Unique intangible cultural heritage: Tet con dui of the Gie Lang people

When the winter winds blow fiercely, everywhere the grass and trees turn yellow, the rice plants begin to bloom and hold seeds, it is also the time when the Gie Lang people prepare for the Et Dong ceremony.

Worship the god of rats

The Gie Lang ethnic group is a branch of the Ba Na ethnic group, living in the communes of Tan Lap, Dak Pne, Dak T'Re and Dak R've town (Kon Ray district, Kon Tum).

Kon Brap Du village is where the traditional Et Dong festival is regularly held. PHOTO: DUC NHAT

With polytheistic and animistic beliefs, the Gie Lang people have many festivals related to the life cycle of humans, crops, and livestock, including the Et Dong festival. This is a major festival of the Gie Lang people, and for them, Et Dong is considered the traditional New Year of the whole community.

According to the language of the Gie Lang people, Et Dong means bamboo rat festival. This festival was born, exists and develops closely associated with slash-and-burn farming activities and the traditional cultural beliefs of the village community.

Elder A Jring Deng, elder of Kon Brap Du village (Tan Lap commune), said that the Et Dong festival is held every year in late September and early October of the solar calendar, when the rice plants begin to bear ears and hold grains. This is a particularly important ritual, expressing the worship of the whole community for natural gods, especially Yang Sori, Yang Dak, Yang Kong or Yang Kra, Yang Kodrang. The festival has been respected and preserved by the people, promoting its value through many generations. It is worth mentioning that only after holding the Et Dong festival, the Ba Na people are allowed to carry out major family events, such as building new houses, repairing old houses, getting married, buying buffaloes, cows, etc.

Villagers bring jars of wine to the communal house to perform rituals to worship the gods during the festival.

PHOTO: DUC NHAT

Gia A Jring Deng said that since ancient times, the Giơ Lăng people worshiped the snake god, so they celebrated the snake festival. After a period of contemplation, the villagers saw that snakes were sometimes very full but sometimes very hungry, without a regular, stable source of food. Meanwhile, the food of the bamboo rat is tree roots, so they never fear a lack of food all year round. The bamboo rat does not destroy crops like field mice. Therefore, the villagers switched to worshiping the bamboo rat god. From then on, the bamboo rat became a mascot, a symbol of diligence and hard work, not going hungry all year round for the Giơ Lăng community.

Et Dong is the moment that marks the end of the old year, the beginning of the new year with new hopes and new joys. Through the annual festival, the Gie Lang people want to educate their children and grandchildren to preserve traditions, be grateful to their ancestors, love each other and work hard to have a prosperous and happy life.

People light candles and pray for the gods to attend the festival. PHOTO: DUC NHAT

Community Engagement

The Et Dong Festival takes place over 3 days with many traditional rituals. The rituals are performed in the sacred corners of each household, on the fields and at the communal house. All follow the arrangements and instructions of the village elder. A few days before the festival, the village elder assigns the task of the young men to go into the forest to cut bamboo to make taboo gates and poles.

On the first day, the young people cut down bamboo and reeds, and the villagers set up a taboo gate on the way to the fields and erected a pole at the gable of the communal house. After finishing the work, each family prepared offerings and worshiped in the rice fields. They would invite Yang (the gods) and ancestors to celebrate the festival with their descendants. Each family would prepare offerings including: a jar of wine, a roll of thread, fresh banana leaves, bamboo tubes, peng (a type of forest leaf)... and then carry them to the communal house to perform the Et Dong ceremony on a community scale.

On the second day, families perform the ritual of offering leftover rice at home. PHOTO: DUC NHAT

After the long drum beat from the communal house, the village elder was the first to place the precious wine jar in the center of the communal house, then decorated it and tied it to a pillar. Following the village elder, each family took turns bringing the offerings back to the communal house. They used fresh banana leaves to line the floor, then used peng leaves to wrap the rice. The number of people in the family was the same as the number of grains of rice.

When the families have finished preparing, under the communal house roof, the village elder beats a long drum to begin the Yang invitation ceremony. The village elder holds a roll of thread to tie a string from his wine jar and passes it to each family, in turn tying it to their own wine jar and pole. The thread is considered the thread that conveys the villagers' common message to the gods and ancestors, and is also the thread that unites families in the community.

On the second day, families perform the ritual of offering leftover rice seeds at home. The head of the kitchen (the oldest woman in the family) sits next to the leftover rice seeds from the previous crop and prays to the Yang for a good harvest in the next crop. After that, the homeowner performs the ritual of placing intact rice grains cooked from the old rice seeds on top of their heads. According to the beliefs of the Gie Lang people, this is a gratitude to the Yangs and ancestors for giving them abundance and health.

The festival is an opportunity for villagers to chat, share their thoughts and wishes for the new year. PHOTO: DUC NHAT

The third day is the day to send ancestors to heaven. On this day, people perform the ritual of eating the sacrificial animal on the sacred altar at the communal house. After the sacrificial animal is lowered, it is butchered and shared among everyone. The community in the village eats together, discusses preparations and repairs to the house after the harvest or discusses marriage for their children...

"Also on the third day, everyone goes to the communal house to check the amount of rice placed under the wine jar to predict the future. If the package of rice is intact, it means that the family will have a bumper crop in the new farming season. On the contrary, if the rice is chipped or has too much or too little, the family will encounter many bad things," said old man A Jring Deng.

According to elder A Jring Deng, in the past, the Et Dong festival was often celebrated by the Gie Lang people for 7 days. However, holding the festival for a long time was both time-consuming and wasteful, so the villagers shortened it to 3 days.

Mr. Pham Viet Thach, Head of the Culture and Information Department of Kon Ray District, said that in Kon Ray District, there are 6 villages of the Gie Lang ethnic group that regularly maintain the Et Dong festival. In 2021, this festival was recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a national intangible cultural heritage. (to be continued)

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/doc-dao-di-san-van-hoa-phi-vat-the-tet-con-dui-cua-nguoi-gio-lang-185250323195136852.htm