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Vietnam’s various ethnicity in national solidarity

30/8/16

About eight million of Vietnam’s current 92 million population comprise 53 ethnic groups divided into dozens of subgroups some with a mere hundred or so members, giving Vietnam the richest and most complex ethnic make-up in the whole of South-east Asia. Ethnic minority groups with members numbering upwards of 500,000 include the Tay, Thai, H’Mong, Muong, Hoa, Dao and Nung. Kinh (or Viet) people make up about 88% of the population.
The vast majority of Vietnam’s minorities live in the hilly regions of the Northern part, down the Truong Son mountain range, and in the Central Highlands – all areas which saw heavy fighting in recent wars. Several groups straddle today’s international boundaries, spreading across the Indochinese peninsula and up into Southern China.
Ethnologists typically classify the Montagnards by linguistic distinction and commonly refer to three main groups (which further splinter into vast and complex sub-groupings). The Austro-Asian family includes the Viet-Muong, Mon-Khmer, Tay-Thai and Meo-Dzao language groups; the Austronesian family, related to Indonesians and Pacific Islanders, were probably the earliest inhabitants of the area but are now restricted to the central highlands, speaking Malayo-Polynesian languages; and the Sino-Tibetan family encompasses the Chinese and Tibeto-Burmese language groups, originating in southern China and at different times migrated southwards to settle throughout the Vietnamese uplands. Furthermore, within a single spoken language, there are often myriad varying dialectical variations.
Despite their different origins, languages, dialects and hugely varied traditional dress, there are a number of similarities among the highland groups that distinguish them from Viet people. Most immediately obvious is the stilt house, which protects against snakes, vermin and larger beasts as well as floods, while also providing safe stabling for domestic animals. The communal imbibing of rice wine is popular with most highland groups, as are certain rituals such as protecting a child from evil spirits by not naming it until after a certain age. Most highlanders traditionally practice swidden farming, clearing patches of forest land, farming the burnt-over fields for a few years and then leaving it fallow for a specified period while it recovers its fertility. Where the soils are particularly poor, a semi-nomadic lifestyle is adopted, shifting the village location at intervals as necessary.
 The Vietnamese Party and government have always paid special attention to the ethnicity affairs and national unity. A lot of programs and key projects have been under way in ethnic and mountainous regions focusing on education, training, healthcare, transportation, irrigation, production development, poverty reduction, and preservation of the ethnic minority groups’ culture. Vietnam is strongly committed to enhancing gender equality which has been concertized in its national strategy on gender equality. The meeting also introduced an overview of the implementation of policies on ethnicity, gender equality, and the enhancement of the women’s participation in political affairs./.
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