Carrying rice in the funeral of the M'nong people

The M'nong people's funeral baskets are woven smaller than other types of baskets, with a height of 17 - 27 cm, woven diagonally using the double-layer weaving technique, creating a round cylindrical shape, the square bottom is made from two bamboo sticks crossed in an X shape, the mouth of the waistband is made of curved bamboo and is tightly fixed with rattan. The two straps are woven from rattan and threaded from the bottom up to the inside of the mouth.

The M'nong people's funeral basket is displayed at the Dak Lak Museum.

Almost every M'nong family in Lak district has this basket and it is only used when there is a funeral in the village. The basket is used by villagers to carry rice to contribute to the family of a deceased person, usually each family will contribute a small basket of rice.

According to elder Do Khai (in Drung village, Yang Tao commune, Lak district), according to the custom of the M'nong people, whenever a family in the village has a death, the whole village comes to express condolences and help the family take care of the funeral. In response to the affection of the villagers, the family of the deceased organizes to cook rice for the relatives to eat during the days they stay to help with the work. Due to the large number of people, this rice contribution is to share the difficulties with the family of the deceased.

The basket collection is displayed at Dak Lak Museum.

It can be said that, in addition to being used in daily labor, the basket has also become a beautiful feature in the cultural life of the M'nong people, demonstrating the solidarity and sharing among members of the village community.

To preserve and introduce the unique cultural features as well as the conveniences of the basket in the daily life and work of ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands, Dak Lak Museum has collected and is preserving a collection of more than 100 baskets of the Ede, M'nong, J'rai, etc., of which the basket for collecting rice for funerals of the M'nong in Lak district is a unique artifact.

Hieu Lam

Source: https://baodaklak.vn/van-hoa-du-lich-van-hoc-nghe-thuat/202503/gui-gop-gao-trong-tang-ma-cua-nguoi-mnong-c270f01/