Bru (people)

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The Bru (also Bruu, Brao, Brou or Bru-Vân Kiều, Vietnamese Người Bru - Vân Kiều; Lave or Love) are an ethnic group that has its settlement areas in Vietnam , Laos and Thailand . The total population is estimated at around 130,000 people.

The Bru are often described together with the Lun , Kravet and Kreung because these four ethnic groups speak mutually understandable languages ​​and have developed very similar cultures.

Settlement areas

The Bru settle in Vietnam in the provinces of Quang Binh , Quang Tri , Dak Lak and Thua Thien-Hue . In Laos, most of the Bru members live in the provinces of Savannakhet , Sepone and the Isan region. In Thailand they are found in the neighborhood of the Laotian Bru, in the province of Sakon Nakhon .

The Bru settle mostly on watercourses in small houses that are built on stilts. The houses are arranged in a circle around a central assembly building.

history

The story of the early Bru remains somewhat in the dark. Researchers believe that their ancestors belonged to members of the Khmer Empire of Angkor , which ruled large parts of Cambodia , Laos, and Thailand between the 9th and 13th centuries . This is due to the linguistic affinities of the Mon Khmer languages ​​and the fact that the Bru settle on the more than 1,000 meter high Boloven plain in southeast Laos ( Champasak ), which was once the center of the Khmer culture of Angkor.

The landscape populated by the Bru is actually good conditions for prosperity, but there is no suitable infrastructure for the transport of goods. Recently implemented projects with the cultivation of coffee , tobacco and cotton therefore failed to have an effect. That is why the Bru are viewed as marginal in both Cambodia and Laos and the population in the lowlands is promoted in particular.

In 1968 the Bru protested for the first time in Cambodia against state attacks on their territory. Tanks and soldiers then destroyed their fields and towns. During the Vietnam War , the Bru suffered again. After the defeat of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia in 1979, groups of the overthrown government tried to continue their propaganda in rural areas of the northeast. However, the Bru had come to terms with the new People's Republic of Kampuchea and sent four provincial governors to Phnom Penh , namely from Mondulkiri , Tatanakiri , Stung Treng and Preah Vihear .

economy

The Bru feed on crops and mostly grow rice , mostly in slash and burn . This form of agriculture allows three to four harvests in a year, but then the land has to lie fallow for about twelve years. This form of agriculture has survived better in Laos than in Cambodia, but many Bru have also been displaced from there to northeast Thailand. There is also cattle breeding , fishing and hunting .

Basket making and the production of bast mats contribute to the additional income .

language

The Bru language belongs to the Mon-Khmer language family and has numerous dialects.

religion

The Bru follow their traditional religion and worship their ancestors. Consecrated items include weapons and fragments of household items. They mainly pray to fire spirits and gods who ensure daily survival. There is also the Buddhist belief.

Culture

Each Bru village was relatively independent from others. A leader ( Elderman ) led the community. In Laos they were integrated into the state administration, in Cambodia they had in the past reached the highest political offices. Family ties work both ways, that of the mother and that of the father. That is why origin is valued more according to place of residence (center of life) than according to family. Men practice polygamy , with older members of the Bru more prestigious than younger ones.

The Bru are sociable and love music and dance. They make various musical instruments such as castanets , drums , gongs , zithers and simple wind instruments , which are used to accompany sung stories ( cha chap ) and alternating songs ( sim ).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ West: Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania. 2009, p. 122.
  2. ^ Bru, Eastern. A language of Laos , Ethnologue: Languages ​​of the World
  3. ^ West: Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania. 2009, p. 112.

literature

  • Barbara L. West: Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania . Facts on File, New York 2009, ISBN 978-0-8160-7109-8 .

Web links