The Matrilineal Country of Laos

In Laos, the majority of cultures have been matrilineal and matrilocal right up to the present day. This includes not only the indigenous peoples but also the main Lao ethnicity, among whom the youngest daughter traditionally inherits the land and cares for the parents in their old age. [Note: I don't want to exaggerate, aspects of patriarchy are present, such as son-preference and even battery, which are mentioned in the 2nd article below; but it also talks about women in patriarchal cultures being attracted to the neighboring matricultures.]

According to a recent report (I wrote this decades ago) from the UN agency CEDAW, “daughters make up a majority of those who inherit from their parents. In connection with this, in the majority of Lao society, the husband moves in with the wife’s family after marriage…This matrilineal tradition is a special tradition of Lao society, which acknowledges the value of caring for the mother and father until their death and of carrying out the appropriate funeral rites after their death.”

Many of the aboriginal peoples in southern Laos follow matrilineal and matrilocal custom. These include the Brau, Suay, Nyahon, and Katang. They are (or were until quite recently) longhouse people, farmers with an animist culture and ancestor veneration. The Katang used to carve breasts on the ladder leading up to their longhouses, which could run up to 100 meters long. These great lodges joined 30 families in one extended building walled with braided leaves.

The Brau once lived in lodges with up to six families together, but today only those in the most inaccessible areas live in longhouses. They treasure ancient brass gongs and hold an annual buffalo sacrifice ceremony. Most have resisted first Buddhism and now the Christian missionaries. So have their Oy neighbors. A missionary source comments, “In the past, Oy society was more matriarchal than it is now.” [Online: http://www.laos4him.com/oy.html]

The Nyahon appear to have a pronounced sex-egalitarian ethic. They are matrilineal and matrilocal, with sons and daughters inheriting equally. Pre-marital sex is not stigmatized, and young people are free to spend nights with their lovers in the "Flower Houses." They too are animist farmers.

The matrilineal and matrilocal Suay live on the banks of the Mekong river, scattered across Thailand, southern Laos and northern Cambodia. They are esteemed as the best elephant handlers, and work clearing land and moving timber.

https://www.suppressedhistories.net/matrix/laos.html

Source: CEDAW report on Laos

A site run by Christian missionaries describes the aboriginal Laotian cultures, in an effort to more effectively undermine and christianize them: http://www.laos4him.com/

Now for more detail, let's look at this article (my comments are italicized):

"The Lao Matri-System, Empowerment, and Globalisation."
Jan. 2012, by Loes Schenk-Sandbergen, University of Amsterdam

Abstract
The spotlight in this article is on the strength and vitality of the Lao matri-system and its institutions, dynamics, and capacity to counteract the negative gender impact of the processes that attend globalisation. It will be shown that the world-wide historical trend to displace or to defeat matrilocal and matrilineal societies has not yet undermined the Lao matri-system and cultural heritage upholding the relatively high value and status of Lao women and girls.

The main findings of a small snowball study, conducted in 2009 in Vientiane, will be presented in an effort to discover the impact of globalisation on the matri-cultural heritage. Case studies will be described that show the impact globalisation had on ethnic minority women from communities with a firm patriarchal tradition. The adoption of aspects of the matri-system seems to be attractive to them. Attention will be paid to the unique and precious value of the matrilocal marriage as a means of protection for girls and women in the broader context of imbalanced sex-ratios in China and domestic violence in Laos. A brief conclusion is drawn and offers suggestions to highlight the importance of the social matri-system as a precious cultural heritage, not only for Laos, but also as an example for the worrying number of societies that are characterized by son-preference and far too many “missing” girls. [p. 65]

1. Introduction

Laos is one of the very few countries left in the world in which matrilocal residence, matrilineal inheritance, and bilineal descent and kinship still exist for a large group of Lao women.2 Eminent women anthropologists such as Kathleen Gough, Mona Etienne and Eleanor Leacock and Bina Agarwal have claimed that matrilineal and bilateral societies all over the world have disintegrated due to the undermining intrusion of patriarchal ideologies and practices, and as a consequence of colonization, modernisation, liberalisation and globalisation.3 What is the situation in Laos?

