Ede ethnic group

Proper name: Anak Ede.

Other names: Anak, Ea De, Ra De (or Rha De), E De, Egar, De.

Local groups: Kpa, Adham, Krung, Mdhur, Ktul, Dlie, Hrue, Bih, Bio, Kah, Kdrao, Dong Kay, Dong Mak, Ening, Arul, Hwing, Ktle, Epan...
Population: 194,710 people.

Language: The Ede language belongs to the Malayo-Polynesian group (Austro-nesian language family).

History: The Ede have long lived in the Tay Nguyen or high plateau region of central Vietnam. Traces of their origin are reflected in their epic poems, their architecture, and their popular arts. Up to today, the Ede community remains a society imprinted with matrilineal traditions.
Production activities: The Ede's principal food crop is rice, cultivated on swidden fields which, after a certain period of time, are left fallow before being exploited anew (cleared and burned). Each period of exploitation of a field varies between 5 and 8 years, based on the quality of the soil. Crop rotation and intercropping is practiced and there is only one rice harvest per year. Wet rice fields are. found only among the Bih near Lac Lake.

The most numerous animals and poultry raised on the family farm are pigs, buffaloes and chickens, but they are mostly used when there are ritual sacrifices to perform. The most widespread family handicrafts are the plaiting of household , objects out of bamboo, the cultivation of cotton in order to weave cloth with the aid of looms similar to those found in Indonesia. Pottery and blacksmithing are not well-developed among the Ede. Barter was the most widespread marketing practice in former times.

Diet: The Ede eat rice cooked in clay pots or in large-sized metal pots. Ede food includes a spicy salt, game meat, bamboo shoots, vegetables and root crops obtained from hunting and gathering activities. Ruou can, fermented alcohol consumed using a bamboo drinking tube or straw, is stored and served in large earthen jars. Steamed sticky rice is reserved for ritual occasions. Men and women chew betel nut.

Clothing: Women wear a long cloth wrapper or sarong which reaches to the toes; their torso may remain unclothed- or they may wear a short pullover vest. Men wear the loin cloth and a vest of the same style. When they are cold, men and women wrap themselves in blankets. Ede jewelry include glass beaded necklaces, rings made of copper or nickel that are worn around the neck; wrists, and ankles. Men are women alike have their teeth filed, blacken their teeth, and prefer distended ear lobes. Head coverings include the turban and the conical hat.

Housing: The Ede primarily live in Dac Lac province, the south of Gia Lai province, and the west of Phu Yen and Khanh Hoa provinces. The traditional Ede house is a construction whose length is reminiscent of the shape of a boat which is cut lengthwise or across giving it a shape of a reversed trapezoid. The structure rests on two rows of columns and not on the ground. The interior space is divided into two parts along the length. The first section is called Gah; it is both the reception area and the communal area of the large matrilineal extended family. The other part, ok, is divided into many small rooms, each of which is reserved for a couple in the extended family.

Transportation: The plaited carrying basket with two shoulder straps remains the principal way for the Ede to carry their goods. In the Krong Buk region, the footed basket is the most widely used. The elephant is also a mode of transport, but not all that popular nowadays.
Social organization: The Ede family is matrilineal: marriage is matrilocal, the children carry the name of the mother's family, and the youngest daughter is the inheritor. Ede society is regulated by customary laws based on the matriarchal system. The community is divided into two lineages in order to facilitate marriage exchanges. The village is called buon and constitutes the a unique kind of habitat. The inhabitants of a buon can belong to many branches of the two lineages, but there is also a nuclear branch. The head of the village is the po pin ea or the master of the place of water. He directs, in the name of his wife, the affairs of the community.