Vietnam - Minority cultures need preserving

Having happily married with a little daughter in Dong Van Town, 500km north of Hanoi, Trang Thi Lan, 30, desperate longing to see her people.

She never forgets where she came from the small group of Pu Peo people though she now follows the customs of the Tay, a far bigger ethnic group of her husband.

"The ways the two ethic groups worship and perform ritual offerings are totally different. As a wife, I have to discard my customs and adopt his," said the kindergarten and first-grade teacher.

It took her some time to get used to cutting boiled chicken into small pieces and putting the plate on at the altar as other Tay women do, instead of offering the whole boiled bird as in Pu Peo culture.

"My daughter also has to follow her father's customs, thus feeling more like Tay than Pu Peo. What a shame!" said Lan with a sigh.

Inter-ethnic marriages is a new threat to the identity of Pu Peo people, one of the five ethnic groups with a population of less than 1,000.

The Pu Peo in Ha Giang province, along with the Si La in Lai Chau and Dien Bien, O Du in Nghe An, and Brau and Ro Mam in Kon Tum, were the first beneficiaries of the Government’s programme in support of ethnic minority groups from 2005 to 2010.

VND76.8 billion (US$3.65 million) was spent on building roads, irrigation works, schools, healthcare centres and power lines in these areas.

"The programme has laid a firm foundation for minority people to improve their living conditions," said Trinh Cong Khanh, head of the Policy Department under the State Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs.

Giang My Giang, chairman of Pho La Commune, where the biggest community of Pu Peo people live, said the quality of life has greatly improved since the programme started.

Chung Trai Village , home to 136 Pu Peo people, is now among the most developed areas in Pho La Commune, thanks to major changes since 2005.

The village chief, Cung Phu Suan, said, "I'm really happy to see the positive results of the Government's interest-free loan and education support scheme, as well as the revival of an ancient shamanistic tribute to the Forest God every July.

Like a dream coming true, five Pu Peo teenagers were enrolled in universities from 2009 to 2011, and the number of marriages between cousins kept declining sharply, he said. "Most villagers no longer want this type of marriage since they have been told about the potential genetic dangers to the next generations."

Trang Thi Mai and her husband, Ly Te Ngan, who is her first cousin, were very worried about their second son. He is now 14  but looks no older than seven.

"I will never let my children do the same. It's no good!" said Ngan.

Director of Ha Giang's Ethnic Issues Department Long Vinh Phuc said

cross-tribal marriages, movement to bigger towns and cities and smaller families remain big challenges to the tribe, one of the oldest in the region.

Lan's decision to marry a Tay was because every Pu Peo youth she knew was a relative - "and I did not want a cousin marriage," said she.

The latest census from Dong Van district's Ethnic Issues Department reveals that there have been 20 inter-ethnic marriages involving Pu Peo people in recent years. "That is something we never heard of 10 years ago," says Suan.

Higher education means young couples today tend to get married later and only want one or two children. Like many of her Pu Peo female friends, Lan was considering if she should have a second child. "I like children, but I don't want a big family," she said.

According to Suan, the population of Chung Trai Village has risen by only six in the last seven years, despite the Government’s encouragement.

From another perspective, traditional clothes are rarely on sale in the village today. Mai and Ngan's children daily put on normal clothes like their friends.

"So, we have to make traditional clothes for them, eventhough ittakes a lot of time," said Mai.

Dinh My Thao, deputy head of Dong Van district's Ethnic Affairs Department, said this is the other side of the coin [development process] and we have to accept it."

For Thao, the only way to help the remaining 600 Pu Peo people is more investment in preserving their culture.

The other four smallest ethnic groups in the country, the Si La, O Du, Brau and Ro Mam, are also facing similar challenges, said policy department chief Khanh. But the Government’s support programme, apart from its preferential policies in education and training and credit schemes, ended a year ago.

"There are still many other small ethnic groups that need financial support from the Government," said Khanh.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved a 10-year support programme worth VND1,042 billion (US$49.6 million) for other ethnic groups - the Mang, La Hu, Cong and Co Lao, all in the northern mountain region. Each has a population of less than 5,000.

The aim is to reduce poverty rate from 78 percent to 60 percent and malnutrition among children under five to 30 percent in the next four years.

Khanh said another programme in support of seven ethnic groups of less than 10,000 people is being considered by the PM.

"Infrastructure, production, education and health are the most important parts of our support programme," Khanh said.

VOV

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