Mythologies of the Kreung Tribe

There are around 25,000 indigenous Kreung people in Cambodia and perhaps a few hundred in Laos. In Cambodia they live mainly in the northeastern part bordering Laos and Vietnam. Until recently it was not easy to reach this area. When I first visited twenty years ago, all the roads in the region were dirt roads. Public transport did not exist. Unless you flew in on a small plane, reaching the provincial capital, Ban Lung, could take days. That's all changed in the last few years. The airport has been abandoned and the roads are all paved. Once a predominantly indigenous region, Khmer people have recently begun moving into the area. That has also meant that indigenous groups like the Kreung have had more exposure to outside and mainstream influences. The net effect has been a dramatic loss of many aspects of indigenous Kreung knowledge and culture. The elderly Kreung lady pictured above was likely one of the last to weave her own yarn. And the young girl pictured below is unlikely to find any Kreung children smoking a pipe these days. One part of Kreung culture that was already beginning to disappear twenty years ago also affected this girl. When girls like her from the previous generation were approaching their teenage years, their parents would plan to build a "love hut" for them. This was a small wooden hut in which the girl would live from the onset of puberty. The event marked an announcement to teenaged boys in her village that she was now looking for a husband. She would remain in the hut and be visited (possibly overnight) by potential husbands until she chose one (the Kreung are monogamous). Girls who began living in these huts had full control over their relationships. They decided which boys would be allowed to visit them as well as the degree of intimacy involved. Boys would respect this female empowerment. This tradition has now almost vanished from Kreung society. Otherwise, this girl's village (pictured below) looked much the same as other Kreung villages I visited. One striking difference, though, is the TV antenna towering above the houses. Although electricity is now more common in such villages (running water still isn't), any TVs back then would have been battery powered. TV itself would have been a novelty to the villagers. All the houses were small and basic with wooden frames, bamboo lattice walls and thatched roofs. They were raised perhaps a meter off the gro A traditional Kreung skill that is unlikely to vanish any time soon, then, is that of thatching. The man pictured below is a thatcher. I was impressed by the speed at which he worked — especially considering that he only used basic hand tools. He tried to give me a quick lesson, but his skill was well beyond my grasp. Nor would I likely have been successful trying to be any other kind of Kreung such as a bamboo flute maker.

In the remote highlands of northeastern Cambodia, deep within the Ratanakiri province, lives the Kreung tribe, a community of about twenty thousand people. Their culture is unlike any other in Asia — and one tradition in particular has fascinated anthropologists and shocked outsiders for decades. When a Kreung girl turns 15 or 16, her father builds her a small wooden house known as a “love hut.” From that moment, she is free to invite any man — and as many men — as she wishes, until she finds the one. To outsiders, this might sound wild or even scandalous. But to the Kreung, it’s a natural, respected part of life — a way to learn about love, trust, and choice.

The Kreung (Khmer: គ្រឹង; Krung) are an ethnic group that live in Cambodia, mainly in Ratanakiri Province, and a relatively small number in Stung Treng, Mondulkiri Province. There are 22,385 Kreung people in Cambodia as of 2013. For the Kreung people, being aboriginal encompasses a deep understanding and practice of our ancestral language, arts, dances, costumes, musical instruments, handicrafts, spirituality, beliefs, and ceremonies, including weddings and funerals. It also involves sustaining oneself from the forest while simultaneously preserving it. To us, the knowledge and preservation of our culture are paramount. Regrettably, we observe a growing trend among our community members who are drifting away from our cultural identity markers, adopting foreign ways of dressing, diminishing the use of the Kreung language, and abandoning our traditions.

“Kreung people have some special traditions and activities,” she says. “We do ceremonies like rice offerings, village offerings, special weddings, and Kreung New Year. When we have these events, everyone in my village plays traditional music like Gong, Chapey Klok, Tror, and wears traditional clothes.” Cambodia is home to 24 minority language groups. For many young Indigenous people, these types of traditions have been relegated to their home and community lives but excluded from their official educations since they speak their own Indigenous languages, but many do not have good command over the national language, Khmer. However, for Nang and many other Indigenous children who are taking part in programs like CARE’s Education and Work project, that’s changing. CARE’s program primarily focuses on bridging the gaps in multilingual education by ensuring inclusive education for Indigenous people. This approach recognizes that many children in remote areas come from communities that speak languages other than Khmer, and, given this language barrier, ethnic minority students often drop out or never enroll at state schools. As a result, they’re often unable to find suitable jobs, access government services, exercise their rights, or become eligible for benefits.