commune with profound knowledge of the Khang’s customs.  “Biological and adopted children contribute rice, pork, and chicken to organize the ceremony and thank the shaman for healing them. Those who were seriously ill should bring a bigger offering, but in general people feel free to contribu...

Rice is one of the indispensable items in the daily life of various ethnic groups, including the Co Tu. The shaman and elderly prepare offerings ahead of the crop-praying festival. Locals come together to plant a “Cay Neu”, which is an extremely tall bamboo tree. In the old days, Vietnamese people put up tall bamboo poles decorated with red garment strips in the belief that the poles prevented ghosts from entering the community during the festival. Elderly people perform a ritual to show their sincere thanks to the genies. The ritual of slaughtering buffalo makes up a crucial part of the festival. Co Tu ethnic women perform traditional dances to show their respect to the genies and to expect a new bumper crop ahead. The ritual of praying for a bumper crop has been passed down from generation to generation. The post Co Tu ethnic people celebrate new rice festival appeared first on Vietexplorer.com . View more from VietExplor...