Jarai
Encyclopedia
The Jarai is an ethnic group based primarily in Vietnam
's Central Highlands
. The Jarai language is a member of the Malayo-Polynesian
branch of the Austronesian
language family. The Jarai language
is related to the Cham language
of central Vietnam, and the Malayo-Polynesian
languages of Indonesia
, Malaysia, Madagascar
and the Philippines
. The speakers of Jarai number approximately 332,557. They are the largest of the upland ethnic groups of the Central Highlands known as Degar
or Montagnards.
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The Jarai live primarily in the Gia Lai
and Kon Tum
Provinces, with some others in the Dak Lak Province and a few thousand in Ratanakiri
, Cambodia
. Following the Vietnam War
, many Jarai (as well as members of other Montagnard groups) who had been allied with the United States
were resettled with their families in the United States
, particularly in the state of North Carolina
.
The majority of Jarai are animists; believing that demons inhabit all of creation. Sacrifices of pigs, cows, and buffalo are periodically made to the spirits to appease them. In the 1970s, however, American missionaries under the Christian and Missionary Alliance
brought Christianity
to the Jarai. As a result, the number of Jarai Christians in Vietnam
and Cambodia
now numbers upwards of 100,000.
The 1950s and 1960s saw the Degar
movement gain popularity among the Jarai and their Montagnard brethren (Degar is a Rhade
word meaning "sons of the mountain"). The goal of the Degar
was to create an independent state in the Vietnamese highlands, consisting entirely of indigenous people groups. As a result of the movement, the Vietnamese government has become increasingly suspicious of the Jarai. Human rights abuses on the part of the government have become frequent among all Montagnards.
The Jarai perform their music on gong
s, xylophones, zithers, and various other traditional instruments. Dock Rmah, a prominent Jarai musician living in the United States, received a Folk Heritage Award from the North Carolina Arts Council
in 1996.
As Vietnam now allows only six official religions, the Jarai are having more difficult times there. Canada is among the countries recently accepting refugees on the grounds of religious persecution.
.jpg)
Traditional Jarai tombs are little huts in which are placed the possessions of the deceased and some offerings. Around the tomb are placed wooden pillars which are topped by crude carvings, some of which represent spiritual guardians.
The burial ceremony is extremely expensive and usually entails the sacrifice of water buffalos and cows. If the family of the deceased cannot afford the ceremony, it can be held up for several years.
After a number of years, the tombs are abandoned. This final ceremony of the abandonment of the tomb marks the point where death becomes final and the deceased spirit is released, thus releasing a widow for remarriage for instance.
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
's Central Highlands
Tây Nguyên
Tây Nguyên, translated as Western Highlands and sometimes also called Central Highlands, is one of the regions of Vietnam. It contains the provinces of Đắk Lắk, Đắk Nông, Gia Lai, Kon Tum, Lâm Đồng....
. The Jarai language is a member of the Malayo-Polynesian
Malayo-Polynesian languages
The Malayo-Polynesian languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages, with approximately 385.5 million speakers. These are widely dispersed throughout the island nations of Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean, with a smaller number in continental Asia...
branch of the Austronesian
Austronesian languages
The Austronesian languages are a language family widely dispersed throughout the islands of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, with a few members spoken on continental Asia that are spoken by about 386 million people. It is on par with Indo-European, Niger-Congo, Afroasiatic and Uralic as one of the...
language family. The Jarai language
Jarai language
The Jarai language is a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken by the Jarai people of Vietnam and Cambodia. The speakers of Jarai number approximately 332,557...
is related to the Cham language
Cham language
Cham is the language of the Cham people of Southeast Asia, and formerly the language of the kingdom of Champa in central Vietnam. A member of the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian family, it is spoken by 100,000 people in Vietnam and up to 220,000 people in Cambodia . There are also...
of central Vietnam, and the Malayo-Polynesian
Malayo-Polynesian languages
The Malayo-Polynesian languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages, with approximately 385.5 million speakers. These are widely dispersed throughout the island nations of Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean, with a smaller number in continental Asia...
languages of Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, Malaysia, Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
and the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. The speakers of Jarai number approximately 332,557. They are the largest of the upland ethnic groups of the Central Highlands known as Degar
Degar
The Degar are the indigenous peoples of the Central Highlands of Vietnam. The term Montagnard means "mountain people" in French and is a carryover from the French colonial period in Vietnam. In Vietnamese, they are known by the term thượng - this term can also be applied to other minority ethnic...
or Montagnards.
Gia Lai Province
Gia Lai is a province in the Central Highlands of Vietnam.-Administrative divisions:The province is divided into one city , two towns , and 13 districts:#Chư Păh#Chư Prông#Chư Sê#Đắk Đoa#Đắk Pơ#Đức Cơ#Ia Grai#Ia Pa...
and Kon Tum
Kon Tum Province
Kon Tum province lies in the Central Highlands region of Vietnam and shares borders with Laos and Cambodia. It has an area of 9,934 square km and a population of approximately 330,000. The economy is primarily agricultural.-Name:...
Provinces, with some others in the Dak Lak Province and a few thousand in Ratanakiri
Ratanakiri
Ratanakiri is a province in northeastern Cambodia that borders Laos to the north, Vietnam to the east, Mondulkiri Province to the south, and Stung Treng Province to the west. The province extends from the mountains of the Annamite Range in the north, across a hilly plateau between the Tonle San...
, Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
. Following the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, many Jarai (as well as members of other Montagnard groups) who had been allied with the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
were resettled with their families in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, particularly in the state of North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
.
