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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.
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.
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.
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.
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 inter vals as necessary.
Mong (H'Mong) ethnic group
Mong (H'Mong) people, Mong Do, White Mong, Mong Lenh (Variety Mong), Mong Si (Red Mong), Mong Du (Black Mong) and Mong Sua (Man Mong) minority, Hmong ethnie, montagnard Name of ethnic group: Mong (H'Mong, Mong Do, White Mong, Mong Lenh (Variety Mong), Mong Si (Red Mong), Mong Du (Black Mong) and Mong Sua (Man Mong)
Population: 787,604 people (Year 1999)
Locality: The Mong are concentrated in Ha Giang, Tuyen Quang, Lao Cai, Yen Bai, Lai Chau, Son La, Cao Bang and Nghe An provinces.
Each lineage lives within a group setting. The head of the village assumes the common affairs for the lineage. Young Mong men and women are free to choose their partners. Matrimonial life of the Mong is very harmonious and divorce is very rare.Culture: Mong language belongs to the Mong-Dao Group. The Traditional Tet (New Year's Day) of the Mong is organized every December. They refrain from eating green vegetables during the three days of the Tet Holiday. The musical instruments of the Mong include various kinds of "khen" (pan-pipes) and lip organs. After a hard working day and to celebrate spring, the young men and women often play "khen" and lip organs to express their feelings for their partners.
Costumes: The Mong make their clothes from linen. Women's attire consists of a skirt, a blouse that opens at the front and has embroidery on the back, an apron to cover the skirt at the front, and leggings.
Economy: The Mong live mainly on slash-and-burn cultivation. They also grow rice and corn on terraced fields. Their principal food plants are corn, rice, and rye. Apart from these crops, they also grow medicinal plants and linen plants to supply the fibers for cloth weaving.
Dzao
The Dzao (pronounced "Zao") ethnic minority is incredibiy diverse in all aspects of life: social and religious practices, architecture, agriculture and dress.
Small, localized groups settled in the northern border region of Vietnam after leaving China some 200 years ago.Dzao people now number some 500,000 in Vietnam, with related groups in Laos, Thailand and China.
Long ago the Dao adopted the Chinese writing system and have a substantial literary tradition.
One popular legend records the origin of the 12 Dao clans: Ban Ho, a powerful dog of five colours, killed an enemy general and was granted the hand of a princess in marriage, who gave birth to twelve children.
Ban Ho is worshipped by the Dao and the five colours of Dao embroidery represent their ancestor.
The Dao boast a particularly striking traditional dress, characterized by a rectangular patch of embroidery sewn onto the back of their jackets, and both men and women sport silver or copper jewellery and tasselled shoulder bags.
Dao women wear elaborate headgear, usually a triangular-shaped turban, either embroidered or decorated with silver coins, beads and coloured tassels.
It's also common for Dao women to shave their eyebrows and sometimes the whole head, coating the skull with wax.
The typical houses of the Dao are rectangular and they have structures made of wood and bamboo. Normally it is comprised of three rooms: a room and two dormitories in the lateral side. Each one of these rooms has a small oven to cook.
The men and the women cover their heads with a black or red scarf. Some women substitute this scarf by a turban that can adopt different forms.
The traditional suit of the women is of bright colors. They also decorate their shirts with decorations made out of silver.
Dao people live at all altitudes, their house style and agricultural techniques varying accordingly.
Marriage is traditionally arranged by go-betweens who represent the boy's family to the girl's parents. If the union is acceptable, a bride-price is negotiated, typically ranging from three to ten silver bars, worth about US$100 each, a partial artifact from the opium trade. The wedding takes place in two installments, first at the bride's house, followed by a procession to the groom's house where a second ceremony occurs.
While groups living at lower levels are relatively prosperous, growing rice and raising livestock, those in the high, rocky mountains live in considerable poverty.
