Unique features of the Brau ethnic group

The Brau are an ethnic minority with less than 1,000 people in our country. Currently, with the special support policies of the Party and the State, the lives of the Brau people have been changing for the better, traditional culture is preserved and promoted. Let's find out information about the Co Lao ethnic group, Vietnam with iguide.ai!

1. Historical origin

- The ancestors of the Brau people lived in southern Laos and northeastern Cambodia. The majority of them still live in the Sekamarn (Se San) and Nam Khoong (Mekong) river basins. A small number of Brau people migrated to Vietnam to live for about 150 - 160 years (6 - 7 generations). Since then, the Brau people have lived in the border area of the three countries of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

- Other names: Brao.

2. Population

According to the survey of 53 ethnic minorities on April 1, 2019: Total population: 525 people, of which the male population is 255 people and the female population is 270 people. Household size: 3.6 people/household. Percentage of population living in rural areas: 94.7%.

3. Geographic distribution

Mainly residing in Dak Me village, Bo Y commune, Ngoc Hoi district, Kon Tum province, 10km from Bo Y international border gate and nearly 100km from Kon Tum city.

4. Language

– The language belongs to the Mon-Khmer language group (Austroasiatic language family). The Brau people do not have a written language. After liberation, the Party and State paid attention to education and preserving the traditions of the Brau people. Children were taught the common language and vocational training.

- Education: According to the survey data of 53 ethnic minorities on April 1, 2019: The rate of Brau people aged 15 and over who can read and write: 62.4%; The rate of people attending primary school: 104.1%; The rate of people attending lower secondary school: 42.9%; The rate of people attending upper secondary school: 33.3%; The rate of out-of-school children: 35.4%.

5. Main features

- Diet: The Brau mainly eat sticky rice burned in young bamboo tubes (com lam), followed by rice cooked in earthen pots. Corn and cassava are only used to feed livestock and poultry. Drinks include rice wine. Young and old, men and women all like to smoke tobacco with dry pipes.
Costumes: In the past, men wore loincloths, women wore skirts. Women had the custom of stretching their ears to wear golden bamboo rings or ivory earrings. Men and women at the age of 15-16 followed the custom of sawing off their four upper front teeth to officially integrate into the adult community.

- Housing: The Brau people live in stilt houses with high sloping roofs. The floors are divided into two different levels to distinguish living functions. The village has a circular campus, and the houses are arranged like the spokes of a cart wheel.

- Social relations: Brau society was divided into rich and poor in the initial stage. Small patriarchal families were established, with equal rights for men and women. The remnants of the matriarchal family system still existed quite clearly.

- Wedding: The wedding ceremony is held at the bride's house but the expenses are paid by the groom's family. After the wedding, the custom of living with the bride's family lasts for about 4-5 years and then there is a period of rotation of residence between the couple.
Funeral: When someone dies, the funeral director beats gongs and drums to announce the death. The body is placed in a coffin made from a hollowed-out tree trunk and placed in a newly built funeral home near the house. The half-submerged coffin is a characteristic of the funeral customs of the Brau people. The mausoleum is built on the grave to store the property divided among the deceased. This property has been partially destroyed by breaking, puncturing, chipping, etc.
New house: When the house is inaugurated, people hold a solemn housewarming ceremony and the whole village attends a party after the ceremony to worship the gods.

- Tet: The festival to celebrate new rice after the harvest is Tet. The date of Tet depends on the season and each specific family, there is no fixed date.

- Calendar: The agricultural calendar is calculated according to the lunar phases and determines the months according to the rice farming seasons of our ancestors.

- Traditional culture: Folk songs with lyrics, ancient stories about the creator god Pa Xay, the legend of Un cha dep lep, wedding songs, lullabies. Musical instruments include the klong put called tap dinh bo. Most important are the famous bronze gongs with 3 types of different scales: coong, mam and tha.

6. Economic conditions

- The main source of income is farming to grow sticky rice, rice, corn, and cassava. The farming method is slash and burn, then dig holes to plant seeds, and harvest by hand. Regarding handicrafts, many Brau men know how to weave. Currently, the Brau people have benefited from the Party and State's sedentary farming and settlement policies, especially from the Bo Y border gate development program.

- According to the survey data of 53 ethnic minorities on April 1, 2019: The Brau ethnic group has: Poverty rate: 6.1%; Near-poverty rate: 7.9%; Percentage of households using clean water sources: 88.0%; Percentage of households using grid electricity for lighting: 100.0%; Unemployment rate: 0.38%; Percentage of trained workers with degrees and certificates: 2.2%; Percentage of workers working in the non-agricultural sector: 1.5%; Percentage of workers working in management or high and middle-level technical and vocational jobs: 0.8%.

Above is some interesting information about the Brau ethnic group, Vietnam. Let's plan to explore, meet and experience the culture of the Brau people with iguide.ai in the near future!

Source:
- Ethnic groups in Vietnam (National Political Publishing House Truth)
- Basic characteristics of 54 ethnic minorities in 2019 (Committee on Ethnic Minorities and General Statistics Office)
- Website of the Ethnic Committee, Website of Nhan Dan Newspaper
- Survey results collect information on the socio-economic status of 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam)