Preserving the sustainable cultural values of ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands is one of the special concerns in the strategy of preserving and promoting ethnic cultural values in the spirit of the 13th National Party Congress. This is the "endogenous resource and breakthrough driving force for socio-economic development and international integration", especially meaningful to Lam Dong when some elements of ethnic minority cultural identity in the area are at risk of being lost due to cultural exchange and import from outside in the current context of globalization and international integration.
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| Musical performance by Lam Dong province's art troupe at the Central Highlands Mass Arts Festival and Ethnic Costume Show, November 30, 2023. (Source: VNA) |
Cultural diversity of ethnic minorities
Lam Dong is a mountainous province in the Southern Central Highlands, with a population of about 1,250,000 people, with 43 ethnic groups living together, with different historical origins, of which ethnic minorities have about 298,000 people, accounting for 24%. Based on their origins, ethnic minorities in Lam Dong are divided into 2 groups distributed throughout 12/12 districts and cities in the province, mainly concentrated in remote areas, creating a heterogeneous community in terms of production level, economic life and cultural level, customs, and practices... Living intermingled between the two groups of ethnic minorities above is a favorable condition for learning, cultural exchange, improving knowledge in all aspects, and uniting to help each other develop together.
The traditional cultural heritage of ethnic minorities in Lam Dong province is extremely rich and diverse in both tangible and intangible cultural values.
Regarding intangible culture, the Lam Dong ethnic minority community still preserves many unique cultural values; such as gong culture, epics, stories, folk songs (Yal Yau), folk dances... In particular, the system of festivals is still quite rich, showing the diversity of polytheistic beliefs of ethnic minorities from the Central Highlands such as: New rice celebration; rice threshing ceremony; naming ceremony for newborn children of the Ma people; worshiping agricultural gods, especially, the water wharf worshiping ceremony is the most important spiritual festival of the K'Ho, Chu Ru ethnic groups...
Regarding tangible culture, according to statistics, the whole province has 37 ranked relics; including 2 special national relics, 20 national relics, 16 provincial relics; 14 scenic relics and 2 revolutionary historical relics. In particular, some craft villages are preserved and developed by ethnic minorities such as: Mulberry cultivation, silkworm raising, pottery making, wine making, brocade weaving and traditional crafts such as: weaving, silver ring casting, crossbow making, gourd making...
However, in recent times, due to the negative impact of the market economy along with the rapid development of science and technology and the Internet, the unhealthy import of foreign cultures has caused the culture of ethnic minorities in Lam Dong province to show signs of fading and gradually disappearing. According to the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism (VHTT&DL) of Lam Dong, in the community of ethnic minorities today, there are still some cultural heritages preserved, especially folk festivals and traditional cultural festivals. However, some festivals with high community structure have been lost and need to be restored to preserve and promote unique indigenous cultural values.
Preserving cultural values
In recent years, Lam Dong province has implemented a number of protection measures to achieve the goal of ensuring the survival of heritage in an adaptive cultural and social environment, mobilizing the participation of the heritage owner community, contributing to changing awareness and self-consciously preserving traditional cultural values. The positive results need to be recognized and promoted, however, there are still many tasks and solutions ahead that the functional sectors and localities continue to implement more actively and effectively.
Recognizing the importance and significance of preserving, promoting and advertising the cultural values of ethnic minorities in the context of globalization, in recent times, the People's Committee of Lam Dong province has issued the Project "Preserving and developing the space of gong culture of the Central Highlands ethnic groups in Lam Dong province until 2020"; Cultural development strategy until 2022; Project "Preserving and promoting the cultural identity of indigenous ethnic groups, restoring and developing traditional craft villages associated with tourism activities in Lam Dong province in the period of 2018-2022, with a vision to 2030"; establishing a Project to submit to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism for recognition of the "Chu Ru Ethnic Cultural Village" (in Pro commune - Don Duong district), with a construction investment cost of more than 7 billion VND...
Through the Projects approved by the Provincial People's Committee, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism has directed its affiliated units to promote grassroots activities. In particular, coordinating with the local authorities and Departments of Culture and Information to conduct surveys and assess the current status of management, conservation and exploitation of cultural heritages, scenic spots for tourism... Thereby, promptly correcting the situation of enterprises that undertake management and exploitation of scenic spots for tourism but lack investment, operating ineffectively; preventing the encroachment and degradation of some relics...
Implementing the Government's Project on supporting the restoration of traditional festivals of ethnic minorities, in recent years, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism has invested in restoring 10 typical festivals of indigenous ethnic minorities that have disappeared such as: Po Thi Festival (of the Chu Ru and K'Ho people in Duc Trong district), Nho Wer Festival (of the K'Ho Sre group in Di Linh district), Bok Chu-bur Festival (of the Chu Ru people in Don Duong district), the rice offering ceremony of the Ma people in Bao Lam; Nho Rohe Festival (bringing rice to the warehouse of the K'Ho people in Lam Ha district); the wedding ceremony of the K'Ho people in Lac Duong district...
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| Reenacting the traditional wedding ceremony of the K'ho Sre people with the participation of 60 local artisans and extras - one of the activities in response to the Lam Dong Province Golden Tourism Week 2023. (Source: VNA) |
In mid-December 2022, implementing the Project "Preserving and promoting the fine traditional cultural values of ethnic minorities, associated with tourism development", the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism invested 20.64 billion VND to restore and preserve 2 traditional villages of the K'Ho people in Lac Duong and Di Linh districts; the funding is drawn from the capital source of the National Target Program on "Socio-economic development of ethnic minority and mountainous areas in Lam Dong province, period 2021-2025".
In addition, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism has also implemented many diverse activities to educate the awareness of ethnic minority communities in preserving and promoting national cultural identity, especially the young generation. Every year, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism organizes the Gong Culture Festival of the whole province (now the "Cultural - Sports Festival of ethnic minority areas") . At the festival, the Provincial People's Committee awarded the title of Artisan to individuals who have made many contributions to preserving and promoting the cultural heritage of ethnic minorities; and prepared a dossier to propose the State to confer the noble title. To date, Lam Dong has 59 provincial-level artisans recognized by the province; 15 Meritorious Artisans have been conferred by the President.
In recent years, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism has also focused on organizing gong teaching classes in communes and districts with a large population of K'Ho, Ma, and Chu RU people. Up to now, more than 100 gong teaching classes have been organized, attracting nearly 2,000 male and female ethnic minority youth to participate. Currently, the whole province has more than 100 gong teams, 5 newly established gong teams to serve tourism. in the districts of Lac Duong, Duc Trong, Di Linh, Da Huoai, Don Duong; the whole province maintains the effective operation of 16 gong teams, groups regularly performing for tourists at tourist attractions in Lac Duong, Da Lat, Duc Trong, Da Huoai... providing 30 sets of gongs, 120 sets of traditional costumes of ethnic minorities for gong teams, groups in the districts. In particular, Da Huoai district has also spent the budget to purchase and provide cultural tools and 9 sets of gongs for 9 ethnic minority residential groups... to perform at tourist attractions and festivals.
The effective preservation and promotion of cultural values has contributed significantly to the achievements in socio-economic development as well as the enrichment and diversification of the spiritual life of ethnic minorities in the province, contributing to the overall development of the locality. From here, the self-management, awareness of origin, and community solidarity in the villages, hamlets, and hamlets of ethnic minorities in Lam Dong province have been maintained and promoted.
With the attention, direction and investment in the conservation and promotion of the cultural values of ethnic minorities, we believe that the culture of Lam Dong's indigenous ethnic minorities will be restored and strongly developed in the coming years.
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