To Dong Hai
It can be said that La Ha people are among the first settlers and land reclaimers, even before the Thai ethnic minority people, in the valley of northwestern Vietnam. One of the indigenous ethnoses of Tay-Thai language family, the La Ha resides scatteredly in the basin along Da river. Though with a very small population of only 1,396 (according to statistical figures of 1986), the La Ha has formulated its own traditional culture, customs, practices and conventions.
This ethnos is composed of two subgroups: The La Ha Ung which resides along rivers and streams and the La Ha Phlao (also known as Khla Phlao) which stays on hill slopes or mountain feet. People live in hamlets, each accommo-dating 10-plus stilted houses made either as a makeshift for one to three years or a permanent shelter.
The makeshifts on stilts are those built by La Ha nomads with small timber trees tied up together around nods or forks, which, however, may last long enough before they move to new places for virgin land reclaimation and farming. Meanwhile, solid stilted houses are built by people who lead a sedentary or semi-sedentary life. The La Ha people in Thien Chau, Muong La of Son La province build large stilted houses with two gable roofs made like turtoise shell, which are similar to the houses built by the black Thai people. For the La Ha people in Than Uyen of Lai Chau province, their houses are partitioned into two: the living compartment which occupies half or two-thirds of the house and the sleeping compartment. An ancestral altar is erected in the house.
The people of this ethnic group still live mainly on wet field and milpa farming. Those who lead a nomadic life build their milpas by mode of slash and burn, while the semi-nomadic La Ha also practice wet rice farming besides milpa cultivation. But for the La Ha who lead a sedentary life, wet rice farming is their principal source of living though they also cultivate subsidiary food crops on milpas.
The La Ha society was once greatly influenced by that of the Thai people, where class differentiation was distinct with the rulers and the ruled. Each hamlet was headed by an official called “Khun Cai” who was assisted by “Khun Tang” and “Khun Teng”. These two assistants directly urged the collection of taxes and land rent and mobilized corvee labor for the hamlet chief. Such three local mandarins enjoyed yields from public land tilled and harvested by corvee laborers in the hamlets. They were included in the system of Thai mandarins, abided by the laws and regulations set by the Thai and submitted to the control of “phia tao” (the ruling class of the Thai ethnic minority group).
For long now, the La Ha society has been characterized by small patriarchal families, each of which comprises the husband, the wife and unmarried children, living under the same roof. In families, men decide all matters and properties belong to men. When parents die, all the family property shall be bequeathed to sons only. Girls, after their marriage, belong to their husbands and have to bear the family names of their husbands. When their husbands die, they must not return to their parents’ or relatives’ but have to live with their eldest sons or their husbands’ relatives together with their young children. Where the eldest sons are still very young, they will be taken care of by the paternal but not maternal relatives. If a childless couple dies, their properties shall be handled by the husband’s brothers.
The fathers and the paternal relatives may marry their girls to others. When grown up, boys and girls can freely find and choose their intended; but their marriages must be baptized by their fathers. Patrilocality is common in the La Ha community. But before taking the brides home, the grooms have to stay matrilocally for 4 to 8 years and during those years, they have to work for their parents-in-law. Upon the expiry of such period, the grooms have to pay to their in-laws three and half taeng of white silver as token of the wife-buying price, called “nang kha pom”, and organize a ritual called “thu ma phu” with two pigs, 10 jars of alcohol, 10 chicken, 10 pipes of tomatoes, 10 cages of dried fish, 6 bundles of betel and 6 bundles of root bark... in order to be recognized by the community as husbands and wives. In cases where the parents are poor, being unable to organize “thu ma phu”, their eldest sons shall have to fulfill this task so that their deceased parents can reunion in the other world.
Wedding customs and practices of the La Ha people are rich and complicated, reflecting the commercial weddings and marriages as well as the matrilocality which once existed in the La Ha community.
When a family member dies good (because of illness, old age), he/she shall be buried according to the funeral customs and practices of the ethnic group, his/her soul would become the house ghost, called “kda lon”, staying in the ancestral worshipping place or become the field ghost, called “kda bong”, looking after the milpa. The La Ha people have attached importance to the worshipping of their fathers. When the fathers die, their eldest sons will replace the old wattle where the former house ghost is worshipped with the new wattle to worship their father ghost. In Spring, the La Ha families often organize the thank-giving ritual to show their gratitude towards their parents for giving birth and settled positions to them.
La Ha people adhere to the regime of monogamy. Those who violate this shall be severely punished by the community or even expelled therefrom. Adultery and incest have almost not seen and so does the divorce. People of this ethnic group are convinced that an officially married couple, when passing away, will live together in the other world.
As the people’s private ownership of property is fully respected, burglary and stealth are strictly forbidden and severely dealt with by customary laws.
With all their fine characters and nature, the La Ha’s good customs, practices and folk laws may be converted into new healthy customs, practices and customary laws, thus contributing to building the “cultural hamlets” and the new life in areas inhabited by the La Ha people.-