Since the implementation of the New Economic Mechanism (NEM) policy in 1986, globalisation has accelerated processes of profound change with obvious negative gender consequences. In studies we conducted in Laos in 1995 and 1998, we found a gradual undermining of the matrilineal Lao Lum tradition, in particular as a result of land legislation and the male dominated adjudication of land titling. We envisaged that Lao Lum women could stand to lose one of the most basic and vital power resources at their disposal: the land they have inherited from their parents.

Can we trace the continuous, on-going erosion and undermining of the matrilocal and matrilineal social system over the past years?7 In a small snowball study, conducted in Vientiane in 2009, I had discussions with old Lao friends – women (mostly) and men – with whom I had worked as a gender specialist in various development cooperation projects over a time span of almost twenty years. The focus was on their perception of the positive and negative impacts of globalisation on the matrilineal and matrilocal life in which they had been raised. It will be argued in this article that for Lao Lum women who belong to the urban elite and middle class in Vientiane, the very reverse of a process of erosion and undermining of the matri- system seems to happen. It would appear that the matri-tradition has transformed itself into a modern, attractive, strong and b(l)ooming lifestyle8. The enormous global and local economic and social transformation processes, particularly during the past ten years, have, in combination with the matri-system, greatly empowered and protected my friends in Vientiane.

Resettlement policies, forest land legislation, better roads and transportation facilities, smart phones and other means of communication have drastically increased the awareness of ethnic minority women and girls concerning lifestyles, customs, and habits different from the patrilocal tradition and patriarchal social environment in which they are embedded. Are they attracted by the matri-lifestyle? 
...
Laos is a country where we find a matrilineal and a patrilineal social organization and many bilateral shades (bilateral means that the family name and property can be transferred through the father to the son, or the mother to the daughter) in between.10 Gender ideology and relations are more equal in matri- and bi- than in patri social systems. The matrilocal residence and matrilineal kinship pattern is characteristic of the Tai-Kadai in particular of the Lao ethnic majority living mainly in Vientiane and along the Mekong. Although many ethnic minorities living in hilly and mountainous areas follow patri-social kinship patterns, some ethnic minorities also follow a matri-system. Such matri-social minorities include the Brao or Lavé, Ta Oi (Oy), Kathang, Ong, Suay, and Sou in the south; and the Nyouane, Lahu and Pray in the north of Laos. [pp. 66-68]

Brao woman next to a longhouse on stilts, Attapeu province, Laos

There are no real anthropological studies with a “thick description” of the matri-system in Laos, let alone an academic study of the rapid changes in the matri-system due to the effects of globalisation over the past twenty years. Carol Ireson-Doolittle and Geraldine Moreno-Black’s book is the only one to come close to my subject, as it makes an effort to tell the unknown and unique story of the changes in social relations (with a historical perspective) as well as the changes on what the authors call “patterned gender inequalities.” They examine how the power of women (relative to that of men) and the resulting inequalities between women and men have changed due to alterations in the social institutions and culture. The authors focus on the twenty-year period stretching from 1975 to 1995. In almost each chapter they describe the pre-1975 conditions in order to better provide an historical context, and they follow this up with a study of the changes made during the period of socialism and socialist reorganization (1975-1988) and the period of early economic liberalization (1988-1995). However, the study does not explicitly address changes in the Lao matri-system.

Grant Evans has described the typical domestic cycle of a Lao peasant family in the past. The daughters remain living in (or near) their mothers’ (parents’) house until the youngest settles there permanently with her husband. Sons usually marry out and live with their in-laws. Nowadays, we might expect changes in this system given the smaller size of families and increased migration and education.

In the matrilocal system, where the husband moves in with the wife’s family after marriage, the relatively high status of women is derived from the fact that the house, land, homestead, and paddy fields belong to her family, and she knows the networks and context. The daughter who lives with and takes care of the aging parents and, thus, inherits or receives the house and the land from her parents is typically the youngest daughter (ultimogeniture). The remaining siblings will also inherit. Therefore, such a family welcomes the birth of female children, for those children will likely serve as the successors who own, care for, and manage the family property.

