Spreading the culture of ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands

After 10 years of implementing Resolution No. 33-NQ/TW of the 11th Party Central Committee on building and developing Vietnamese culture and people to meet the requirements of sustainable national development, Kon Tum province has achieved a number of important achievements, especially in ethnic minority areas.

Performing traditional culture of the Central Highlands people. Photo: VNA

Remarkable results

Located in the North of the Central Highlands region, Kon Tum province has a population of about 590,000 people with 43 ethnic groups; of which, ethnic minorities account for 54%.

Over the past 10 years, Kon Tum Provincial Party Committee has developed many programs and plans, thoroughly grasped and implemented Resolution No. 33-NQ/TW and the Party's policies on the work of building and developing Vietnamese culture and people to meet the requirements of sustainable national development. On that basis, all levels and sectors have disseminated, thoroughly grasped, concretized and implemented them in accordance with the actual situation of the locality and unit with many diverse and rich forms, suitable for each subject.

Women in traditional costumes dance xoang at the Water Drops Offering Ceremony of the Ro Ngao people. Photo: Khoa Chuong – VNA

By the end of 2023, the whole province will have more than 122,000 cultural households, reaching 87%; 723/756 cultural residential areas, reaching 95%; 957/980 agencies, units and enterprises registered to build agencies, units and enterprises meeting cultural standards in the period of 2023 - 2027, reaching 97.65%. The whole province has built 1,276 good models and effective ways of studying and following the example of the great Uncle Ho; 49/85 communes have met 19/19 criteria for new rural communes, of which 44 communes have been recognized as meeting new rural standards.

Regarding cultural development, up to now, Kon Tum province has 27 ranked relics and 29 relics in the inventory list. In addition to the Central Highlands gong cultural space recognized by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, the province has also been recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as having 3 national intangible cultural heritages: Ba Na - Ro Ngao ethnic epic (2015); Et Dong festival (Tet eating bamboo rats 2021); and traditional hand-weaving of the Ba Na ethnic group (2023).

By the end of 2023, Kon Tum province will have nearly 2,400 sets of gongs, including 358 collective sets and 2,034 individual sets; an increase of 178 sets compared to 2020; 437/503 ethnic minority villages in the province have Rong houses. The provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism has restored 22 typical rituals and festivals of ethnic minorities such as: New Rice Festival, Buffalo Eating Festival, New Rong House Celebration, Traditional Wedding Festival of the Bahnar, Gie Trieng, Xo Dang, B'Râu ethnic groups; Grave-abandoning Festival, New Rice Celebration of the Ro Mam, Sa Thay ethnic groups... Thereby contributing to preserving and promoting the traditional cultural values ​​of ethnic minorities in the province.

“After 10 years of implementing Resolution No. 33-NQ/TW in the province, encouraging results have been achieved. Awareness of all levels, sectors and people about the position, significance and role of building and developing Vietnamese culture and people in the new situation has had many positive changes; cultural emulation movements have been built and spread widely, receiving active participation from the people,” affirmed Deputy Secretary of Kon Tum Provincial Party Committee U Huan.

Socialization of investment in culture

Despite many encouraging achievements, Deputy Secretary of Kon Tum Provincial Party Committee U Huan said that the implementation of Resolution No. 33-NQ/TW in the province still has some shortcomings and limitations that need to be overcome. For example, investment in cultural institutions, facilities, and equipment for cultural development is still difficult; the socialization of cultural, sports, literary and artistic activities in the province is still limited; cultural products for tourism and services are not rich and diverse; international exchange and cooperation activities, and promotion of cultural identities of ethnic groups in the province are not regular.

Analyzing these shortcomings and limitations, Mr. Phan Van Hoang, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Kon Tum province, said that currently, the source of investment funds for activities to preserve, restore and promote the cultural values ​​of ethnic minorities in general and historical and cultural relics in particular is still limited, while socialization in the cultural field, especially in the work of preserving and promoting the cultural heritage of ethnic minorities, is almost non-existent.

Besides, the strong impact of modern culture, especially contemporary music, radio, television, science - technology and information networks... greatly affects the work of preserving and promoting the folklore values ​​of ethnic minorities.

Mr. Thai Van Tuong, Secretary of Dak Glei District Party Committee, also analyzed that the district's budget for preserving and promoting traditional cultural values ​​is still difficult. From 2022 to now, the district budget has only allocated 90 million VND to open classes to teach gong performance skills and xoang dance, not ensuring funding to support gongs for villages and hamlets that do not have gongs. In 2024, the district will allocate 255 million VND to equip 5 sets of gongs and drums for 5 ethnic minority villages that do not have gongs.

Artisan Y Thuy, Dak Krak village, Hoa Binh commune, Kon Tum city is one of the "veteran" brocade weavers in Kon Tum. Photo: Du Toan - VNA

Mr. Dao Duy Khanh, Secretary of Kon Plong District Party Committee, is concerned that recently, due to the negative impact of the market economy and the rapid development of science, technology and the Internet, the unhealthy import of foreign cultures has increased, causing the culture of indigenous ethnic minorities in the district to gradually disappear. Through surveys, it is shown that in the indigenous ethnic minority community, some cultural heritages are still preserved, especially folk festivals and traditional cultural festivals. However, some festivals with high community structure have been lost and need to be restored, in order to preserve and promote unique indigenous cultural values.

To overcome difficulties and continue to effectively implement Resolution No. 33-NQ/TW, Kon Tum Provincial Party Committee Deputy Secretary U Huan requested all levels and sectors to continue to pay attention to investing in building facilities and equipment to serve community cultural activities; improve and enhance the quality and efficiency of cultural institutions; preserve and promote traditional festivals of ethnic groups; build and replicate advanced models in building and developing literature and art; train, foster and improve the quality of staff advising on literature and art, cultural officers and cultural managers, especially at the grassroots level.

In addition, units need to strengthen the work of introducing and promoting widely the image of the homeland, people and typical cultural values ​​of Kon Tum; promote attracting investors to invest in developing infrastructure, products and tourism services, associated with preserving and promoting traditional cultural values ​​in the province, especially community tourism and experiential tourism with local people as participants; gradually expand international economic integration and cultural and artistic exchanges with friends in the region and around the world.

Balance (Vietnam News Agency)

Source: https://baophutho.vn/lan-toa-van-hoa-dan-toc-thieu-so-tay-nguyen-215669.htm