People & Culture - Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Northern Thailand - page 1014

Cham
The Cham people originally occupied the kingdom of Champa in south-central Vietnam
and their beautiful brick towers dot the landscape from Danang to Phan Rang. Victims of
a historical squeeze between Cambodia and Vietnam, their territory was eventually an-
nexed by the expansionist Vietnamese. Originally Hindu, they converted to Islam in the
16th and 17th centuries and many migrated to Cambodia. Today there are small numbers
of Cham in Vietnam and as many as half a million in Cambodia, all of whom continue to
practise a flexible form of Islam. The Cham population has intermarried over the centuries
with migrating Malay seafarers, introducing an additional ethnic background into the mix.
Hmong
The Hmong are one of the largest hill tribes in the Mekong region, spread through much
of northern Laos, northern Vietnam and Thailand. As some of the last to arrive in the re-
gion in the 19th century, they were left with the highest and harshest lands from which to
eke out their existence. They soon made the best of a bad deal and opted for opium cultiv-
ation, which brought them into conflict with mainstream governments during the 20th
century.
Hmong groups are usually classified by their colourful clothing, including Black
Hmong, White Hmong, Red Hmong and so on. The brightest group is the Flower Hmong
of northwest Vietnam, living in villages around Bac Ha. There may be as many as one
million Hmong in the Mekong region, half of them living in the mountains of Vietnam.
There are around 12 million Lao people living across the Mekong region, in Laos, Thailand
and Cambodia.
Dzao
The Dzao (also known as Yao or Dao) are one of the largest and most colourful ethnic
groups in Vietnam and are also found in Laos, Thailand and Yunnan. The Dzao practise
ancestor worship of spirits, or ban ho (no relation to Uncle Ho), and hold elaborate rituals
with sacrifices of pigs and chickens. The Dzao are famous for their elaborate dress. Wo-
men's clothing typically features intricate weaving and silver-coloured beads and coins -
the wealth of a woman is said to be in the weight of the coins she carries. Their long flow-
ing hair, shaved above the forehead, is tied up into a large red or embroidered turban.