Mythologies of the Êđê (Rhade) Tribe

The Ede tribe, also called the Rhade people, are a group of ethnic minorities in Vietnam. The indigenous community is primarily located in the Central Highlands of the country, particularly in provinces of Dak Lak, Khanh Hoa, Phu Yen and Gia Lai. The Ede or Rhade language is a part of the Chamic language group, a subgroup of MalayoPolynesian languages in the Austronesian family. The Ede/Rhade people uphold unique laws, customs, values and beliefs that are passed on through generations by the leaders of the group to ensure the long-lasting life of the community. With a growing population of over 390,000, as most recently recorded in 2019, the Ede people are the largest ethnic minority group of Vietnam. There are various local groups of the Ede, including Kpa, Adham, Krung, Mdhur, Ktul, Dlie, Hrue, Bih, Blo, Korao, Dong kay, Dong mak, Ening, Arul, Hwing, with Ede Kpa being widely considered the most representative of the ethnic minority group. Dating back to thousands and thousands of years ago, the culture of the Ede people is heavily influenced by Vietnam’s neighbour Cambodia, and the ancient Kingdom of Chamba that now represents central and southern Vietnam. Music plays an important part of Ede cultural heritage. Diverse instruments such as gongs, flutes and unique string instruments are used to create music to communicate messages, whether it is to people or to yang (the Ede word for God). The Rhade people are also notorious for their long-standing folk art, literature and clothing. Traditionally, Ede villages are located on high ground and close to water sources such as the Donnai and Srepok rivers. In these villages, the Ede people inhabit longhouses built out of wood and bamboo. In order to allow for both functional cooking areas and gardens, and to act as a safety precaution against fires, the Ede people prefer to leave ample spaces between their houses.

The Ede have long lived in the Tay Nguyen or high plateau region of central Vietnam. Traces of their origin are reflected in their epic poems, their architecture, and their popular arts. Up to today, the Ede community remains a society imprinted with matrilineal traditions. The Ede language belongs to the Malayo-Polynesian group (Austro-nesian language family). The Ede have long lived in the Tay Nguyen or high plateau region of central Vietnam. Traces of their origin are reflected in their epic poems, their architecture, and their popular arts. Up to today, the Ede community remains a society imprinted with matrilineal traditions. The Ede’s principal food crop is rice, cultivated on swidden fields which, after a certain period of time, are left fallow before being exploited anew (cleared and burned). Each period of exploitation of a field varies between 5 and 8 years, based on the quality of the soil. Crop rotation and intercropping is practiced and there is only one rice harvest per year. Wet rice fields are. found only among the Bih near Lac Lake. The most numerous animals and poultry raised on the family farm are pigs, buffaloes and chickens, but they are mostly used when there are ritual sacrifices to perform. The most widespread family handicrafts are the plaiting of household , objects out of bamboo, the cultivation of cotton in order to weave cloth with the aid of looms similar to those found in Indonesia. Pottery and blacksmithing are not well-developed among the Ede. Barter was the most widespread marketing practice in former times.

Ede ethnic group, which includes the many sub-groups of Kpa, Adham, Krung, Mdhur, Ktul, Dlie, Rue, Krung, and Bih, has been living in the Central Highlands for a long time. The Ede people are a long-standing resident of the Central Highlands. Traces of the ethnic group’s origin are seen in their epics, folk art and architecture. The Ede community in Vietnam has continued to keep many matriarchal traditions alive to this day. Other names: Anak Ea De, Rade (or Rhade), e De, Egar, De. Sub-groups: Kpa, Adham, Krung, Mdhur, Ktul, Dlie, Hrue, Bih, Blo, Kah, Kdrao, Dong Kay, Dong Mak, Ening, Arul, Hwing, Ktle,£pan, etc. According to the census on the 53 ethnic minorities as announced on April 1, 2019, the total population of the Ede ethnic group is 398,671. Of whom, 195,351 are male and 203,320 people are female. 88.9% of the population lives in rural areas. Language: The Ede language is a subfamily of the Malayo-Polynesian language group. Currently, the main residence of Ede people in Vietnam is Dak Lak Province, the south of Gia Lai Province, the west of Phu Yen Province, and Khanh Hoa Province. Ede people cook rice in a large earthenware or copper pot. Ede indigenous food includes salt and pepper, bamboo shoots, homegrown vegetables and tubers, fish, meat, birds and animals. Alcoholic drinks are brewed in earthen jars. Steamed sticky rice is only used on the occasion of worshiping rituals. Both men and women chew betel nuts.