Culture
Traditionally, the Jarai live in small villages numbering 50-500 in population. The villages are laid out in a square, with single occupancy dwellings or communal longhouses arranged around a village center. Often the village center boasts a communal house, well, volleyball net or rice mill. Houses have traditionally been constructed entirely from bamboo, though in more recent times wooden houses with steel roofs have gained popularity, due to their durability. The Jarai have a matrilineal culture; that is, the lineage is traced through the mother rather than the father.The majority of Jarai are animists; believing that demons inhabit all of creation. Sacrifices of pigs, cows, and buffalo are periodically made to the spirits to appease them. In the 1970s, however, American missionaries under the Christian and Missionary Alliance
Christian and Missionary Alliance
The Christian and Missionary Alliance is an evangelical Protestant denomination within Christianity.Founded by Rev. Albert Benjamin Simpson in 1887, the Christian & Missionary Alliance did not start off as a denomination, but rather began as two distinct parachurch organizations: The Christian...
brought Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
to the Jarai. As a result, the number of Jarai Christians in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
and Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
now numbers upwards of 100,000.
The 1950s and 1960s saw the Degar
Degar
The Degar are the indigenous peoples of the Central Highlands of Vietnam. The term Montagnard means "mountain people" in French and is a carryover from the French colonial period in Vietnam. In Vietnamese, they are known by the term thượng - this term can also be applied to other minority ethnic...
movement gain popularity among the Jarai and their Montagnard brethren (Degar is a Rhade
E De people
The E De are an ethnic group of southern Vietnam .-Language:The E De language is a member of the Chamic group of the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family...
word meaning "sons of the mountain"). The goal of the Degar
Degar
The Degar are the indigenous peoples of the Central Highlands of Vietnam. The term Montagnard means "mountain people" in French and is a carryover from the French colonial period in Vietnam. In Vietnamese, they are known by the term thượng - this term can also be applied to other minority ethnic...
was to create an independent state in the Vietnamese highlands, consisting entirely of indigenous people groups. As a result of the movement, the Vietnamese government has become increasingly suspicious of the Jarai. Human rights abuses on the part of the government have become frequent among all Montagnards.
The Jarai perform their music on gong
Gong
A gong is an East and South East Asian musical percussion instrument that takes the form of a flat metal disc which is hit with a mallet....
s, xylophones, zithers, and various other traditional instruments. Dock Rmah, a prominent Jarai musician living in the United States, received a Folk Heritage Award from the North Carolina Arts Council
North Carolina Arts Council
The North Carolina Arts Council is an organization in the U.S. state of North Carolina that provides grants to artists, musicians, and arts organizations. The group's mission is "To Make North Carolina a Better State Through the Arts." It was founded by executive order in 1964, and it became a...
in 1996.
As Vietnam now allows only six official religions, the Jarai are having more difficult times there. Canada is among the countries recently accepting refugees on the grounds of religious persecution.
Funeral traditions
The burial ceremony is extremely expensive and usually entails the sacrifice of water buffalos and cows. If the family of the deceased cannot afford the ceremony, it can be held up for several years.
After a number of years, the tombs are abandoned. This final ceremony of the abandonment of the tomb marks the point where death becomes final and the deceased spirit is released, thus releasing a widow for remarriage for instance.
External links
- Dock Rmah page at North Carolina Arts Council site
- Ethnologue report for Jarai language
- The Far East - Cambodia
- Jarai in Cambodia A site dedicated to linguistics among the Jarai people of Cambodia
- 50 page document from "DA Pam No. 550-105 Ethnographic Study Series Minority Groups in the Republic of Vietnam (February 1966) in the United States Armed Forces Manuals Collection @ The Vietnam Center and ArchiveVietnam Center and ArchiveThe Vietnam Center and Archive collects and preserves the documentary record of the Vietnam War. The Vietnam Center and Archive, part of Texas Tech University, is the nation's largest and most comprehensive collection of information on the Vietnam War. On August 17, 2007, the Texas Tech Vietnam...
- "Ethnographic Study Series: Selected Groups in the Republic of Vietnam, the Jarai" (69 pages) (October 1965) in the John Campbell Collection (USOM/Office of Rural Affairs, Saigon) @ The Vietnam Center and ArchiveVietnam Center and ArchiveThe Vietnam Center and Archive collects and preserves the documentary record of the Vietnam War. The Vietnam Center and Archive, part of Texas Tech University, is the nation's largest and most comprehensive collection of information on the Vietnam War. On August 17, 2007, the Texas Tech Vietnam...
.
See also
- DegarDegarThe Degar are the indigenous peoples of the Central Highlands of Vietnam. The term Montagnard means "mountain people" in French and is a carryover from the French colonial period in Vietnam. In Vietnamese, they are known by the term thượng - this term can also be applied to other minority ethnic...
- List of ethnic groups in Vietnam
- Demographics of VietnamDemographics of VietnamThis article is about the demographic features of the population of Vietnam, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population....
- Kok KsorKok KsorMontagnard Foundation, Inc. is an anti-communist organization that is protecting the rights of the Montagnard people. It is a non-profit organization, founded in 1990 and based in South Carolina , that has spoken out against the communist government of Vietnam's polices that affect the Montagnard...
- Tay NguyenTây NguyênTây Nguyên, translated as Western Highlands and sometimes also called Central Highlands, is one of the regions of Vietnam. It contains the provinces of Đắk Lắk, Đắk Nông, Gia Lai, Kon Tum, Lâm Đồng....