Mang ethnic group

Proper name: Mang.

Other names: Mang U, Xa Mang, Nieng O, Xa Ba O.

Local groups: Mang Gung, Mang Le.

Population: 2,247 people.

Language: The Mang language belongs to the Mon-Khmer language group (Austroasiatic language family). Many of the Mang know how to speak Thai.

History: Up to now, the area of Nam Ban (Dum Bai) in the Nam Ban village, of Sin Ho district, Lai Chau province is considered as the motherland of the Mang. Many legends and stories have suggested that the Mang are one of the first inhabitants in the northwest of the country.

Production activities: The Mang are agriculturists. As wandering nomadic peoples, they tend to practice slash and burn farming. After the Lunar New Year, people will choose and mark their own fields. In March and April, they clean up the fields and let them dry; in June and July, the Mang burn the trees on the field, and then they plant seeds. Working tools include axe, knife, and a pointed digging stick. However, the productivity rate is often low because the land is impoverished, and the forest is too young. As a result, the Mang lifestyle is unstable, and there is always a threat of food shortages. Lately, the Mang have learnt how to work in a permanent fields or on step terraces, which have tended to improve and stabilize agricultural production.
Raising cattle and making handicrafts are not well- developed. Gathering fruit and hunting in all four seasons are important additions to the Mang economy. The Mang raise water buffaloes, cows, goats, chickens, and pigs. Many of the Mang's plaited products, such as bamboo mats and carrying baskets, are highly valued and used by other ethnic groups.

Diet: The Mang generally eat two meals a day (lunch and dinner). Corn is the main food. It is usually mixed with cassava, or rice, and then steamed. The steamed young leaves of the cassava plant are mixed with salt and form an important year-round food for the Mang. The Mang like to smoke tobacco in pipes, and drink locally-made alcohol.

Clothing: Mang traditional dress is still in evidence, though many Mang have adopted clothing styles popular among other Vietnamese today. The unique feature in the dress of Mang women is a throw to wrap around the body. It is made of white rough cloth, and in the middle are two rows of red thread. Mang women generally do not wear head coverings; their hair is pulled up to the top by colorful string. Mang women do wear leggings.

Housing: The Mang live in stilt houses that are simply made using many different varieties of wood.

Transportation: The carrying basket is popular, and of the type that has a tumpline placed on the forehead and a handle behind the head.

Social organization: The head of the old traditional society was a man called Pogia. Together, he and all the heads of family lines directed all the social, cultural, and religious activities in a village. Later, this social structure was destroyed, and the Mang became influenced by the Thai's social structure. However, the village still keeps its traditional social structure. The head of the village looks after its taxes and services. There is usually a big family line in a village. Heads of different family clans, together with all the village's elders, direct all the social and religious activities according to traditional custom. The Mang have five main family lines, and each chose one. animal as its family symbol.