The Brau people ( vi, Người Brâu) are an
ethnic group living in
Laos,
Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand ...
, and
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...
. In Vietnam, most Brau live in Đắc Mế village, Bờ Y commune, Ngọc Hồi district,
Kon Tum
Kon Tum is the capital city of Kon Tum Province in Vietnam. It is located inland in the Central Highlands region of Vietnam, near the borders of Laos and Cambodia.
History
After the People's Army of Vietnam invaded South Vietnam on March 30, 1 ...
province (Đặng, et al. 2010:112), and the population was 525 in 2019. Their ancestors came from southern Laos and northeastern Cambodia, migrating to Vietnam around 150 years ago. They speak
Brao, a
Mon–Khmer language
The Austroasiatic languages , , are a large language family in Mainland Southeast Asia and South Asia. These languages are scattered throughout parts of Thailand, Laos, India, Myanmar, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Nepal, and southern China and are th ...
.
The Brau have only two
surname
In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community.
Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...
s: ''Thao'' (for male) and ''Nang'' (for female). They tell about the
Great Flood in their ''Un cha đắc lếp'' story, and about the
Creator god
A creator deity or creator god (often called the Creator) is a deity responsible for the creation of the Earth, world, and universe in human religion and mythology. In monotheism, the single God is often also the creator. A number of monolatri ...
named ''Pa Xây''. They play ''Táp đinh bố'' - a kind of
K'lông pút, and ''Tha'' - a special kind of
gong.
The Brau have traditional customs such as ''uốt bưng'' (filing teeth), ''síp tiêu'' (strain ears), and ''chingkrackang'' (tattoo on forehead).
In their traditions, close to nature and hunting, belongs capture, taming and training of elephants, referred to as ''Ruhe'' in the Brau Language, and the last four elephants belonging to
Airavata Elephant Foundation in Ratanakiri Province in Cambodia, are cared for, by mahouts of the Brau people. In 26th of December, the first elephant baby born in 30 years were born here.
The elephant Bak Mai
as database record in the Elephant Encyclopedia by Dan Koehl
References
*Đặng Nghiêm Vạn, Chu Thái Sơn, Lưu Hùng. 2010. ''Ethnic Minorities in Vietnam''. Hà Nội: Thế Giới Publishers.
Ethnic groups in Vietnam
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