Lao matrilocal marriage means permanent matrilocal residence. After the marriage, the groom will live in the bride’s parents’ home until he dies. That is the standard practice. Matrilocal marriage is certainly not considered a temporary solution, lasting only one generation, in the event that a family only produces daughters and needs a son for heavy labour, or requires a male heir for the continuation of the clan/lineage (as may occur in China or Vietnam).

“Why should daughters stay with their mother and father?” When asking this question in the villages during my field visits in 1995, people looked at me with a compassionate gaze. Then, they said laughingly, “Do you not realize that women are more at risk than men because they give birth?” In the past, prior to the use of professional mid-wife assistance, it was tacitly understood that it was the mother of the pregnant daughter who could best care and look after her, especially during delivery. There is a strong opinion in the Lao Lum community that women should have their own kin and “blood” relatives around in times of crises such as illness, death, and problems related to food because it is believed that the close proximity of family members guarantees greater protection and concern. This is believed to be especially true during pregnancy, deliveries, and, in particular, the period after giving birth. The second argument is that women see “small things”, magnic ma guoy, “very, very small things,” and that can create tension in the case of mother-in-law/daughter- in-law relations. Between mother and daughter, these problems do not occur, for the daughter knows the daily ritual in the house. The third argument is that it is known that mothers-in-law are often jealous of the attention the son gives to his wife, and this exacerbates and accelerates the phenomenon of seeing “small, small things.” It is better to avoid this tension. The last reason given is, not surprisingly, that daughters will look after their aging biological parents with more affection and love than “outside daughters.”

Lao tradition recognises the role of the carer, and that role is more often taken by the daughter. The division of labour between men and women – seeing women as the carers – works to women's advantage in traditional Lao customs. The daughter looks after the aging parents, the mother looks after the children, and the mother provides care when her daughter is in the process of giving birth. These roles are not neglected or ignored; rather, they are acknowledged and given prominence in the [p. 70]
customary land use rights of women. In the traditional system the women who remain in the family home to look after their elderly parents are usually rewarded by being given the land and property by their parents. Entitlement to land is contingent on the daughter’s fulfilment of her care-giving role. It is the common perception that when the son functions as the primary care-giver of the aging parents, he is the one who should inherit the house and the land. However, in practice, daughters fill the role of care-giver far more often than sons. [p. 71]

The observation below, continued from the same article is very welome, as it reflects my own experience reading negative descriptions of what more than one anthropologist called "the matrilineal puzzle." What do they mean by that? They posit a tension between men's interests and responsibilities as brothers / uncles versus husbands / fathers. By default the focus is on men's interests. They aren't asking, why do women put up with the conditions, the subordination and controls, that sustain patrilineage?

A slight cynical tendency resounds in literature on matrilinity insofar as belittling the meaning of matriarchy is concerned. This might be the result of the general assumption that, ultimately, males (husbands, village male authorities, mothers’ brothers) always have the decision making power “behind closed doors,” and while that may be true in India (Kerala) and Indonesia (Minangkabau), it is hardly true in Laos.31 The Lao matri-system can be characterised as “women-centered.”32 However, the position of sons, fathers, and in-marrying husbands is not considered peripheral in any way, nor does it cause stress that compels them to out-migrate and detach from their natal environment. In the past, rural women’s economic contribution was substantially supplemented by the hunting and fishing activities of men. The Lao matri-system gives authority and leadership to men. Therefore, it is not a matriarchal system in the sense that women dominate men.33 In interviews during field visits, men often identified themselves as an “assistant” to their wife. The gender relations can be characterised by partnership and complementary roles. 

The rest of the article goes into observation of "Blooming Matri-Lifestyles in Vientiane," as women are attracted to matricultural models; the effects of globalization (and doubtless even before that, the American bombing in the 60s-70s); matrilocality vs patrilocality vs. neolocality, meaning that a young married couple starts up a house of their own in a new place.

4. Ethnic Minority, Patri-Women, and Empowerment: Matri-sation?

Women of patrilocal and patrilineal ethnic minorities living in remote mountainous areas in the north of Laos suffer the brunt of gender inequality and poverty. The social organization of the two largest ethnic minorities – the Lao Sung and Lao Thung – is based on male dominance through the ownership of the means of production, patrilocal residence patterns, and patrilinear descent and inheritance patterns. Polygyny is practiced among some of the Hmong (in the villages we visited only 10 to 15 per cent of Hmong men had more than one wife). Women of those groups have less access to economic resources but have to do almost all the productive and household labour.