Divided into Kpa Krung, Adtham, Mthur, Ktul..., Ede ethnic group with more than 160,000 inhabitants living in the heart of Dac Lac Highlands, Khanh Hoa uses the Malayo-Polynesia language. They dwell in stilted houses with sloping roofs. Besides farming and breeding, they hunt wild animals, taming elephants and picking fruits. Their culture is original with many well-known epics. K'pal or "Sacred bench" is an essential feature of all festivities and ceremonies of the Ede, an ethnic group in Central VietNam. It is reserved for the elderly of the village, guests and musicians, and females are strictly forbidden from sleeping on it. The bench is carefully constructed in strict conformity with age-old rules. It is usually 13 m long, 0.7 m wide and about 21 to 22 cm thick, and the whole process of making it must be completed within seven days. To make a k'pal, the head of the family first makes an offering to the god Giang Wah Yang, protector of all ceremonial objects and cultural symbols. Offering preparations includes a fine pot of distilled rice wine, kept for at least one year at a pure place believed to be under the close watch of the gods of the forest and river. In addition, there are the tools to be used in the making of the k'pal, like axes and hammers. Early in the dry season, young men go deep into the jungle in search of suitable wood from a tree that meets several conditions, including having no creepers, no birds' nests or bees. The Ede people believes that such trees are haunted by spirits and, therefore, objects made from them are not likely to lead to a peaceful and prosperous life. Once the tree has been chosen, an axe without a handle is thrown into its trunk and left there overnight. If the axe does not fall down, the practice is repeated twice more before cutting the tree down to make the k'pal. The family head then summons seven workers to cut the tree down. Once the k'pal is completed - within seven days - rice wine is offered and a goat-sacrifice ceremony held for the forest god. The goat's meat is distributed to the workers. Later, the k'pal is taken home in a ceremony during which the entire family dresses in traditional Ede costumes and plays the Ki Path and Ding Tat or other traditional musical instruments. The family head and the local wizard lead the procession. The family head dances the ceremonial Adring dance with a shield to show the family's pride and martial arts. Then, amid the reciting of poems, offerings are made to the gods and the k'pal is carefully brought inside the house and tied to the wall. For one whole day, no one is allowed to pass the place where the k'pal is kept. Throughout the night, the family head and other male members of the house must dance the ceremonial dances three times, offering the gods seven pots of wine and a buffalo.

The Ede are among the most economically prosperous of Vietnam's many ethnic minority peoples. During French colonial times, it was not uncommon for wealthy Ede to have human slaves. Still, relatively speaking, most Ede today in Vietnam live in poverty. The Ede are also the second-largest of Vietnam's ethnic groups (after the Viet) living in the United States today. Much of that statistic is directly due to the role the Ede played in the American war in Vietnam. Of all the "montagnards" from the Central Highlands area of the former South Vietnam, the Ede were the most numerous in terms of co-combatants alongside US forces. Around four hundred thousand Ede live in the Central Highlands today, mainly in the province of Dac Lac. Most Ede are Protestant Christians (or Dega as they have come to choose a single word to identify themselves and many of their tribal neighbors). While the Ede are adapting to the economic and attendant lifestyle reforms taking place in Vietnam today, many of their traditional, cultural practices remain a world removed from 21st. Century globalization. The house above is a traditional Ede longhouse among whose inhabitants is an elderly woman (below), living much the same way she can always remeber living. She is a khoa sang, the most senior — in age and authority — inhabitant of each longhouse. So highly respected is she among the matrilineal Ede, she has her own chair, carved from a single piece of timber.

