VietExplorer

From the center of Si Ma Cai district, tourists travel about 3 km to Nan San commune to contemplate the picturesque scenes of terraced fields in a lush valley and the ancient earthen houses of the Nung people, which have stood for several dozen years to a hundred years.  Then Xuan Van, a local, says that before building a new house, the Nung people must choose a place that support production and living conditions.  “According to the Nung’s custom, the direction of the main door must suit the age of the house’s owner. We choose an appropriate day and hour to break the ground. At a chosen time, we put a mould used to make earthen walls on the land and butcher a chicken and a pig to inform the land spirits of our construction. I say: ‘Today is a good day. My surname is Then. I will break the ground to build a house. I pray the land...

Dong Xa commune in Na Ri district is said to be the place where Tay ethnic people first inhabited. For hundreds of years, the Tay have managed to maintain their cultural values through their costumes, houses, and art. No one knows for sure when the bowl folk dance first appeared, but it has been preserved for many generations. According to legend, bowl dance describes the weaving activities of the Tay people in the past. The instrument used for performing this dance includes a bowl and chopsticks which are used in daily meals. The bowl is used for silk incubation while the chopsticks are used for stirring the compressed silk in the bowl. People must stir evenly to let the silk threads roll into the chopsticks. This movement is repeated many times until there is enough silk to weave the fabric. Another legend says the bowl folk dance originated from the Tay festival of praying for crops and new rice festival, thus b...

Pa Di is a branch of the Tay ethnic group in the northern province of Lao Cai. There are about 2,000 Pa Di people living mainly in the high mountain communes of Muong Khuong district. Clothes worn by Pa Di women are different from other ethnic groups with their colorful patterns that are closely associated with their habitat of forests and mountains. A prominent accessory worn by the Pa Di is the woman’s hat. It’s said that in the past, Pa Di family members used to live together in a big house. But once the family got bigger and bigger, they had to separate to live in different houses. In order to remember their roots, clan, and parents, Pa Di people wore a hat, representing the house’s roof.  Po Xin Phuc of Muong Khuong district, said, “The hat represents the roof of a cozy house. It’s a unique feature of our group.”  The hat is woven from flax by Pa Di women. They coat fabric with bees...

The Tay’s thinking of marriage is quite open as most Tay boys and girls can freely date before asking for their parents’ permission to get married. The boy’s family will send a respectful person to the girl’s family to make a proposal. The two families show the girl’s date of birth to a shaman who helps them choose an auspicious day to organize the engagement and wedding ceremonies. On the engagement day, the boy’s family visits the girl’s housetodiscuss preparations, including offerings. Nong Tuyet Loan of Thach An district, Cao Bang province, said that in the past the offerings included pork, chicken, steamed sticky rice, and some money. Now there are also cigarettes, beer, and soft drinks. The offering must also have Giay sticky cakes. “The number of sticky ricecakes depends of the number of the bride’s relatives. Normally in my place, the bridal family asks for some money, 120 small sticky rice cakes, and a worship tray...

The Chut have five branches – Sach, May, Ruc, A Rem, and Ma Lieng, who all belong to the Viet-Muong linguistic group. They are one of 16 ethnic groups with a small population in Vietnam . Dr. Kim Ngoc, who has studied the Chut, says from 1905 to 1911, French scholars and missionaries wrote the first articles about people living sporadically scattered in the mountains near the Gianh River who were called the Tac Cui, Cha Cui, or U Mo people. In 1959, Vietnamese border guards discovered a group of people wearing loincloths and clothes made of tree bark living a nomadic life and sheltering in caves. According to Dr. Kim Ngoc, the earliest French studies mentioned the Ruc and A Rem people. The ancient encyclopedia of Vietnam “Phu Bien Tap Luc” and the geography book of the central coast “O Chau Can Luc” mentioned the Sach people. Sach means a hamlet or village in a small valley. The feudal regimes called the people living there the Sach. The nomadic people living in the forests t...

When the rainy season comes and water fills the streams and the trees bud, the Ma hold a ceremony to thank the Forest Genie. Nguyen Huy Cao of the Center for Culture, Communications, and Sports of Cat Tien district says the Thanksgiving ritual has been performed since the ancestors of the Ma settled here. The offering of a sacrificial animal and the playing of gongs continue today. The Thanksgiving ritual can be performed by a family or by the community. A community Thanksgiving is held when the village has suffered a severe flood or drought or when someone has died while working in the forest. “The scale of the ceremony depends on the financial situation. For a community ceremony, people may prepare a buffalo. A rich family may also prepare a buffalo, while a family of 2 or 3 generations may prepare a pig or a goat. The sacrificial animal can be any four-legged animal or even a chicken,” explains Cao. Meanwhile, according to Dieu Cac Khu of Ngo hamlet, Cat Tien township, the ...