The Bahnar or Ba-Na ( are an ethnic group of

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

and the

indigenous people There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

of the Central Highland provinces of Gia Lai and

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. Historically, this area has been inhabited by the indigenous Ba Na people, whic ...

, as well as the coastal provinces of Bình Định and Phú Yên. They speak the Bahnar language, a language in the

Bahnaric language The Bahnaric languages are a group of about thirty Austroasiatic languages spoken by about 700,000 people in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. Paul Sidwell notes that Austroasiatic/Mon–Khmer languages are lexically more similar to Bahnaric and Katui ...

group that belongs to the Mon-Khmer (Austroasiatic) language family.

Etymology

The word ''bahnar'' is similar to () in the

Khmer language Khmer ( ; , Romanization of Khmer#UNGEGN, UNGEGN: ) is an Austroasiatic language spoken natively by the Khmer people. This language is an official language and national language of Cambodia. The language is also widely spoken by Khmer people i ...

, which means ''mountain''. The Bahnar have many names, such as Bonom, Jolong, Rongao, Tolo, Kriem, Roh, Konkodeh, Golar, and others.

Sub-ethnicities

Bahnar has several sub-ethnicities, including the following. *Bahnar Jơlơng *Bahnar Rơngao *Bahnar Gơlar *Bahnar KonKde *Bahnar Kriem *Bahnar Tơlô *Bahnar Bơnâm *Bahnar Roh

Ethnic linkages

The Haroi people, who are currently considered a sub-ethnic of the

Cham people The Chams (Cham language, Cham: , چام, ''cam''), or Champa people (Cham language, Cham: , اوراڠ چمڤا, ''Urang Campa''; or ; , ), are an Austronesian peoples, Austronesian ethnic group in Southeast Asia and are the original inhabi ...

, were historically said to be the Bahnar people who lived in the Champa city-states. They then slowly assimilated with other Austronesian-speaking ethnic groups such as the Cham, until they became the Cham people and adopted the

Cham language Cham (Cham: , Cham Jawi, Jawi: چم, Latin script: Cam) is a Malayo-Polynesian languages, Malayo-Polynesian language of the Austronesian languages, Austronesian family, spoken by the Cham people, Chams of Southeast Asia. It is spoken primarily i ...

and culture which had quite a high

Austroasiatic The Austroasiatic languages ( ) are a large language family spoken throughout Mainland Southeast Asia, South Asia and East Asia. These languages are natively spoken by the majority of the population in Vietnam and Cambodia, and by minority popu ...

influence.

Religion

The Bahnar people are followers of traditional religions (

animism Animism (from meaning 'breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork, and in ...

and

polytheism Polytheism is the belief in or worship of more than one god. According to Oxford Reference, it is not easy to count gods, and so not always obvious whether an apparently polytheistic religion, such as Chinese folk religions, is really so, or whet ...

). However, there is a large

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

population among them, just like other central highlands ethnic groups ( Montagnards) where they experience discrimination because of their religion.

Culture

Arts

Epics ( Bahnar: ''H'amon'') such as Dam Noi represent centuries-old aspirations of Bahnar people. Like many of the other ethnic groups of Vietnam's Central Highlands, the Bahnar play a great number of traditional musical instruments, including ensembles of pitched

gong A gongFrom Indonesian language, Indonesian and ; ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ; ; ; ; is a percussion instrument originating from Southeast Asia, and used widely in Southeast Asian and East Asian musical traditions. Gongs are made of metal and ...

s and string instruments made from

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

. These instruments are sometimes played in concert for special occasions, which may also involve ceremonial rượu cần (

rice wine Rice wine is an alcoholic beverage fermentation, fermented from rice, traditionally consumed in East Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia, where rice is a quintessential staple crop. Rice wine is made by the fermentation of rice starch, during wh ...

) drinking and group dancing.

Festivals

*Koh Kpo (or Groong Kpo Tonơi): a festival to express gratitude toward Yang (the god) with the main activity being the stabbing of a

water buffalo The water buffalo (''Bubalus bubalis''), also called domestic water buffalo, Asian water buffalo and Asiatic water buffalo, is a large bovid originating in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Today, it is also kept in Italy, the Balkans ...

. A possible Chamic reconstruction of this name would be ''Gleng Ka Ppo Tanguei'' 'Dedication to the God of the Corn'. Contemporary Bahnar refer to this ceremony as the even more truncated 'Gong Kpo'.

Notable people

*Dinh Nup, a hero who led villagers to carry out a war of resistance against the French colonial regime. He became the main character of a famous novel entitled ''Đất nước đứng lên'' ("Country rising up"), written by Nguyên Ngọc. *Ya Dok, a heroine, the wife of Nguyễn Nhạc * Siu Black, popular singer

References

External links

Bahnar language page
at Ethnologue site

Bibliography

*Bùi Minh Đạo. 2011. ''The Bahnar people in Viet Nam''. Hanoi: World Publishers. *Đào Huy Quyền. 1998. ''Nhạc khí dân tộc Jrai và Bahnar usical instruments of the Jrai and Bahnar'. Hanoi: Nhà xuất bản trẻ. Ethnic groups in Vietnam {{Asia-ethno-group-stub