Phula ethnic group

Proper name: Lao Va Xo, Bo Kho Pa, Fu La.

Other names: Xa Pho, Can Thin.

Local groups: Phu La Lao - Bo Kho Pa, Phu La Den, Phu La Han.

Population: 6,500 people.

Language: Phula language belongs to the Tibeto-Burmese language group (of the Sino- Tibetan language family), very close to Burmese language.

History: The Phu La Lao - Bo Kho Pha groups are early residents in south-western Vietnam. Other groups came in later, about 200-300 years ago. The integration period of Phula Han group continued until the 1940s.

Production activities: The Phula live mainly on slash- and-burn cultivation of land plots and terraced fields. Their basketry is well-known for beautifully-decorated bam-boo and rattan products, especially the colorful baskets for storing clothes or food. For hunting, they use the crossbow and poisoned arrows. They cultivate cotton, weave cloth, and spin their own thread.

Diet: The Phula pound rice by hand each day using a mortar and pestle. They eat rice for their two main meals (in the morning and evening), a practice suitable with slash- and-burn cultivation. Sticky rice is used in rituals or for making cakes. Sticky rice and fish dishes, fried meat and pounded fried rice with spices, chili, mint, and vegetables are favorite dishes of the Phula.

Clothing: Women's clothing varies from group to group. Women of the Phu La Lao - Bo Kho Pa group wear dresses and short blouses with a U-shape collar, embroidered with decorative motifs and glass bead attachments. The belt is adorned with the shells of mountain snails. In other groups, Phula women wear trousers, longer vests or short blouses buttoned under the arms. Phula men wear clothing with some unique characteristics, often with the back adorned with many glass bead attachments. Both Phula men and women carry cloth handbags.

Housing: The Phula live mainly in the provinces of Ha Giang, Lao Cai, Yen Bai and Lai Chau. Their villages are far from their swidden or slash-and-burn fields. The inhabitants of Phu La Lao are divided into small hamlets. Other Phula groups live in larger clusters. In some places they live in stilt houses, while others live in houses built directly on the ground. The Phula rice granary is constructed far from the houses in order to avoid the danger of fires.

Transportation: The groups of Phu La Lao and Bo Kho Pa use baskets with head straps to transport a wide variety of items. In contrast, the groups of Phula Han and Phula Den use baskets with shoulder straps or the horse to transport their goods.

Social organization: Neighbors play an important role in Phula villages. They give mutual help at harvest time and will only have dinner with families they have helped. When one household has an important event (such as a wedding, funeral or building a house, etc.) they are sup- ported by other inhabitants in the village. There are many different lineages in the village and each lineage is divided into smaller lineage branches. In addition to names from Han, Han-Viet, Viet and Thai languages, the Phula also have names from their own ethnic language. Vestiges of totemic cults and ancestor veneration are particularly clear among the Phu La Lao group. The relationships between lineages are not very close.