Romam ethnic group

Proper name: Romam.

Population: 286 people.

Language: The Romam language belongs to Mon-Khmer group (of the Austroasiatic language family). Romam language is strongly influenced by the Khmer language and is close to languages spoken by some groups of the Sedang. Nowadays, the Romam speak the languages of other ethnic groups, as well as Vietnamese.

History: Elders say that the Romam have been living in this area for a long time. In the early 20th century, the population of this ethnic group was quite dense, distributed in 12 villages in which they live together with the Raglai. Today, Romam people live together in one village.

Production activities: The Romam live mainly from cultivation on swidden fields. Sticky rice is grown as the main staple, mixed with ordinary rice, maize and corn. In preparing the land for planting, people use a knife to slash the vegetation, the axe to cut the trees, and then light fires to burn and clear the land. When spreading seeds they use two sharpened sticks to dig holes and a tube to hold the seeds. They use their hands to pluck rice off the rice ears. Hunting and gathering also play an important role in their economic life.

Fish catching in the streams is done by hand or by using baskets and cylindrical bamboo fish pots; poisonous leaves also prove very efficient for catching fish. Among the family's part-time jobs, those of cotton planting and weaving are the most well-developed. Formerly, the Romam wove enough cloth to meet the needs of the whole family. In addition, the Romam also barter their woven goods for oil, salt and steel tools that they do not produce themselves.

Diet: Today, the custom of eating by hands is still prevalent. The Romam enjoy eating sticky rice which is cooked in a bamboo tube. Soup and chili-salt are also popular. They take water from underground locations and store it in dried gourds for drinking without boiling. On Tet holidays and festivals, the Romam drink pipe wine made from rice, corn and manioc.

Clothing: According to traditional customs, the Romam men wear loincloths, with the front flap hanging over their knees and back flap falling down to their calves. Women wear skirts, and some wear shirts with short sleeves. Both the skirt and loincloth are made from un-dyed coarse white hand-spun cotton. Women like wearing earrings made of ivory, bamboo or wood. According to the old custom, young people have four to six of their upper teeth filed.

Housing: The traditional Romam village is built in a certain arrangement. They live in long-houses on stilts which are built adjacent to or surround the communal house.. All the main doors of the house must face the communal house, There is a public space between the communal house and those of the villagers. Surrounding each Romam village is a protective fence. One house has many kitchens. A couple lives in one room, which has a partition to separate it from the other rooms and a separate kitchen. The central part of the house serves as a reception area for guests. In Le village, Mo Rai commune, Sa Thay district, Kon Turn province, each household lives in a large house, with wood partitions and a metal roof, built using government funds.

Transportation: The Romam transport goods using a basket with shoulder straps. The basket is decorated with blackened bamboo motifs. Romam men use a separate basket for carrying hunting tools and tools for cultivating swidden fields. When they go to festivals, Romam women use a particular basket for carrying their clothing, shirts, and jewellery.

Social organization: The head of a Romam village is an old chief who is the eldest; he is elected by the villagers. Traditionally, a village is a closely-related community linked together by mutual obligations and benefits. Barter trade and marriages provide the Romam with relationships with other neighboring villages and ethnic groups. Romam social relationships are still affected by a long-standing matriarchal system, though nowadays it is making a quick transition to a patriarchal system.