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$Unique_ID{COW00678}
$Pretitle{250}
$Title{Cambodia
Chapter 2C. Other Ethnic Groups}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Robert K. Headly, Jr.}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{khmer
chinese
cambodia
cham
groups
loeu
vietnamese
government
provinces
percent}
$Date{1987}
$Log{Figure 7.*0067801.scf
}
Country: Cambodia
Book: Cambodia, A Country Study
Author: Robert K. Headly, Jr.
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date: 1987
Chapter 2C. Other Ethnic Groups
[See Figure 7.: Ethno-Linquistic groups of Cambodia, 1983.]
The Cham
The Cham people in Cambodia descend from refugees of the kingdom of
Champa, which once ruled much of Vietnam between Cao Ha in the north and Bien
Hoa in the south. In 1471 Champa was conquered by the Vietnamese, and many
Cham fled to Cambodia. Cham scholar Po Dharma points out that the Cham have
lived in Cambodia since at least 1456. They settled along the Tonle Sap and
Mekong rivers and in Batdambang, Pouthisat, Takev, Kampot, Kampong Cham,
Kampong Thum, and Kampong Chhnang provinces. At some time before the
seventeenth century, the Cambodian Cham and some of those in adjacent Vietnam
converted to Islam, probably as a result of contacts with their Malay kin who
had embraced that religion centuries earlier (see Religion, this ch.).
Friendly relations prevailed between the Cham and the Khmer for centuries
even though, because of the Cham religion, little intermarriage occurred.
Under the Khmer Republic (see Appendix B) of 1970 to 1975, one of the elite
military units was made up of members of the Cham and other ethnic minorities.
The Khmer Rouge tried, without much success, to recruit the Cham during the
struggle with the Khmer Republic. The Cham were singled out for particularly
brutal repression under the Khmer Rouge regime, and large numbers were killed.
The PRK actively courted the Cham, and in 1987 a Cham was a member of the
party Central Committee and minister of agriculture. Cham sources estimate
that in the 1980, in addition to the Cham in Cambodia and in Vietnam, there
were 3,000 Cham in Malaysia, 2,000 in the United States, 1,000 in Western
Europe, 500 in Canada, and several hundred in Indonesia.
Po Dharma divides the Cambodian Cham into two groups--the orthodox and
the traditional--based on their religious practices. The orthodox group, which
makes up about one-third of the total number of Cham in the country, were
located mainly in the Phnom Penh-Odongk area and in the provinces of Takev and
Kampot. The traditional Cham were scattered throughout the midsection of the
country in the provinces of Batdambang, Kampong Thum, Kampong Cham, and
Pouthisat.
The Cham of both groups typically live in villages inhabited only by
other Cham; the villages may be along the shores of water courses, or they may
be inland. The Cham refer to the former as play krong (river villages) and to
the latter as play ngok (upper villages). The inhabitants of the river
villages engage in fishing, in raising rice, and in growing vegetables,
especially onions. They trade fish to local Khmer for rice. The women in these
villages earn money by weaving. The Cham who live inland support themselves by
various means, depending on the village. Some villages specialize in metal
working; others raise fruit trees or vegetables. The Cham also often serve as
butchers of cattle for their Khmer Buddhist neighbors and are, in some areas,
regarded as skillful water buffalo breeders.
Cham dress is distinctive. The main item of clothing for both sexes is a
sarong-like garment called a batik, which is worn knotted at the waist. Men
wear shirts over the batik, and women wear close-fitting blouses that are open
at the throat and have tight sleeves. The characteristic headdress is a turban
or scarf.
Cham society is matriarchal with matrilineal descent. There is some trace
of an earlier clan system. Parents permit their daughters a considerable
amount of freedom of choice in marriage. The parents of the girl usually make
the marriage overtures to the boy. A Cham marriage involves little ceremony.
Among the Muslim Cham, the girl's parents ask the groom if he accepts their
daughter in marriage, and he is expected to answer yes. The imam acts as a
witness. This simple ceremony is followed by a feast. Residence is matrilocal;
the young man goes to live with his wife's family. Females inherit the family
property.
The Khmer Loeu
The Khmer Loeu are the non-Khmer highland tribes in Cambodia. Although
the origins of this group are not clear, some believe that the
Mon-Khmer-speaking tribes were part of the long migration of these people from
the northwest. The Austronesian-speaking groups, Rade and Jarai, apparently
came to coastal Vietnam and then moved west, forming wedges among some of the
Mon-Khmer groups. The Khmer Loeu are found mainly in the northeastern
provinces of Rotanokiri, Stoeng Treng, and Mondol Kiri. The Cambodian
government coined the word Khmer Loeu--literally "Highland Khmer"--in the
1960s in order to create a feeling of unity between the highland tribal groups
and the ruling lowland ethnic Khmer. Traditionally the Khmer have referred to
these groups as phnong and samre, both of which have pejorative meanings. Some
of the highland groups, in fact, are related in language to the Khmer, but
others are from a very different linguistic and cultural background (see
Languages, this ch.).
Khmer Loeu form the majority population in Rotanokiri and Mondulkiri
provinces, and they also are present in substantial numbers in Kracheh and
Stoeng Treng provinces (see fig. 7). Their total population in 1969 was
estimated at 90,000 persons. In 1971 the number of Khmer Loeu was estimated
variously between 40,000 and 100,000 persons. Population figures were
unavailable in 1987, but the total probably was nearly 100,000 persons.
Most Khmer Loeu live in scattered temporary villages that have only a few
hundred inhabitants. These villages usually are governed by a council of local
elders or by a village headman.
The Khmer Loeu cultivate a wide variety of plants, but the main crop is
dry or upland rice grown by the slash-and-burn method. Hunting, fishing, and
gathering supplement the cultivated vegetable foods in the Khmer Loeu diet.
Houses vary from huge multifamily longhouses to small single-family
structures. They may be built close to the ground or on stilts.
During the period of the French Protectorate, the French did not
interfere in the affairs of the Khmer Loeu (see The French Protectorate, ch.
1). Reportedly, French army commanders considered the Khmer Loeu as an
excellent source of personnel for army outposts, and they recruited large
numbers to serve with the French forces. Many Khmer Loeu continued this
tradition by enlisting in the Cambodian army.
In the 1960s, the Cambodian government carried out a broad civic action
program--for which the army had responsibility--among the Khmer Loeu in Mondol
Kiri, Rotanokiri, Stoeng Treng, and Kaoh Kong provinces. The goals of this
program were to educate the Khmer Loeu, to teach them Khmer, and eventually to
assimilate them into the mainstream of Cambodian society. There was some
effort at resettlement; in other cases, civil servants went out to live with
individual Khmer Loeu groups to teach their members Khmer ways. Schools were
provided for some Khmer Loeu communities, and in each large village a resident
government representative disseminated information and encouraged the Khmer
Loeu to learn the lowland Khmer way of life. Civil servants sent to work among
the Khmer Loeu often viewed the assignment as a kind of punishment.
In the late 1960s, an estimated 5,000 Khmer Loeu in eastern Cambodia rose
in rebellion against the government and demanded self-determination and
independence. The government press reported that local leaders loyal to the
government had been assassinated. Following the rebellion, the hill people's
widespread resentment of ethnic Khmer settlers cau