The Ede have long lived in the Tay Nguyen or high plateau region of central Vietnam. Traces of their origin are reflected in their epic poems, their architecture, and their popular arts. Up to today, the Ede community remains a society imprinted with matrilineal traditions. The Ede language belongs to the Malayo-Polynesian group (Austronesia language family). The Ede have long lived in the Tay Nguyen or high plateau region of central Vietnam. Traces of their origin are reflected in their epic poems, their architecture, and their popular arts. Up to today, the Ede community remains a society imprinted with matrilineal traditions. The Ede’s principal food crop is rice, cultivated on swidden fields which, after a period of time, after left fallow before being exploited anew (cleared and burned). Each period of exploitation of a field varied between 5 and 8 years, based on the quality of the soil. Crop rotation and intercropping is practiced and there is only one wet rice harvest per year. Wet rice fields are found only among the Bih near Lac Lake. The most numerous animals and poultry raised on the family farm are pigs, buffaloes, and chickens, but they are mostly used when there are ritual sacrifices to perform. The most widespread family handicrafts are the plaiting of household objects out of bamboo, the cultivation of cotton in order to weave cloths with the aid of looms similar to those found in Indonesia. Pottery and blacksmithing are not well-developed among the Ede. Barter was the most spread marketing practice in the former time. The Ede eat rice cooked in clay pots or in large-sized metal pots. Ede food includes a spicy salt, game meat, bamboo shoots, vegetables and root crops abstained from hunting and gathering activities. Ruou can, fermented alcohol consumed using a bamboo drinking tube or straw, is stored and served in large earthen jars. Steamed sticky rice is reversed for ritual occasions. Men and women chew betel nut.

The Ede are the 12th most populous of the 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam, totaling 330,000. They live Dak Lak, Gia Lai, Khanh Hoa and Phu Yen province. The Ede language belongs to the Cham and the Malayo-Polynesian language group. Originally, the Ede moved to Vietnam’s central region and then to the central highlands between the 8th century and the 15th century. Their house on stilts has the shape of a long boat, whose length is from 15 to 100 meters. Whenever a girl living in a house gets married, the house is lengthened by one compartment. Doctor of Ethnology Luu Hung told VOV: “The longhouse reflects many cultural aspects of the Ede, who practice matrilineal descent. Images of female breasts are carved on the wooden staircase of the house’s gable front which faces the north and on the wooden pillars inside the house. House utensils also vividly demonstrate the matriarchy”. The head of the family is always a woman. Children bear their mother’s surname and sons are not entitled to an inheritance. The groom moves to his wife’s house to live. Daughters inherit the ancestors’ assets. The youngest daughter inherits the house to continue worshipping the ancestors and is responsible for looking after her aging parents. The opening of the windows of a house signals that its female owner has gotten married. Previously, the Ede were engaged in hunting, fishing, farming, knitting and weaving. Now they practice the alternation of crops and plant industrial trees like coffee, rubber, pepper and cacao. Some raise buffaloes, cows, and elephants. Ede handicraft items include cloth, bronze, wooden and pottery products and jewelry.

The Êde, also called the Rhade, and sometimes the E-De, Ra De or De, are an ethnic community of about 200 000 people living in Vietnam. They live in the south-eastern provinces of Dak Lak, Gai Lai, Khanh Hoa and Phu Yen. The Rhade language belongs to the Malayo-Polynesian language group. The Êde live in small villages, usually gathering twenty to fifty houses. Several families live in such Ede villages, which are called “buon” in Rhade. Traditionally, they build long houses on stilts to welcome their extended families. The head of the family is the Koa Sang, as the Êde are a matriarchal society, the Khoa Sang is the oldest woman in the family. She is in charge of solving family disputes and preserving familial traditions. Not only are the Êde a matriarchal society, but they also follow a matrilineal system, meaning one’s lineage follows the female line and a child will take his or her mother’s name. When the men get married, they move in with their wife’s family and have little influence on the decisions made by their in-laws. In the unfortunate case that his wife died, it is common for the widower to move in with his sisters.

