In the 1980s, the longhouse of the Ama Thuot chieftain still stood in Akǒ Siêr village (formerly Buon Ma Thuot city). The longhouse stretched from near the end of Hung Vuong street to the beginning of what is now Nguyen Tat Thanh street, containing valuable possessions, including a large, single-piece kpan chair, clearly marked as being made in 1840.
The first thing that catches the eye of visitors is the thatched roof (hlang) with its two pointed gables protruding over the front and back verandas. The roof is usually very thick, strong enough to withstand the continuous 6-month rainy season in the Central Highlands for decades. It's thatched by bringing large bundles of thatch onto the roof; the workers grasp handfuls, bend the ends, and tuck them into a system of bamboo poles tied across the width of the roof. Wherever there's a leak, they remove the thatch and re-apply it, creating a visually pleasing mix of old and new thatch on the roof. This method differs from the common practice of other Central Highlands ethnic groups where thatch is woven into individual panels and then laid. The entrances to the Ede longhouse are at both gable ends. The front door has two staircases, now often considered male and female staircases, each with 7 steps; the female staircase has two nipples and a crescent moon or turtle image, symbolizing matriarchal fertility, placed on the right, while the male staircase is on the left. The front staircase of the longhouse is usually reserved for men and guests. The women went up the stairs at the back of the house.
In one village, longhouses were built along the road leading to the waterfront; each house was oriented east-west to catch the sunlight.
An Ede or J'rai stilt house typically measures 25-50 meters in length. In these houses, the supporting structure consists of 8-12 large wooden beams (ana) running parallel along both sides of the house. Matching the beams (kmeh sang) are two long rafters (êyông sang) running the entire length of the house. The beams are joined together using mortise and tenon joints. The skill of the Tây Nguyên (Central Highlands) house builders lies in the fact that they don't use a single nail or wire; when necessary, they use rattan ropes in a decorative style.
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| Ede stilt houses in Tong Ju village (Ea Kao ward). |
The long, narrow house is divided into rooms for the daughters' families. A corridor running along the length of the house features small family fireplaces. From the back door, the main fireplace is on the left, and the grandparents' or parents' sleeping quarters are on the right. Next are the eldest daughter's bedroom, followed by the bedrooms of the other daughters. When a daughter gets married, an additional room is added to the house to provide the newlyweds with their own space. This is why the house continues to lengthen.
Horizontally, the house is divided into two main sections: the ding gar section, bounded from the kmeh pillar to the door, has a kpan chair on the left for the gong ensemble to sit and perform, and the master's (Jhưng) wooden bed is placed horizontally next to the fireplace. The guest's bed is placed against the wall on the right. The ding ok section is reserved exclusively for family activities; guests should not enter.
At the gable end of the main entrance, there is a fireplace reserved solely for receiving guests. When not in use, the embers are always kept glowing red, ready to be rekindled with just a blow when guests arrive.
When there is a family event, white or floral mats will be spread out in the ding gar area for male guests, while mats for women are placed next to the ding ok area.
The steps in front of the main entrance always have two low pillars, often carved in the shape of a copper pot or a basket, used as a place to tie up guests' elephants or horses. However, the beam at the gable end or the beam separating the ding gar and ding ok is carved with images of animals such as turtles, monitor lizards, squirrels, or crescent moons. The two kmeh pillars are also where artisans can freely showcase their skills, sometimes carving a large monitor lizard along the entire length of the pillar, or a turtle; or perhaps black and white drawings.
The Ede longhouses are usually built on low hills, so they are only about 1 meter above ground level; therefore, livestock are never raised under the floor. Chickens are raised in cages placed on the veranda or under the floor. This differs from the J'rai people, who share the same Austronesian language family. The J'rai, with their custom of choosing residences near rivers (Ayun Pa River, Ba River, Sa Thầy River, etc.), have house pillars that are usually taller than those of the Ede, almost precariously balanced on a system of small wooden posts.
A water source could be a riverbank, a stream, or a spring not too close or too far from the dwelling (far enough for the women to carry water in their dark gourds back to their longhouses daily without tiring their shoulders). The village or water source is usually named after the person who found the land and established the village (Pô pin ea, Pô elăn) and is passed down from generation to generation through the female line.
The traditional Ede longhouses have almost disappeared today because, over the years, there are no longer enough forests to provide wood for replacing damaged pillars or walls, and even thatch for roofing is no longer available. The roofs have gradually been replaced by tiles and then by corrugated iron. Later, they were replaced by brick houses. However, some villages still build stilt houses using durable materials, such as in Jun village (Lien Son Lak commune) and Drao village (Cu Mgar commune).
Fortunately, after 2005, the Central Highlands gong culture was recognized by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity. In many villages, people rebuilt stilt houses, such as in Akô Dhông village (Buôn Ma Thuột ward)... Although they no longer have the means to build longhouses as before, the architecture of the Êđê stilt house with its unique characteristics is still preserved...
The beauty of the Ede longhouse architecture proudly stands amidst the sunshine and winds of the plateau.
Source: https://baodaklak.vn/van-hoa-du-lich-van-hoc-nghe-thuat/202510/chuyen-chua-ke-ve-nha-dai-ede-d481805/