Nevertheless, we found in earlier studies in 1995 that, despite the dominance of patriarchal relations, the social atmosphere of these patrilineal ethnic groups was coloured by what we might call a “women's sense of solidarity.” The social structure may offer men the position of authority, but the women’s sense of solidarity and their socio-economic power often counteract socially-sanctioned male domination. These power bases spring from a collective spirit among women and from the options available to them for economic autonomy, both based on accepted Lao values concerning women's economic role and identity. We found that being a woman in a patriarchal context in Laos implies a potential for economic autonomy and self- reliance because crucial economic sectors and activities are monopolised by women due to the acceptance of the gender division of labour.

Since we made our observations in 1995, we have found more preliminary evidence that suggests that some women in patri-ethnic minorities are adopting aspects of the matri- lifestyle of the Lao women in order to empower themselves. Resettlement policies, better roads, and increased means of transportation have drastically increased the opportunities for ethnic minority women and girls to move around, allowing them to become aware of other lifestyles, customs and habits.  [pp. 76-77]
...
During my visit to Champasak for an evaluation of a UNICEF project, I came across a  group of Lao Theung women. An overwhelming majority stated that the bridegroom comes to live with the bride. This was surprising since, by tradition, they were mainly patrilocal. It seemed that the women had good reasons for resisting patrilocal residence. They told me that they no longer accept the custom that, in the event of their husband’s death, they have to marry their father-in-law or brother-in- law. It is a known fact that in some Lao Theung communities, as with the Khamu (who are generally poor), the men stay in the house of their wife for a few years following the marriage so that they can pay off the high bride-price with labour.

Therefore, I searched for more evidence to see if the matrilocal trend could be found in other villages in Champassak. The data showed an overwhelming matrilocal pattern of men of all ages and not the just married ones. In Ban Mag Ngeo, families of Lao Lum, Ong, and Phu Tai communities were matrilineal and matrilocal with the exception of a few cases in which the wife lived with the parents of the husband because they had no daughter of their own at home. They told me that they follow the Lao Lum customs because girls have to be protected.44 In Ban Hovay Pheun, the majority of the villagers belonged to the Laven, a sub-group of the Lao Theung. But there are also Ong, Souy, Alak, and Lao Lum families. In this village as well all the families were matrilocal. Even one Lao Sung man from the patri Hmong community had come to the house of his Laven bride to live with her parents. [pp 77-78]
...
Attractions of matriculture:

One of the more striking insights gleaned from our discussions was that [Hmong] women were fed up with doing the hard swidden labour. They also wanted a small garden and some paddy land and an easier life, much like the Lao women have. In Viengphan village, the Khmu women told us about their unbearable muscular and nerve pains due to the hard swidden labour. They cannot afford to buy medicines to relieve the pain. They simply do not want this kind of hardship any longer. They are also fed up with having to walk long distances – through difficult and dangerous forest terrain, with heavy baskets on their back while, on top of it all, often carrying a baby – just to reach the market. Hmong and Khmu women are traders, and they want good roads for transportion to nearby markets.

Hmong and Khmu women perceived resettlement as an opportunity to change their hard and difficult life. Coming out of their isolated habitats and seeing how Lao Lum women live, they became aware of their suffering and began looking for alternatives. Thus, we can say that highland women were trying to empower themselves by creating more convenient conditions to carry out the many tasks allotted to them by their culture and society. It seemed that Khmu women, in particular, were eager to be resettled in villages with a Lao Lum population and learn how to improve their systems of livelihood. In several of these mixed villages, Khmu women started to learn weaving skills from the Lao Lum women. And, of course, mothers and fathers also wanted their children to be educated and have a better future. Many women we talked with went through the traumatic experience of losing one or more children and wanted ready and nearby access to medical assistance. [pp. 78-79]

I'm going to put this here because it's from the same article, even though it could go in the section on transition to patriarchy.

