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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