 Rade girls infolk costume | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
 Vietnam 398,671 (2019)[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Vietnam,Cambodia | |
| Languages | |
| Rade •Vietnamese | |
| Religion | |
| Traditional religion •Animism •ChristianityBuddhism minority | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Chams,Utsuls,Jarai,Bahnar |
TheRhade orÊđê (Rade language:Rang De) are an indigenousAustronesian ethnic group of southernVietnam (population 398,671 in 2019).
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The termRhade is an oldFrench inscription ofDagar in theRade language. The Rhade are also referred to asAnak Degar (Degar people).Anak Degar comes from the termAnakKudāyā-Nāgār, meaning "Kudayanagar ethnic groups" or "the descendants ofbokKauṇḍinya (Y Da) andbiaNagar" (Y Ga). The name "Kauṇḍinya"[a] (Bok Keidei) was derived from the name ofKampouchea, and "Nagar" (Yă Kuh-keh) refers to the primary goddess of theCham people. As an ethnic group of theVietnamese Central Highlands, the Rhade people's culture was influenced by bothChampa andCambodia. Because of their status occupying the border region between these two influences, the termDegar is also sometimes used to refer to the peoples of the Vietnamese Central Highlands as a collective group.
According toFrench scholars ofSoutheast Asian studies, the character of Monk Kauṇḍinya symbolized theIndian cultural sphere which influenced classicalSoutheast Asia through Po Nagar (Champa),Neang Neak (Kampuchea),Nang Khosop (Laos), andMae Khwan-khao (Thailand). This legend was popular with the ethnic groups of the Vietnamese Central Highlands and other ethnic groups ofSoutheast Asia within the Indian cultural sphere.
TheRade language is one of theChamic languages, a subfamily of theMalayo-Polynesian branch of theAustronesian language family. Other Cham languages are spoken in central Vietnam and inAceh,Sumatra; The Cham are more distantly related to theMalayic languages ofIndonesia,Malaysia andMadagascar, and to thePhilippine languages.
The Cham developed a writing system based onLatin script in the 1920s.
Like other Austronesian ethnic groups in the Central Highlands, the Rade have unique prefixes to mark people's names with the gender they were assigned at birth. Feminine names are always marked with the prefixH'.[2] For example, the beauty pageant winnerH'Hen Niê and her mother H'Ngơn Niê both have their names prefixed withH'. Masculine names are prefixed withY-,[2] such as the late government official Y-Ngông Niê Kdăm. Translators of the Radeevangelical Bible incorporated this cultural practice for most Middle Eastern and European characters (H'Mari "Mary," H'Rut "Ruth," H'Prisil "Priscilla," Y-Yôsep "Joseph," Y-Yakôp "Jacob," Y-Julius, etc.), with a few exceptions such as Yêhôwa ("Jehovah"), Yêsu ("Jesus"), Hêrôt ("Herod"), etc.[3]Rade's more sophisticated phonology allows for more accurate transcriptions of these Hebrew names and consequently, more normalized adoption among Rade evangelical Protestants, as opposed to Vietnamese ones.
Unlike in Vietnamese, given names precede surnames in Rade. The two most common surnames are Niê and Mlô.[2] A girl may be named something like H'Mari Niê, with H' being the feminine prefix, Mari being the true given name, and Niê being the surname. There are also derived compound surnames such as Niê Siêng, Niê Kdăm, Mlô Dun Du, etc. and toponymic surnames like Buôn Yă. Surnames are passed downmatrilineally.