5. Missing Girls in China, Matrilocal Marriage, and Domestic Violence

Ample evidence shows that discrimination and violence against women and girls in Asia has increased.52 This happened despite better and increasing education, smaller families, changing social attitudes, and rapid development. Millions of women are “missing” from the population totals of many Asian Countries. Nowadays the term “gendercide” is used to characterise these gender-selective atrocities.

It is no secret that the countries with the “missing” women are the ones with “son-preference,” patrilocal residence, and patrilineal kinship and inheritance systems. In the past two decades, with the introduction of new ultra-sound technologies, it has become easy to avoid having daughters by aborting female foetuses. In this way, parents in China and India have replaced the old practices of neglecting the female child and female infanticide with sex-specific abortions of the female foetus.

Technological inventions are not the only causal factors in the increase in gender discrimination – demographic factors have also made significant contributions. Elisabeth Croll shows that the tragic result of the promotion of the one child family policy, or the small family, is that when the first child is a girl, the second or third female foetus is placed in real danger due to the couple’s quest for a son.

In the effort to enhance the value of girls and promote daughter preference, the matrilocal marriage has been identified by Chinese authorities as the fundamental institution capable of achieving the necessary changes in gender attitudes and relations. It is striking that, in China, matrilocal marriage has been encouraged by the government in an attempt to counter the problem of high sex ratios caused by female infanticide, sex-selective abortion, and the abandonment of infant girls. Because girls traditionally marry into patrilocal marriages, they have been seen as “mouths from another family” or a waste of resources.

The interesting point, in view of the main theme of this essay, is that, in China, birth control planners have assumed that uxorilocal marriage will improve women’s status, and that this improvement in status will ultimately help to reduce the growing imbalance in the sex ratio at birth. The skewed sex ratio is believed “to increase violence against women, including sexual exploitation and the trafficking of women and girls, as well as the likelihood that tens of millions of men will be unable to find a marriage partner.” Though the state began to promote uxorilocal marriages as early as the 1950s, these attempts became especially vigorous during political and family planning campaigns.

The Chinese authorities also legally affirmed uxorilocal marriage in the revised marriage law (1980) in order to enhance its social acceptability. Eklund mentions that in Anhui, for example, the local population policy regulations give preferential treatment to couples who marry matrilocally, entitling them to two children, regardless of whether the first-born is a boy or a girl. However, if a family has two daughters, only one daughter can benefit from this rule. According to Eklund the “Care for Girls Campaign” launched in 2003 in China is the outcome of a political process responding to the one-child policy and the demographic imbalance in favour of new-born boys. According to her, the raising of awareness about the value of girls should challenge prevailing gender norms. One of the reasons why the Campaign was not very successful, according to Eklund, was the lack of a systematic approach that addressed the virilocal (patrilocal) marriage pattern as a factor contributing to son preference.

Evidence from Laos suggests that women and girls living in a matri-environment are more protected and better equipped to resist these evils. In 2009, none of the matri-women in my small snowball study in Vientiane had ever heard of abortion of female foetuses, malnourishment of girls, rapes, dowries, bride burning, discrimination in the labour market, extreme female poverty, severe exploitation, wife beating, or domestic violence in their own Lao community. These evils were almost unknown in their Vientiane matri-lifestyle. They emphasized that girls are very welcome and that their tradition of matrilocality is protecting their daughter against the possible violence of their daughter’s husband.

In view of the above, I was surprised to find many internet sites with NGO reports claiming that domestic violence is a significant problem in Laos, almost endemic. It seemed that the decision to open a shelter for women to seek refuge from domestic violence was made on the basis of field research conducted by the LWU and the Gender and Development Group (an affiliation of about 20 NGOs) in 2003. The project conducted a study of the prevalence, cause, and impact of domestic violence in the Lao PDR. According to the internet website, data were collected through interviews with almost 1,000 villagers from thirty-five communities, in five provinces of the Lao PDR: Bokeo, Luangprabang, Savannakhet, Salavan Provinces and Vientiane Prefecture.62 The report states: “In Lao PDR, culture and traditions are the mainstay of the Lao lifestyle.” A number of traditional sayings follow this claim: “Men are the net, women are the basket.” “The husband should lead, the wife should follow.” “The man is the boss and women are the labour.”63 The writers of the report conclude that, “these views, and many others, reinforce gender inequality and create disparity between the sexes, allowing men to have culturally accepted control over women.”64 The report states that it was hoped that the information gathered during this project would provide the evidence and support needed to urge the governmental and non-governmental organizations to contribute to the creation of services to address the problems related to gender- based violence.

