Mnong people

Mnong

Mnong people during an elephant blessing ceremony in Buôn Đôn, Vietnam
Total population
Vietnam 127,334 (2019)[1]
Regions with significant populations
Đắk Lắk, Đắk Nông, Lâm Đồng, Bình Phước -  Vietnam Mondulkiri -  Cambodia
Languages
Mnong, others
Religion
Christian, Theravada Buddhism, Animist

A longhouse in the Mnong village of Buôn Jun in the Central Highlands of Vietnam.

Mnong women near Buon Ma Thuot

Mnong's elephant carer

The Mnong or Munong people (Vietnamese: người Mơ-nông) are an ethnic group mainly living in Central Highlands and Southeast regions of Vietnam, and Eastern region of Cambodia. They are made up of two main groups: Western Mnong and Eastern Mnong. Western Mnong includes smaller groups such as: Bhiet (Bhiat), Bu-Neur, Rehong, Kong-Khang, Ksèh, Nong, Prèh, Tí-Prì, Perong, Bu-Deung (Pou-Thong). Eastern Mnong includes: Gar, Briet, Kil (Chil), Krieng, Kesiong (Kyong), Rlam (Rolum) living mainly in mountainous areas.^{[2]: 145–146}

Every group speaks a variant of the Mnong language, which along with Koho language, is in the South Bhanaric group of the Mon–Khmer family.^[3]

A big community with around 47,000 people of Mnong live in the Cambodia's northeastern boundary province of Mondulkiri where they are known as Bunong (alternatively spelled Phnong, Punong, or Pnong).^{[citation needed]}

Culture

Epics (Mnong language: Ot N'rong - Ot: telling by singing, N'rong: old story) take an important part in Mnong people's life. Many of these epics, such as Con đỉa nuốt bon Tiăng (Mnong language: Ghu sok bon Tiăng, English: The leech swallows Tiăng village),^[4] or Mùa rẫy bon Tiăng (English: The farming season of Tiăng village) are quite long.^[5]

Notable people

• Y Thu Knul (1828 – 1938), a Laos - Mnong person, a chieftain who established Buôn Đôn, a famous elephant hunting and taming village in Central Highlands. Y Thu Knul caught over 400 wild elephant in his life. In 1861, he caught a white elephant and gave it as a present to the Thai royal family, leading the king of Thailand to bestow upon him the name "Khunjunob" (literally "King of Elephant hunters").^[6][7]
• N'Trang Lơng, a tribal chief who led villagers against French colonizers in a 24 years uprising from 1912 to 1935.^[8] One of the most well-known action of N'Trang Lơng was the assassination of Henri Maitre [fr] - a French writer, explorer cum colonizer - who was famous for the adventure book Les Jungles Moï (English: Montagnard in Jungle, Vietnamese: Rừng Người Thượng), as well as brutal actions against the Mnong people.^[9][2]: 12
• Điểu Kâu - an ethnologist, Điểu Klứt and Điểu Klung - two epic tellers, are three brothers in a family, who collected, recorded and spread M'nong epics. In August 2008, folk artist Điểu Kâu died of old age. This was a great loss for the M'nong people because they consider Điểu Kâu to be the keeper of their cultural identity.^[10]

See also

• Pnong people
• Funan

References

1. Completed results of the 2019 Viet Nam population and housing census (Report). General Statistics Office of Vietnam. 17 October 2020. p. 43.
2. Henri, Maitre (2007). Les Jungles Moï (Rừng người Thượng) (Translated by Lưu Đình Tuân, Edited by Andrew Hardy and Nguyên Ngọc ed.). Hà Nội: Nhà xuất bản Tri thức. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
3. "Committee of Ethnic Minority Affairs - Introduction about M'nong people". cema.gov.vn. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
4. "Central Highland Epics". issch.vass.gov.vn. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
5. "Đăk Lăk Province's Library - Mùa rẫy Bon Tiăng". hdl.handle.net. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
6. "The legend about the white elephant". baodaklak.vn. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
7. "Elephant taming job of the M'Nong". vovworld.vn. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
8. "N'Trang Lơng Uprising 1912 - 1936". baodaknong.org.vn. 25 July 2012. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
9. "Tribal chief Lơng and the assassination of Henri Maître". cand.com.vn. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
10. "Keeping the Central Highland epics". tuoitre.vn. 30 June 2009. Retrieved 21 April 2022.

• Mnong at www.peoplesoftheworld.org
• Mnong and elephant in Vietnam