The roads leading to the villages of the Central Highlands have always held a special fascination for me. Perhaps that urge stems from the sacredness and mystery of the vast forests, from the whispering, poignant voices of generations of ancestors, echoing the names of the land and the villages…
A teacher and her students from the Co Ho ethnic minority kindergarten (Dam Rong district, Lam Dong province ).On a late autumn day, we returned to Dung K'Noh. This is the northernmost commune of Lac Duong district and Lam Dong province. Standing in the heart of this area, I felt a sense of disorientation and uncertainty, surrounded by houses perched precariously on the slopes and the vast, deep green of the old-growth forest. Nearly 20 years ago, before the Eastern Truong Son Road was built, the Cil people (a branch of the ethnic group) lived there.
The Cơ Ho people live here, isolated from the outside world . They know how to rely on the forest, live in harmony with it, and bow before its sacredness and mystery. No one in the community knows when their ancestors first arrived in Đưng K'Nơh, but everyone can enthusiastically tell the story of their village and homeland. Some believe that Đưng K'Nơh means a slope next to a high plain. Others say that their ancestors named the village "Đưng Kơnrơh," meaning "sacred, legendary plain."
Where does the Liêng Lơhìr stream flow? Mrs. K'Mai doesn't know, and neither do many of the children. Rơ Ông Ha Tin, a former student of Tay Nguyen University, put it figuratively: "Every drop of water here flows into the Krông Nô River, and then it flows into the Mekong River." This prompted us to immediately follow the Eastern Trường Sơn trail, nearly 30 km, to the banks of the Krông Nô River. I knew this river originated in the Klong Klăn region (the python in the pool of water), where the three provinces of Lâm Đồng, Khánh Hòa, and Đắk Lắk meet. It has meandered through countless rapids, high mountains, and deep ravines to now appear before us in the old Đạ Long village. Here, the river becomes gentle, flowing slowly through the poetic old forest. The whole space is quiet. Suddenly, we spotted a large bird spreading its wings across the Krông Nô River, heading towards the peak of Chư Yang Sin mountain on the Đắk Lắk side. The Cil man who guided me explained that it was an eagle, a rare bird species still surviving in the Central Highlands. As for me, I wanted to shout loudly: Oh Yang Ndu, oh Yang Mat Tongai, oh Goddess of the Sun, oh Yang Bre, Yang Bonom, please send the soul and vitality of the Central Highlands into the Mekong River for all eternity!
Returning home in the late afternoon, hearing the church bells slowly chime in the tranquil space, I suddenly longed to hear the sound of a Wă rò năc or Pep rơjun gong echoing in the night.
Leaving this land, I wish that in the near future, it will become an attractive destination for tourists from all over the world. The nearly 60 km winding Da Lat-Dung K'Noh road, nestled amidst the ancient forests of Bidoup-Nui Ba National Park, will lead them to the Dung K'Noh-Da Long (Dam Rong) intersection to bathe in hot springs, then cross the Krong No river to reach the Lak Lake tourist area before visiting Buon Ma Thuot city; the Eastern Truong Son road from Dung K'Noh through Krong Bong to M'Drak leads to the land of the Ba Na people in Krong Pa, Ayun Pa and Kbang, the homeland of the hero Nup…
★★★
The following day, we traveled 30 km through the forest to reach Da Long, Da Tong, and Da M'Rong in Dam Rong district. This area is separated from the Lang Biang plateau by the Bonom Lombur mountain range (nearly 2,000m high), also known as the slippery mountain, because in the past, people on both sides traveled along a very slippery mountain trail during the rainy season. This was the settlement area of a small group of Mnong people before 1945. Between 1946 and 1948, a large number of Mnong people fled from the French in Dak Lak, crossing the Krong No River to settle in the Dam Roong valley (pronounced Dam Ron or Dam Rong by the Kinh people). After 1960, many Cil people from the headwaters of the Da Dodong, Da Nhim, and Krong No rivers gathered there and have settled there to this day. Therefore, in Dam Rong, there is intermarriage and cultural exchange between the Mnong and Co Ho Cil cultures.
Whenever I think of Dam Rong, I'm always reminded of the Dam San epic of the Ede people. In the vocabulary of the Mnong and many other ethnic groups, "Dam" (pronounced "dam" or "dam") refers to a strong, robust, wealthy, and noble young man. "Roong" in the Mnong, Co Ho, and Ma languages means to nurture or care for. So, "Dam Roong" is understood as a nurturing young man. According to the elders in the Dam Roong region, in the old days, the people here were starving and were taken in by a young man from the Dam class, who gave them food and clothing. To remember his kindness, the Mnong people in this area named their village Dam Roong. The name of Dam Rong district may be a phonetic variation of "Dam Roong," but the name Dam Rong no longer carries the meaning of remembering the kindness of the ancient Mnong people…
★★★
During this trip, we also visited Dinh Van (Lam Ha). This is the long-standing home of the Co Ho Cil people, with villages such as Bo Lieng, Sdieng Nach, Rodong Sre, and Brong Ret. The residents of these villages are mostly relatives, creating a close-knit community. The entire area of these villages is called Ding Val by the Cil people. The origin of this name is unknown, and the locals offer various interpretations. In the Cil language, "ding" means tube, or bamboo tube, and "val" means together or shared. Some elderly people in Brong Ret village said that in the past, the villages in the Ding Val region all held festivals together. They used bamboo tubes to create a type of instrument called a "ding gle" or "ding kliă" to play music for prayers to the gods and folk songs of their ethnic group. Therefore, they believe that Ding Val means sharing the sound of bamboo tubes during the festival season.
However, the elders in the Rơdông Srê village believe that the name Ding Val refers to the fact that the Cil people in this area are all related, like sharing the same bamboo tube or the same bamboo tree. Also in this village, some people believe that the place name Đinh Văn originated from the name Ding Băng (using bamboo tubes as tools to block streams or waterways to catch fish, similar to how the Vietnamese use them). Thus, Đinh Văn may be a Vietnamese adaptation of the Cil word Ding Val. Although Đinh Văn has become an administrative place name of Lâm Hà district, the indigenous people here still call it Ding Val because the sound of this traditional place name is deeply ingrained in their aspirations and way of life.
Returning to Nam Ban along the upper Cam Ly River, the question arises: who named this vast area Nam Ban? Those from Hanoi who arrived earliest say the name already existed when they came. Recently, Mr. Ha Hiep from Hang Hot hamlet (Me Linh commune) stated that his old hometown was Nhar Mbar hamlet, near the area of the current Nam Ban Hospital. Back then (around 1968), the Liberation Army soldiers pronounced Nhar Mbar as Nam Ban, as it is now. In the Cil language, Nhar Mbar means sticky rice leaf, so the hamlet is called sticky rice leaf hamlet. The name of the hamlet from those days still lives on in the memories of the people of the mountains and forests…
Returning to Da Lat, we carried with us the humble demeanor of the Central Highlands people, and the lingering haunting memories of the whispered messages, sometimes spoken aloud, from the names of the lands and villages passed down by our ancestors.
Source: https://baodaknong.vn/tieng-vong-ngan-xua-tu-ten-dat-ten-buon-232432.html
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