Obviously, these findings in the report do not apply to the aforementioned women living in the modern, blooming matri-lifestyle in Vientiane. As I mentioned earlier, women told me in 2009 that the point of having the son-in-law live in the house of his in-laws is “to know the character of the man; to see if he is rude to her, speaks softly and works well.” They want to protect their daughter. This tradition and attitude is likely to be a protective asset which will possibly reduce the incidence of domestic violence. My findings indicate that domestic violence is not a major problem in the matri-communities. Is it possible that NGOs, which depend on western and international money, have to make domestic violence a problem?

Even the Report of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women mentions some surveys reporting domestic violence, but the context and origin of the victims cannot be identified.65 The report states that, in research terms, the topics of domestic violence and rape were addressed nationally for the first time in a survey conducted by the Gender Resource Information and Development Centre in 1998. The results show that twenty-nine women out of the sample of 2,399 households had experienced sexual violence in the previous twelve months. Twenty-two of those reported incidents took place at home. The report states that, among the younger generation, the violent behaviour between spouses is perceived as fairly normal. The CEDAW also mentions a survey (Listening to the Voice of Young People, 1998) conducted among young people: 53.4% of the young people agreed with the following sentence: “It is all right for a man to hit his wife if she makes some mistakes.” The survey shows that stereotyping starts early since 63% of the girls agreed with this statement whereas “only” 45 percent of the boys agreed. Again no ethnic-specific or matri-/patri- specific data are provided in any of these surveys, so we are left to guess who these girls and boys are. The website of The Asia Foundation is a little more specific:

An assessment survey of violence against women conducted by the Lao Women’s Union (LWU) and The Asia Foundation recently revealed that due to a lack of knowledge about their rights, Lao women, especially ethnic minorities, suffer from high levels of violence in both domestic and public spheres. The same survey highlights a report by the civil court that spousal violence has become a major cases brought before the courts between 1996 and 2000. It moved up to second during 2001-2002. The criminal court, representing all provinces in Laos, reported that sexual violence offences rank fourth in the frequency of cases (the first, second and third being drug, robbery and road accident cases).66

This information tends to support my assumption that the Lao matri-system is most likely protecting women against domestic violence. It is my belief that when data on Laos is carefully disaggregated, it will reveal that domestic violence is largely a factor in patri- societies or ethnic minorities with a patrilineal and patrilocal social organisation. I know that differentiation according to ethnic origin and type of social organization is a sensitive issue, but totally denying this basic fact will obstruct us from finding an effective way of reaching the target groups of victimized women who suffer the most.  [pp. 80-83]

The Sre, Lac, Cil and Cu peoples belong to the Co-ho, a matrilineal and matrilocal people of Laos and Vietnam. (Sre refers to rice paddy farming.) "The Co-ho, one of 21 Mon-Khmer language ethnic minority groups in Vietnam, is also called Sre, Nop, Co-don, Chil and Lach after the names of its subgroups." Co-ho is also spelled Koho and K'ho (which implies accent on the last syllable. The Mà speak a closely related language but are patrilineal, and have a different ethnic history.

Matriarchal society of the Co-ho

by Dr. BUI XUAN DINH, Ethnologist, March 3, 2009

The Co-ho, one of 21 Mon-Khmer language ethnic minority groups in Vietnam, is also called Sre, Nop, Co-don, Chil and Lach after the names of its subgroups.

With a population of nearly 130,000, the Co-ho live mostly in Lam Dong Central Highlands province. They also live in some mountainous districts of Binh Thuan, Khanh Hoa and Ninh Thuan central provinces. The Co-ho, one of 12 ethnic minority groups in the Central Highlands, had close ties with the Cham [of whom more elsewhere] and was the co-owner of Sa Huynh culture dated back around 2,500 years ago.