The Ede mainly practice cultivation on burnt-over land. The Bich alone cultivate rice in submerged fields with primitive farming methods such as using buffaloes to trample the fields instead of plough and using hoes to work the fields. Besides cultivation, the Ede also practice animal husbandry, hunting, gathering, fishing, basketry and weaving. Dark indigo is the traditional color of Ede clothing. Their attire is often trimmed with colorful motifs. Ede women wear a skirt and vest and men wear loincloths. They like to wear cope, silver or bead ornaments. According to ancient principle, the Ede had to file six front teeth of their upper denture. Now, the young Ede people do not follow this practice. In Ede society, matriarchy is prevailed. Women are the masters of their families. The children take the family name of the mother. The right of inheritance is reserved for daughters only. After marriage, the man comes to live at his wife's house. lithe wife dies and nobody among the wife's relatives replaces her position, the man will turn back his home and live with his sisters. Until he dies, he is buried among his maternal relatives' graves. The Ede practice polytheism, so they retain many taboos and worships to pray for bumper harvests, health and avoiding misfortunes and losses. The Ede possess a rich and unique treasury of oral literature including myths, legends, lyrical songs, proverbs, in particular well-known khan (epics) with khan Dam San and khan Dam Kteh Mlan. The Ede like to sing, dance and play musical instruments. Their musical instruments comprise gongs, drums, flutes, pan-pipes and string instruments. Among them Ding nam is a very popular musical instrument of the Ede which is much liked by many people. The Ede live in houses on stilts. The houses are generally elongated. The length depends on the number of inhabitants. Some houses are measured hundreds of meters. Structural framework has begun to appear as well as house built of wood or bamboo with thatched roof. In recent years, the houses are tending to divide into signaler constructions with sheet iron covered roofs. Each side of the house has a door. The entrance door faces the north or the road. The interior is divided into two parts. The main part, called Gah, containing the entrance door is reserved for receiving guests. The rest called Ok is divided into compartments, each for kitchen and for the couples. In each side also has a floor-yard. The yard lying in front of the entrance door is called guest yard. Anyone who wants to get in the house must pass this yard. The more prosperous the owner is, the more spacious and wider yard will be.

Traditionally, the most powerful person in an Ede family is a woman, according to Doctor Nguyen Duy Thieu, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology: “Women take the initiative in marriage. They inform their mothers of who they love and intend to marry. After the wedding, a groom lives in his wife’s house. Children bear their mother’s surname. If a wife dies, her family will find another woman to marry her widower. The Ede call this custom a Chue Nue”. To some extent, this custom is human. But it can have an undesirable corollary: hampering the rights to freedom of love and selection of happiness. Dr. Thieu says although women are family leaders, men play a certain role: “Women make decisions but via the men’s position. The Dam San epic is an example. Dam San was the tribal leader, who led a war against the enemy. Though his wife was from a clan of tribe leaders, she acted behind her husband”. Ede men, either husband or son, represent the family when receiving guests to their home. Men are in charge of communal affairs, including major events of their maternal clans like funerals and weddings.

