The book "Ethnic minority clans in A Luoi, Hue city" (Thuan Hoa Publishing House)

Going deep into each page of the book, the stories about the origins of the clans, including knowledge about history, beliefs, spiritual life, and lifestyle of the Ta Oi, Pa Co, Co Tu people, etc., have captivated readers. Following each story are surprises and interesting things like a bridge connecting the past with the present, which seemed to only exist in the memories of the elderly, to the younger generation and those who care.

It is difficult to tell all those stories, but we can find the "common denominator" about the portrait of the identity of the ethnic groups in A Luoi. For example, the Ra Pat family of the Ta Oi people with the story of abstinence. In the past, there was a young man who went to the forest to visit his traps and accidentally passed by a place with many A Pat trees. When he returned home, his whole body was allergic, itchy, and had aching pains. This young man then asked the village elder and was explained that the cause was the A Pat tree. From then on, the young man swore that he would never set foot in the forest with A Pat trees, and would never look at the A Pat tree again. And to remember and remind his relatives and descendants, the young man took A Pat as his last name and called himself Ra Pat. This family abstains from touching the A Pat tree.

Then we will also encounter the story of human love and mutual support when talking about the A Dier family of the Pa Co people. The story goes that once upon a time, there was a diligent and kind Kinh boy who was orphaned and had no relatives. One day, the boy went to sell rattan and met the men of the A Deeng family - a Pa Co man who went down to the lowlands to sell rattan. Seeing that the Pa Co people were gentle, honest, and lovable, the boy asked to follow them to the village as an adopted son. Sympathizing with the boy's fate, the A Deeng people agreed to let him follow them. According to custom, although he was accepted as an adopted son, because he was from a different land, he had to change his family name. Therefore, the head of the A Deeng family gave the boy a new family name, A Dier, to distinguish him. The A Deeng family also gave this boy their daughter to marry. Later, there was a family lineage swap, so the descendants of the two families did not marry each other.

From fieldwork, studying contemporary characters, studying historical documents, the authors of the book have provided many evidences and explanations with one surprise after another. Going deep into each family line of the Ta Oi people, we will encounter stories about the legends, the origin of names with totem beliefs related to animals, plants and things, events such as dogs, squirrels, bees, wild boars, birds, lizards, tree roots, ươi fruit, strawberry fruit... In addition, there are also some legends about the origin of totems as place names, reflecting states of activity, psychology, and emotions.

As for the Pa Ko clan stories, they have their own unique features, with about 30 original and branch clans. Most of them reflect the population size, names, and especially stories about the origin of totems and taboos. For example, the A Deeng clan worships the A Deeng tree, thanks to which they can live; the Kate clan avoids laziness, reminding people to be diligent in life...

Meanwhile, the Co Tu ethnic group currently has about 15 clans. Among them, the legends, origins of totems and names have been collected, including: A Rel, A Moong, A Rat, Gơ Ning, Rieyh, Pâl Loong, Ra Pat, A Vô/A Vọ, Pe Hôih. The Co Tu clans in A Luoi are originally communities that migrated from the mountainous region of Quang Nam (now Da Nang) a long time ago, so they have retained many characteristics of names associated with taboos about animals, plants and things such as the ape (A Vo), the monkey (A Va), the golden crab (A Ting), the dog (Zơ Râm), the A Lăng tree (A Lăng)... The stories about the Co Tu clans in A Luoi mainly explain the origin, the legend of the birth of totems, names and the need to comply with religious taboos and abstinences regarding totems.

Each story is like an important piece of a puzzle that creates a rich portrait of each ethnic group, helping not only future generations but also readers better understand customs, beliefs and lifestyles. It also contains moral lessons about the relationship between people and people, people and nature, humane behavior in the community, and life experiences passed down from generation to generation.

The team that made the book are experts from the Central Institute of Culture, Arts, Sports and Tourism in collaboration with the Department of Culture, Science and Information of A Luoi (formerly). The work proves that the clans and cultural traditions of the Ta Oi, Pa Co, Co Tu... ethnic groups play an important role in the socio -economic development of A Luoi, playing a key role in creating the internal strength of the village community through the role of clan leaders, village elders and prestigious people.

The book also points out the impact of many subjective and objective factors, which have led to the phenomenon of changing surnames, creating significant changes in the clan system of the Ta Oi, Pa Co, Co Tu people... The current process of transforming traditional clans in A Luoi is taking place in many trends and is quite complicated, leading to many difficulties and problems in administrative procedures in the process of working, studying, and policies of the people.

Nhat Minh

Source: https://huengaynay.vn/van-hoa-nghe-thuat/chuyen-ve-dong-ho-cac-dan-toc-oa-luoi-160638.html