Cham people in Phu Yen keep their culture alive

Phu Yen (VNA) – The central province of Phu Yen is now home to nearly 20,000 Cham people who are mainly living in Dong Xuan, Son Hoa and Song Hinh districts, and have well preserved their culture and customs.

Cham people often live in clans, so each hamlet often has only about 5-7 households. The largest has about 30 households.

While the Cham ethnics in Dong Xuan have a cultural interweavement with the Ba Na people, those in Son Hoa and Song Hinh have a bold cultural interweavement with Ede ethnic minorities. Their most noticeable features are costumes, houses, and gong performances.

The Cham people weave cloth to make their traditional costumes by themselves. They mainly live on rice and maize cultivation.

Each hamlet has its own self-management regime, with its head elected by local people. They are reputable elders who have rich experiences in farming, animal husbandry, and good understanding of the ethnic group’s customary laws.

The Cham believe that humans, like all living beings, have a soul and a reigning genie. However, they have a limit in praying and worshipping, as they only worship and give thanks to the genies who keep peace for their families and communities such as genies of rain, wind, land, river and the forest.

At present, Cham people in Phu Yen have access to new cultural life, so they have abolished customs that are no longer suitable. However, they have preserved and promoted cultural values imbued with their racial identity./.