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Proper name: Bru, according to some researchers.
Other names: Bru and Van Kieu.
Local groups: Van Kieu, Tri, Khua and Ma Coong.
Population: 40,132 people.
Language: The Bru language belongs to the Mon-Khmer language group (of the Austro- Asiatic language family), which is close to languages spoken by the Ta Oi and Cotu people. A new Bru writing system is now emerging, which uses Latin transcription. Some vocabulary and phrases are different between certain sub-groups.
History: The Bru are believed to be the most permanent residents in the Truong Son region.
Production activities: The Bru live mainly on swidden fields, using simple tools such as the axe, the cutlass, and the rice harvesting knife. They practice slash and burn agriculture, using a digging stick to make holes in the ground for sowing seeds. Weeding and rice harvesting are done by hand. Multi-crop and rotating cast crops are grown each year between March and October. Apart from paddy, the Bru also grow manioc, gourd, banana, egg- plant, pineapple, sweet potato, etc. Forests and streams are the two main sources for additional food and other benefits. Almost every family raises buffalo (later cows), pigs, chickens, and dogs. Local handicrafts are less developed. Meanwhile, the Bru engage in barter trade primarily with the Viet people as well as with Laotians.
Diet: The Bru-Van Kieu enjoy eating roasted meat. Soup is usually made with a combination of vegetables, rice, and fish or frog meat. For everyday meals, ordinary rice is often eaten with the hands. On special occasions, sticky rice is cooked in a fresh bamboo tube. Unboiled water and can (pipe) wine are the most popular drinks (although nowadays distilled spirit is becoming more and more popular). Men and women smoke cigarettes and pipes made from earth or the le plant (a sort of bamboo shoot).
Clothing: According to Bru customs, the men wear loin cloths and the women wear long dresses with a sleeveless blouse or pullover. The Bru buy textiles from Laos. Dressing in the style of the Viet people is becoming more and more popular, with cloth wrappers still being worn. In the past, people used to make clothing from the fibre of tree bark. People adorn themselves with chains, necklaces and earrings. Formerly, Bru men and women wore their hair wrapped in a bun or chignon on the top of their heads. For an unmarried girl, the chignon points to the left side, while the chignon of a married Woman is generally at the centre top of the head.
Lifestyle: The Bru-Van Kieu live in the Truong Son-Tay Nguyen region in the west of the provinces of Quang Tri, Thua Thien-Hue and Quang Binh. Each village is a residential community. Each family owns a house, built on stilts, with the hearth and kitchen placed on the ground level. The Bru-Van Kieu avoid sleeping in a direction that is across the width of the house. In the sub-groups of Tri, Khua and Ma Coong, the house is divided into smaller bedrooms for the aged parents and grown-up children.
Transportation: The Bru-Van Kieu uses many kinds of woven back-baskets, with the straps being tied around the shoulders of the carrier. The multipurpose back-basket and the carrier are inseparable, like the human body and its shadow.
Social organization: Villagers, who are of different family lineages, live in harmony, with land plots (even fallow land) being divided for each family. The eldest person in the village plays an important role in the village's life. The gap between the rich and the poor is increasing, but there is little difference in the standard of living at the village level. Valuables are counted in gongs, pots, cooking pots and buffalo, etc. Human exploitation or servitude is uncommon.
Other names: Bru and Van Kieu.
Local groups: Van Kieu, Tri, Khua and Ma Coong.
Population: 40,132 people.
Language: The Bru language belongs to the Mon-Khmer language group (of the Austro- Asiatic language family), which is close to languages spoken by the Ta Oi and Cotu people. A new Bru writing system is now emerging, which uses Latin transcription. Some vocabulary and phrases are different between certain sub-groups.
History: The Bru are believed to be the most permanent residents in the Truong Son region.
Production activities: The Bru live mainly on swidden fields, using simple tools such as the axe, the cutlass, and the rice harvesting knife. They practice slash and burn agriculture, using a digging stick to make holes in the ground for sowing seeds. Weeding and rice harvesting are done by hand. Multi-crop and rotating cast crops are grown each year between March and October. Apart from paddy, the Bru also grow manioc, gourd, banana, egg- plant, pineapple, sweet potato, etc. Forests and streams are the two main sources for additional food and other benefits. Almost every family raises buffalo (later cows), pigs, chickens, and dogs. Local handicrafts are less developed. Meanwhile, the Bru engage in barter trade primarily with the Viet people as well as with Laotians.
Diet: The Bru-Van Kieu enjoy eating roasted meat. Soup is usually made with a combination of vegetables, rice, and fish or frog meat. For everyday meals, ordinary rice is often eaten with the hands. On special occasions, sticky rice is cooked in a fresh bamboo tube. Unboiled water and can (pipe) wine are the most popular drinks (although nowadays distilled spirit is becoming more and more popular). Men and women smoke cigarettes and pipes made from earth or the le plant (a sort of bamboo shoot).
Clothing: According to Bru customs, the men wear loin cloths and the women wear long dresses with a sleeveless blouse or pullover. The Bru buy textiles from Laos. Dressing in the style of the Viet people is becoming more and more popular, with cloth wrappers still being worn. In the past, people used to make clothing from the fibre of tree bark. People adorn themselves with chains, necklaces and earrings. Formerly, Bru men and women wore their hair wrapped in a bun or chignon on the top of their heads. For an unmarried girl, the chignon points to the left side, while the chignon of a married Woman is generally at the centre top of the head.
Lifestyle: The Bru-Van Kieu live in the Truong Son-Tay Nguyen region in the west of the provinces of Quang Tri, Thua Thien-Hue and Quang Binh. Each village is a residential community. Each family owns a house, built on stilts, with the hearth and kitchen placed on the ground level. The Bru-Van Kieu avoid sleeping in a direction that is across the width of the house. In the sub-groups of Tri, Khua and Ma Coong, the house is divided into smaller bedrooms for the aged parents and grown-up children.
Transportation: The Bru-Van Kieu uses many kinds of woven back-baskets, with the straps being tied around the shoulders of the carrier. The multipurpose back-basket and the carrier are inseparable, like the human body and its shadow.
Social organization: Villagers, who are of different family lineages, live in harmony, with land plots (even fallow land) being divided for each family. The eldest person in the village plays an important role in the village's life. The gap between the rich and the poor is increasing, but there is little difference in the standard of living at the village level. Valuables are counted in gongs, pots, cooking pots and buffalo, etc. Human exploitation or servitude is uncommon.
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