Ethnic Group Brau

Name of ethnic group: Brau (Brao)

Population: 313 people (Year 1999)

Locality: Dak Me Village, Bo Y Commune, Ngoc Hoi District, Kon Tum Province.

Customs and habits: The Brau have a tradition of tattooing their faces and bodies and filing their teeth. Their houses are built on stilts. Young men and women are free to choose their partners. The wedding ceremony is organized by the bride’s family and the groom must live with his wife’s family for several years before bringing his wife and children home.

Culture: The Brau language belongs to the Mon-Khmer Group. The Brau like to play gongs and traditional musical instruments. In particular, a set of two gongs called the chieng tha has great value in their culture. Young girls often play Krong Put, a musical instrument that consists of 5-7 bamboo tubes, both long and short, which are joined together. The sound is produced when air is forced into them by the clapping of the hands.

Costumes: Women wear a lot of jewelry around their arms, ankles, and necks. Men often wear loincloths and women wear pagnes.

Economy: The Brau have led a nomadic life for a very long time, but also practice slash-and-burn cultivation in order to grow rice, corn, and cassava using rudimentary tools.