Except Sre group in Di Linh district (Lam Dong) who grow wet rice, other groups of the Co-ho live mainly on upland cultivation. In the past, the Co-ho’s animal raising [was] relatively developed as the group lived in vast meadows and needed sacrifices for numerous rituals. A Co-ho family used to own as many as dozens of buffalos, let alone goats and pigs. The Co-ho also make ... baskets, fishing tools, household articles, mats and cloth. Some other trades include pottery and forging.

The Co-ho’s trade is underdeveloped. [Note capitalist framing.] Years ago, barter was the group’s only commercial activity. Products were simply valued by traditional ways of measurement such as span or bowl, depending on kinds of products.

The Co-ho’s resident unit is village (bon) which, in the old days, was a matriarchal clan, comprising 5-10 families of the same line. Members of each family bore the mother’s family name, except sons-in-law who came from other places. Due to wars and other socio-economic factors, these clans have been transformed into rural communes (or neighboring communes) where different family lines live together.

A Co-ho village is usually built along a river or stream or on a flat area. Each Co-ho subgroup builds their villages facing in a certain direction. The Nop build their villages in the direction of a river or stream; the Sre, facing the east; and the Chil and Lat, looking to a forbidden forest.

A Co-ho village can have its houses built in two parallel lines or in a rectangular or oval shape facing one another with a road in the middle. The higher end of a village has a river wharf and is where community rituals are held. At the lower end are situated the village cemetery and villagers’ rice storehouses.

Each village has a sacred stone, called da rua (tortoise stone), which is believed to be the shelter of the tortoise deity. Nobody is allowed to touch this stone, which is put on a big tree in the forest where villagers come to pray for rain when droughts occur.

Each Co-ho village is an independent social unit and led by a village head called quang bon or khoa bon, who is selected by villagers. A quang bon must be a rich elderly man with good communication skills, who has production experience and is conversant with customary laws. A quang bon, who is respected by all villagers, has responsibilities and powers for all village affairs, from establishing relations with other villages, settling economic and social matters, to organizing rituals. A quang bon is assisted by a council of elderly villagers [no word on female participation] who are knowledgeable and prestigious heads of family lines, soothsayers and military chiefs. All social and economic relations in a village are governed by customary laws. Land and forest are public property.

The Co-ho follow matriarchy under which members of a family line are children of a real or legendary ancestor mother. Co-ho family names are associated either with legendary ancestors or totems or with village names, which reflects the Co-ho’s old-time habit of living within family lines.

Relatives of maternal sides are not allowed to marry each other despite their generations. Those breaching this rule are believed to make deities angry, who will cause calamities to the community such as fires, epidemics or poor crops. Violators are thus subject to heavy fines, having to give the village white pigs and ruou can (rice wine drunk out of a jar through stems) for offering to deities.

Divorce and adultery rarely happen in Co-ho society where monogamy is protected and strictly governed by customary laws. Co-ho women play an active role in marriage. In the old days, after the wedding, a wife stayed at her husband’s family for a week or a month, then returned to her family which gave the couple a room in the common house. A husband lived dependently on and had to work hard for his wife’s family. When the couple had many children, they might live in a separate house built adjoining the common house. In case a groom’s family had few children or a bride’s family was too poor to afford wedding offerings, the bride had to stay in her husband’s family for three years or forever. Nowadays, a few years after the wedding, a couple is given land to build their own house and live independently.

Before the country was reunified in 1975, three or more couples of three or even four generations lived together in a long stilt house. A Co-ho stilt house is 1-1.2 m above the ground and 3.2-3.5 m wide while its length depends on the number of couples, each of which is given a room. Apart from couples’ rooms, the house has a common section in the middle, which is divided into two parts. The inner part, for worshipping the paddy [rice] deity, has an altar and a worshipping pillar at the base of which are placed two big jars of wine called che chong (jar for husband) and che vo (jar for wife). The outer part where a cooking fire is placed, is for receiving guests. It is also the sleeping place of young men. Outside the house is a corridor running along rooms. Each house has three stairways. The main stairway, which stands in the middle and has a small yard in front, is for guests who will stop here before entering the house. When a member of the family dies, guests attending his/her funeral will also stop at the main stairway to wash their feet, which is believed to prevent ghosts from entering the house. Two other stairways are built at the gables for family members.

