Bahnar
Bahnar
ETHNONYMS: Alakong, Bonom, Ho Drong, Jo Long, Kon Ko De, Kontum, Krem, Tolo, To Sung
A group enumerated at 136,859 in 1985, located in southeast Lai-Cong Turn province in Vietnam. The Bahnar have considerable contact, including intermarriage, with neighboring groups such as the Sedang, and were closely aligned with the French colonists. As with many other Mon-Khmer Language groups, Bahnar villages are characterized by centrally located, large, well-built communal or men's houses. Each village is governed by a headman, with a number of neighboring villages aligned into an administrative unit called a toring. There is some evidence of a class structure in traditional Bahnar society, consisting of freemen, debtors, foreigners, and slaves. The traditional religion is based on the direct relationship between an individual and the spirits and ghosts that influence daily affairs.
See also Muong
Bibliography
Mole, Robert L. (1970). The Montagnards of South Vietnam. Rutland, Vt.: Charles E. Tuttle.