The Rade practicematrilineal descent. Descent is traced through the female line, and family property is held and inherited by women. The basic kinship unit is the matrilineage, and these basic kinship units are grouped into higher-level matrilinealsibs (matrisibs). The Rade are further divided into twophratries.[4]
The women of a matrilineage and their spouses and children live together in a longhouse. The lineage holds corporate property such as paddy land, cattle, gongs, and jars; these are held by the senior female of the matrilineage. The lineage also engages in the farming of common lands and maintenance of the longhouse. The head of the longhouse itself is a man, with the position most commonly inherited by the spouse of the daughter or sister-in-law of the previous longhouse head.[5]
Matrilineages and matrisibs areexogamous, with both sexual intercourse and intermarriage prohibited. The phratries also impose some restrictions on marriage. Couples violating these restrictions must sacrifice a buffalo, though violating phratry restrictions is generally not seen as being as serious, and requires only the sacrifice of a pig. Residence ismatrilocal.[6]
Rade villages were traditionally autonomous and governed by anoligarchy of leading families. Some villages became locally dominant, but none formed any larger political structures.[7]
Êđê society has retained some elements ofprimitive communism. This can be observed in the custom ofH'rim zít. Whenever a new house is being built in the village, all villagers help the family in constructing their abode on the basis ofmutual aid; villagers assist each other either by collecting construction materials or helping with manual labour.[8][9]
The inauguration of the new home takes place when a row of trees is planted along the wall. However, people may move in before this. Women, led by a female head of the matrilineal family, are the first ones authorised to walk on the new floor. They carry water and fire to give coolness and heat to the new home.[8][9]
Epics (Rade language:klei khan), such asKlei khan Y Dam San,H'Bia Mlin,Dam Kteh Mlan,Mdrong Dam, etc. are told by epic tellers (Rade language:po khan) next to the fire, through the night.
Êdê music is very diverse and playing music is the way that Êdê people communicate to both other people, and according to their beliefs, God (Êdê language: yang).
A typical house of Rade people is the longhouse made of bamboo and wood. The longhouse's length is measured by the number of collar beams (Rade language:de). Once a girl living in the house gets married, the house is lengthened by one compartment, as the matrilocal aspect of Rade marriage means that the husband will live in his wife's house. The orientation of buildings are North-South.
The longhouse's space is divided into two parts:Gah part's area makes up 1/3- 2/3 the total area is considered as the living room and the other part includes bedrooms. There are two doors: the front door is for men, the back door is for women and two stairs: male stair and female stair.
Longhouses can be 100 meters long and house from three to nine families. A traditional description of the size of the longhouse is: "The house is as long as the gong's echo".
During theVietnam War, the Rhade had many involvements, but their most notable was serving with U.S Special forces. The Rhade would be "recruited" from their villages, and sent to work off with various different units (most of them Green Beret affiliated) such as MIKE forces, orMACV-SOG While in these units, the Rhade provided manpower, but also their wisdom of the local terrain, and skills they had from being oriented with the environment. Like all of theMontagnards serving in the war, translation was an important skill they offered, so they could recruit and gain the trust of more Rhade villages.
According toWilliam Duiker, United States Foreign Officer and East-Asian professor, the training efforts, called "Civilian Irregular Defense Groups" (CIDG), were plagued with problems of arbitrary authority on the part of Vietnamese authorities and officers. During the summer of 1964, "...Vietnamese arrogance led immediately to problems, and in September a serious revolt broke out among the Rhadé [sic] tribesmen in Ban Me Thout[sic]. Only with the aid of U.S. advisers was the crisis defused."[11]
The Rade made up a portion of the United States'Montagnard allies, and after the war some fled to the United States, mainly residing inNorth Carolina.[12]
L. Sabatier has collected 236 articles. The highest number of articles is of marriage and family matters, followed by property ownership and relationship between the heads of villages and villagers. The main principles are that communal nature and equality are under guarantee. Judges are calledkhoa phat kdi.
| Austroasiatic (Vietic) | |
|---|---|
| Austroasiatic (non-Vietic) | |
| Hmong–Dao | |
| Tai–Kadai | |
| Sino-Tibetan (Chinese) | |
| Sino-Tibetan (Tibeto-Burman) | |
| Malayo-Polynesian | |
| Immigrants and expatriate | |
The 54 officially recognised ethnic groups are ranked by population in their language families according to2019 census
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| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
