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VIETNAM
I travelled to Vietnam in the 10's. |
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Throughout the high country of Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar, ethnic minorities number as many as a million people while others are feared to have dwindled to as few as 100. The future of hill tribes is an uncertain one: most are in the process of rapid cultural and economic change that will eventually alter them beyond recognition. In general, virtually all hill tribes are now changing greatly through the impact of Christian missionaries, as well as the effects of modernization, secularization, and sometimes industralization. These factors, among others, are tending toward a weakening of tribal languages and tribal identity.*
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The ancient art of water puppetry was virtually unknown outside of northern Vietnam until the 1960s. It originated with rice farmers who worked the flooded fields of the Red River Delta. Some say they saw the potential of the water as a dynamic stage, others say they adapted conventional puppetry during a massive flood.*
Most famous for Black H'mong and Red Dzao villages, it is also within striking distance of the colourful Flower H'mong markets around Bac Ha.*
I visited this H'mong family near Sapa and watched the mother design some material.
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The H'mong live at high altitudes and cultivate dry rice and medicinal plants including opium, and raise animals.
I was invited to videotape a funeral in a H'mong village.
The H'mong have grown to become one of the largest ethnic groups in Vietnam. Numbering around half a million, they are spread across the far north, but most visitors will run into them in Sapa or Bac Ha.*
The Vanishing Hmong
Learning about other cultures helps us understand different perspectives with the world in which we live. In Vietnam, the Hmong are isolated both culturally and geographically. The population is steadily increasing due to high birthrates, but education levels are relatively low. The highland regions where they farm have almost reached the maximum extent of available land. Currently many find sustenance by foraging in the forests and some have developed rice terrace agriculture, but this will not be adequate to support a rapidly growing population. |
The ethnic minorities of Vietnam are spread throughout the highland areas in the north and centre of the country. The old French station of Sapa is the gateway to the northwest and the most popular place in the country to encounter the Montagnards.*
One of the most recognisable are the Black M'mong, who wear indigo-dyed linen clothing, with women typically wearing skirts, aprons, tretro leggings and cylindrical hats.*
The farmers carved the puppets from water-resistant fig-tree timber in forms modelled on the villagers themselves, animals from their daily lives and more fanciful mythical creatures such as dragon, phoenix and unicorn. Performances were usually staged in ponds, lakes or flooded paddy fields.*
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*These captions are from Vietnam -- Lonely Planet's travel guide.