The Northern Highland groups see chapter 6 is known for their more colorful traditional dress, while Central Highland hill tribe people, particularly the men in their Western attire, are often indistinguishable from lowland Vietnamese. But having endured so much for some measure of autonomy, these feisty highlanders still cling to tradition. The ethnic minorities of the Central Highlands the M’nong, the Ede, and the Bannar, among others have as much in common as they do differences from one another. Most villages are of thatched single-family houses arranged around a central communal longhouse (called a nha rang in Vietnamese) raised on stilts at the center of town, where all ceremony and governance take place. Each group has a particular style of nha rang, the most dynamic being the Bannar style of a peak of thatch over three stories high, but each kind of nha rang is an important symbol of community-respective groups and the center of worship and colorful ceremony. Many hill tribe groups celebrate harvest time or auspicious occasions with the ritual slaughtering of a buffalo, a frenetic event soaked in local whiskey and accompanied by wild dance. Music is important to each group, and each has strong traditions like the Jarai, who woo their brides by serenading, and the M’nong, famed for their drumming. Many hill tribe groups are matrilineal, where names and even fortunes are passed from generation to generation from mother to child, and almost all practice some kind of animist religion, in which gods are the hills themselves or the natural forces that made them. Funeral ceremonies vary, but all of the Central Highland groups practice elaborate graveside rights, where bodies are interred in elaborate spirit houses decorated with ceremonial carvings and paintings, and later feted and celebrated to the funeral pyre or grave. Musical traditions among hill tribes are elaborate, with gongs, drums, and bamboo flute music integral parts of any ceremony. Catholic missionaries had varied success bringing the good word to these remote, autonomous groups, and the legacy of their efforts still stands in the many churches, orphanages, and missions throughout the region (check out the Mission School in Kontum). Ede and Bannar people are among the most commonly converted. Minority groups in the region retain their ethnic traditions and some territorial autonomy, though investments from the Hanoi government have focused more on “enforced primitivism” programs and segregated villages (many open for tour-group visits). Opportunities to visit with these minority groups are many, and below is just a short breakdown of each group. Important: Be very careful when photographing ethnic minorities. Few in the region are at all used to tourists, and there are many taboos about photography and collecting images of people. Always ask and respect an answer of “No. “Often patient persistence pays off stay, and talk to people and explain where you’re from and what you’re doing I’ve often been asked to take a photo by someone after I was initially denied the shot.

The Ede ethnic minority people in the Central Highlands observe many rituals in their life cycle. The bronze bracelet removal ceremony recognizes an Ede boy or girl as an adult, entitling them to participate and make decisions in family and community affairs. The bronze bracelet removal ritual for a boy or a girl is organized by their parents or other family members at the witness of their relatives and neighbors. The size of the ceremony and the time to organize it depend on each family. Adrơng Y Blih of Dak Lak province said: “I have three children, who have already passed the maturity ritual. A pig tail, which serves as an offering, is hung on a pole in the ceremony for a boy, orplaced in a flat basket in the ceremony for a girl. The boy will be given a shield and a spear. The girl is not. The ritual is handed down from our ancestors and we must follow.” 20-year-old man Y Sô Rian of Dak Lak province recalled his coming of age ceremony. “At first I was nervous. Then I was happy and excited to experience the ritual. I have grown up and can help and take care of my parents and relatives.” Shaman Y Wơn Niê Kđăm, who conducted the ceremony for Y Sô Rian, told his parents to prepare a pig, 7 jars of liquor, and 7 portions of food including pork, steamed sticky rice, boiled banana, and potatoes. To begin the ritual, the shaman took a long strip of raw pork spanning from the pig’s nose to its tail and used 7 bamboo strips to tie it to a pole in the house. He performed an ancestral worship, then the maturity worship. The shaman removed the bronze bracelet from Y So Rian's wrist and recited the prayer: “I remove the bronze bracelet to let you freely decide your future and freely work in the field. From now on, you are an adult. You will shoulder the family work and protect the village,” the shaman prayed. Then the shaman hung the bronze bracelet on the largest jar of liquor and continued to pray to the gods to bless the young man with health, peace, courage, resilience, and wisdom. When he finished praying, he invited participants to eat the offerings, the young man first, then his mother, father, and relatives. The shaman took the pork on the pole down and untied it. The young man is given a shield and a spear to perform a martial dance to show off his strength of a matured man. Shaman Y Wơn said: “The spear, the sword, and the shield represent his responsibility to protect his family. He will do the farm work and be a strong and tough protector of his parents and relatives.” Finally all participants have a meal together and dance to the gong music to congratulate the man. H Ngăm Adrơng of Dak Lak province shared her feeling after attending a maturity ceremony. “This is the first time I attended a big and solemn maturity ritual. It was carefully prepared. I learned a lot about the Ede’s customs.” The maturity ceremony and other lifecycle rituals of the Ede people demonstrate the family and community bonds and their fine cultural practices.