The Sedang people (In Vietnamese: Xê Đăng or Xơ Đăng) 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 ...

. They mainly inhabit the Kon Tum province, Quảng Nam province (Trà My and Phước Sơn districts),

Quảng Ngãi province Quảng Ngãi is a northern coastal Provinces of Vietnam, province in the South Central Coast region, the Central Vietnam, Central of Vietnam. It borders Quảng Nam to the north, Bình Định to the south, Kon Tum province, Kon Tum to the ...

(Sơn Tây district). They are made up of five main groups: Xteng (Xơ Teng), Kayong, Halang (Hà Lăng), Monom and Todrah. Religiously, they are largely

animistic Animism (from meaning 'breath, Soul, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct Spirituality, spiritual essence. Animism perceives all things—animals, plants, Rock (geology), rocks, rivers, Weather, ...

and Roman Catholic. Their language is part of North Bahnaric - a branch of the Mon–Khmer language family. Halang are mixed-blood of Sedang and Jarai, influenced by Laos people. Nowadays, a small group of Halang live in

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

. Rongao (Rengao) are another mixed-blood of Sedang and Bahnar, but was categorized as a sub-group of Bahnar.

History

The myth of ethnic origin shows that these North Bahnaric groups are close to the Hmong–Mien inhabitants and some Sino–Tibetan groups, suggesting that their ancestors may too have been from the far north. The closeness of their language and culture to the ancient Vietic people's ones provides more evidence. It is possible that the

Chams The Chams ( Cham: , چام, ''cam''), or Champa people ( Cham: , اوراڠ چمڤا, ''Urang Campa''; or ; , ), are an Austronesian ethnic group in Southeast Asia and are the original inhabitants of central Vietnam and coastal Cambodia be ...

ancestors separated them from the Vietic ancestors, then the internal conflicts of the Mon–Khmer residents, the conflicts with the Cham people,

Lao people The Lao people are a Tai peoples, Tai ethnic group native to Southeast Asia, primarily inhabiting Laos and northeastern Thailand. They speak the Lao language, part of the Kra–Dai languages, Kra–Dai language family, and are the dominant ethni ...

, Siamese people from 12th century to 19th century, has narrowed their range of residence. Nowadays, they no longer remember the stories of the long migrations and they have attached their legends to some locations in northern Central Highlands. Elite warriors, war horses, war elephants and logistics from Sedang tribes alongside Bahnar, Jarai and H're tribes kept an important role in the victories of

Tây Sơn dynasty The Tây Sơn dynasty (; , (chữ Hán: 朝西山; Chữ Nôm: 茹西山), officially Đại Việt (Chữ Hán: 大越), was an imperial dynasty of Vietnam. It originated in a revolt led by three peasant brothers with the surname Nguyễn, r ...

at the end of the 18th century. People used to consider the Sedang was one of the most combative races in the Central Highlands. During the French colonial period, Sedang were famous for their stubbornness, it took the French several years of hardship to conquer them. Flag of Sedang

In 1888, Marie-Charles David de Mayréna, a French adventurer - under the sponsor of the French government and the Kontum missionary association - persuaded some tribal chiefs of Sedang to form the Kingdom of Sedang with Mayréna as the King (self-proclaimed). After a failed fundraising campaign, the king was deposed by the French colonial authorities in 1989. The kingdom also ended with Mayréna's death in 1890.

Economic Activities

Monom group practices farming in a primitive way: tilling the land by driving buffalo herds to stomp then using wood or iron hoes to excavate. In the other groups,

slash-and-burn Slash-and-burn agriculture is a form of shifting cultivation that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a Field (agriculture), field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody p ...

agriculture play a dominant role, with tools and farming methods similar to other ethnic groups in the area: cutting trees with axes and knives, then burning with fire; using a sharpened stick or a stick with an iron blade to poke holes to sow seeds; weeding with a small hoe with a handle taken from a fork and a scraper with a bent blade to one side; harvesting the rice by hand. Sedang's traditional livestock are

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 ...

, goat, , dog, and chicken. Kayong group has planted cinnamon trees. Blacksmithing has been developing in Todrah group area, they knew how to make iron from ore to forge metalwork. Except a part of the Kayong group, other Sedang groups all know how to weave. In the past, the people only weaved with

jute Jute ( ) is a long, rough, shiny bast fibre that can be Spinning (textiles), spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from flowering plants in the genus ''Corchorus'', of the mallow family Malvaceae. The primary source of the fiber is ...

, wild or garden grown

ramie Ramie (pronounced: , ; from Malay ), ''Boehmeria nivea'', is a flowering plant in the nettle family Urticaceae, native to eastern Asia. It is an herbaceous perennial growing to tall;

. Currently, the Monom and Xteng groups still maintain that tradition. The Todrah and Halang groups have grown

cotton plant ''Gossypium'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the tribe Gossypieae of the mallow family, Malvaceae, from which cotton is harvested. It is native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Old and New Worlds. There are about 50 ''Gossypi ...

for spinning and weaving.

Culture

Sedang people live in small rectangle-shaped stilt houses with thatched roofs, the upper story is for people, the lower story for livestock and wood storage. The traditional folk festivals of Sedang people are held following the production cycle. Around the beginning of July, they hold the Ondrô Lo Chôi festival to sow seeds into the upland field and/or sow young rice plants into the patty field. When the rice plants has turned green, the Tra Ke Ton festival will be held for eating leftover rice seeds at the beginning of August.

Notable people

* A Núk (1936–2016),

Việt Cộng The Viet Cong (VC) was an epithet and umbrella term to refer to the communist-driven armed movement and united front organization in South Vietnam. It was formally organized as and led by the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, and ...

sapper of Gia Lai Province Command, who used 8 explosive charges to destroy 16 U.S. aircraft in the Attack on Camp Holloway. He was awarded the

Hero of the People's Armed Forces The Hero of the People's Armed Forces () is an honorary designation of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Criteria The title (and medal) of Hero of the People's Armed Force is awarded to individuals with "exceptionally outstanding achievements ...

on September 19, 1967. * Y Buông (born 1945), cook who served on the Đắk Tô battlefield. She was awarded the Hero of the People's Armed Forces in 1972 and became a member of the 6th

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

from 1976 to 1981. * Hổ (born 1998), footballer.

History

Economic Activities

Culture

Notable people

See also