Rhade

The Rhade are one of the many groups living the top-plates of the Laos and the Vietnam, just in the south of the 17th parallel.

The language rhade, related with the cham, belonged to the Austronesian group of the Languages austronésiennes.

As they do not have written history, one knows little thing of Rhade until the arrival of the French at the XIXe century.

Culture

Rhade have a family system Matrilinéaire, i.e. chalk-lining passes through the mother and not the father. The men gain the bread of the family, but the women have the goods, the cattle, food, the house. The married men live in the family of their wife and have only little catch on the family businesses. One finds this tradition in their cousins Jarai and in other populations austronésiennes, in particular at the Minangkabau of Western Sumatra in Indonesia. During the War of Indo-China, Rhade fought as well French side as Vietnamese soldier minh. In 1961, the United States comes into contact with the rhade chiefs to seek their support for the program of self-defense set up by the Vietnamese government. Formed by the American special forces, Rhade were specialized in the patrols of raid, the recognition, the ambushes and village defense.

Since 1989, the population rhade reduced to less than 30% of that of before the War of Vietnam. Many Rhade were constrained to give up their long Community houses to settle in Vietnamese villages.

Rhade remained in their traditional villages live of an agriculture of subsistence, producing rice, coffee, fruit and vegetables, and raising animals. The traditional religious practices are discouraged by the mode.

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