Ethnic group from Vietnam and Cambodia
Ethnic group
A
longhouse
in the Mnong village of Buon Jun in the
Central Highlands
of
Vietnam
.
Mnong women near
Buon Ma Thuot
Mnong's elephant carer
The
Mnong
or
Munong
people (
Vietnamese
:
ng??i M?-nong
) are an ethnic group mainly living in
Central Highlands
and
Southeast
regions of
Vietnam
, and Eastern region of
Cambodia
. They are made up of two main groups: Western Mnong and Eastern Mnong. Western Mnong includes smaller groups such as: Bhiet (Bhiat), Bu-Neur, Rehong, Kong-Khang, Kseh, Nong, Preh, Ti-Pri, Perong, Bu-Deung (Pou-Thong). Eastern Mnong includes: Gar, Briet, Kil (Chil), Krieng, Kesiong (Kyong), Rlam (Rolum) living mainly in mountainous areas.
[2]
: 145?146
Every group speaks a variant of the
Mnong language
, which along with
Koho language
, is in the
South Bhanaric group
of the
Mon?Khmer
family.
[3]
A big community with around 47,000 people of Mnong live in the
Cambodia
's northeastern boundary province of
Mondulkiri
where they are known as
Bunong
(alternatively spelled Phnong, Punong, or Pnong).
[
citation needed
]
History
[
edit
]
The Mnong, together with the
Ba Na
and
E Ðe
, are one of the oldest ethnic minority groups in the Central Highlands.
[4]
Culture
[
edit
]
The M’Nong have a rich cultural heritage that includes many epics, legends, proverbs, and songs.
Gongs
, buffalo horn flutes,
jew’s harp
, the monochord, and
lithophone
are their popular traditional musical instruments.
[4]
Epics (Mnong language: Ot N'rong -
Ot
: telling by singing,
N'rong
: old story) take an important part in Mnong people's life. Many of these epics, such as
Con đ?a nu?t bon Ti?ng
(Mnong language:
Ghu sok bon Ti?ng
, English: The leech swallows Ti?ng village),
[5]
or
Mua r?y bon Ti?ng
(English: The farming season of Ti?ng village) are quite long.
[6]
Notable people
[
edit
]
- Y Thu Knul
(1828 – 1938), a
Laos
- Mnong person, a chieftain who established
Buon đon
, a famous elephant hunting and taming village in Central Highlands. Y Thu Knul caught over 400 wild elephant in his life. In 1861, he caught a
white elephant
and gave it as a present to the Thai royal family, leading the king of
Thailand
to bestow upon him the name "Khunjunob" (literally "King of Elephant hunters").
[7]
[8]
- N'Trang L?ng
, a tribal chief who led villagers against
French colonizers
in a 24 years uprising from 1912 to 1935.
[9]
One of the most well-known action of N'Trang L?ng was the assassination of
Henri Maitre
[
fr
]
- a French writer, explorer cum colonizer - who was famous for the adventure book
Les Jungles Moi
(English: Montagnard in Jungle, Vietnamese:
R?ng Ng??i Th??ng
), as well as brutal actions against the Mnong people.
[10]
[2]
: 12
- đi?u Kau
- an ethnologist,
đi?u Kl?t
and
đi?u Klung
- two epic tellers, are three brothers in a family, who collected, recorded and spread M'nong epics. In August 2008, folk artist đi?u Kau died of old age. This was a great loss for the M'nong people because they consider đi?u Kau to be the keeper of their cultural identity.
[11]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
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