Brau ethnic group

Other names: Brao.

Population: 231 people.

Language: Brau language belongs to the Mon-Khmer language group (of the Aus- troasiatic language family).

History: The first Brau came to Vietnam about a century ago. They live mainly in southern Laos and northeastern Cambodia. At present, most Brau communities are still living in the basins of Xe Xan (Xe ma cang) and Nam Khoong (Mekong) rivers. The Brau are proud of their traditions, which they recall in such legends as Un cha dac lep (rising blaze, rising water), about how great floods were weathered by the Brau people.

Production activities: The Brau live mainly on swidden fields, cultivating sticky rice and ordinary paddy, corn and manioc. Slash-and-burn agriculture is widely practiced, with people using digging sticks to make holes into the ground for sowing seeds. Harvesting is done manually. Hunting and gathering still play an important role today, which ensures a sufficient daily food supply for the family. In addition, every Brau village has a black- smithing workshop where agricultural tools are made. Brau men are skilled in weaving and plaiting. Local people often barter agricultural and forestry products for clothes and textiles supplied by other minority groups.
Diet: The Brau cook ordinary rice in an earthen pot, but use a fresh length of neohouzeaua (a type of bamboo) to prepare the sticky rice dish called com lam. They grow corn and manioc as feeds for livestock and poultry. Popular foods include salt with chili, vegetables, fresh bamboo shoots, fish, and the meat of certain animals. Can (pipe) wine is enjoyed by both men and women. People of all ages like smoking local tobacco with a khan pipe.
Clothing: In the past, men wore loin cloths and women wore one-piece long dresses. In summer, people often left their upper torso naked or wore a short pullover. In winter, they often covered their bodies with a heavy blanket. A mark of beauty for Brau women is the stretched earlobe, meant to carry yellow bamboo ornaments or ivory earrings. Women's jewelry includes wrist-chains and necklaces, often made of bronze, silver or aluminum. According to Brau customs, boys and girls who reach the age of puberty (between 15 and 16 years old) must have the four front teeth of the their upper jaw evenly filed, a deed which fully integrated them into village life as adults.
Lifestyle: The Brau live in the Dac Me village of Bo Y commune, Ngoc Hoi district, Kon Turn province. They live in houses on stilts with steep roofs. The floor of the house is arranged at different elevations which clearly define the various activities of the family members. A plank connects the main house with the adjacent rooms. Brau homes are oriented with their main doors, built below the gable, opening towards the centre of the village where the communal house stands. This arrangement results in circle of houses radiating out from the centre like the spokes of a cart-wheel.
Transportation: The bamboo- woven back-carrier is the most popular means of. transporting goods and produce.
Social organization: The Brau's society is now in an early stage of differentiation between the rich and the poor. More patriarchal nuclear families are appearing, with increased equality between men and women. Traces of matriarchy still exist and remain influential in some places.