In the past, each big family was an economic unit. Couples lived all together under the control of po hiu (house owner), who was usually an elderly woman or her husband. Couples did not have private assets other than their essential personal things. A couple was given part of the family’s property to live independently only when they had grown up children. Nowadays, such big families no longer exist as a result of social, economic and cultural development.

The Co-ho believe the world comprises three layers. The first is heaven where live deities and where natural phenomena and living creatures are created. The second is for the living and the last, for the dead. The layer for the dead is further divided into two parts. The upper part is a temporary place for newly dead persons who were given some time to part with their living family members. The lower part is the permanent place for the dead.

The Co-ho believe dead persons will become ghosts, which are classified into good and bad. Good ghosts are the souls of people dying ordinarily while bad ghosts are of those suffering sudden death like being drowned or killed by a tiger.

The Co-ho consider 3 and 7 as holy numbers, especially number 7, which are believed to help them communicate with deities. All Co-ho rituals and taboos are related to these numbers.

Co-ho people have different rituals to pray for bumper crops, which are connected with upland cultivation stages, especially the ceremony to plant ngai (a ginger-like plant symbolizing manliness) on a rice field. Before sowing paddy, a Co-ho couple bring to their field some ngais and seed paddy, which symbolizes feminity. The wife sows the paddy on a holy land patch while the husband plants ngais. Ngai is believed to transfer incorporeal spirit to paddy.

Every family has a basket of ngais, which is preserved from one generation to another. Any family whose ngai is lost or dies must ask for the plant from a relative (not a family outsider) for replanting. Ngais are grown for different periods of time corresponding to paddy’s growth periods. After harvesting, a ceremony to worship the paddy deity is held.

More on the recent history of the Coho from “The Making Of Ethnic Boundaries Between The Cil And The K’ho (Sre) In Ninh Gia Commune, Duc Trong District, Lam Dong Province, Vietnam.” by Pham Thanh Thoi. Ho Chi Minh City Open University Journal of science - No. 2(1) 2012 19:

The Cil and K’ho (Sre) are matrilineal groups, whose lineal surnames and properties are inherited from mother’s side. Each bon is small, comprised of 2 or 3 lineages residing in 4 or 5 hiu rot (long house)”. Each hiu rot is then separated into some bounded spaces which are dwelling places of several couples and their children. 

Prior to 1960, the K’ho (Sre) cultivated paddy rice. The Sre lived in Duc Trong and Di Linh districts of Lam Dong Province. The Cil was a nomadic group that lived temporarily in various areas, depending on availability of land. 

The Cil’s main economic activity was shifting cultivation (slash and burn). Typically, the Cil moved along streams in wild forests to choose relatively sloping plots to grow corns. Each plot would be cultivated for about ten years, and then let abandoned while new plots would be explored. Each bon and lineage had their own plots of land at specific streams or forests. Land might be let abandoned for a long period of time but still belonging to its initially exploring lineage. 

In the 1960s, the Republic of Vietnam forced ethnic groups, including the Cil, to converge in Strategic Hamlets. They forced the Cil to leave their bon in the deep forests. It was explained to them that this was so that they could take refuge from the Việt Cộng

The underlying reason was that the government wanted to separate the people from Việt Cộng – under the motto “tách cá khỏi nước (separating fishes from water)” – and to gather them into residential zones for the sake of control. The zones were bounded by fences and ditches to control people’s movement in/out. The zones were termed “ấp chiến lược (strategic hamlet)” which aimed at preventing people from supplying food to Việt Cộng.

After 1964, the Cil were established next to residential areas of the K’ho (Sre) in Duc Trong, Di Linh, Don Duong districts of Lam Dong province. Most of the bon were divided and relocated into newly-organized administrative hamlets. 

[As a result, most or all of their lands were taken by lowland Vietnamese after the war.]

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Other peoples:

The Halang, Laos / Vietnam, matrilocal

Jeng and Jeh people arrange their houses in a circle around a communal house