Leaning on the mountain, forming brotherhood...

The mountainous districts of Quang Nam are all different in climate and soil. The heterogeneity in natural characteristics creates differences in real life and in behavioral culture. Through traditional activities, singing, village festivals or customs, there are signs that the custom of sworn brothers has existed for a long time.

Lean on each other

From the activity of singing and exchanging feelings between young men and women, the need to live together arose. Listen to the song of a Ca Dong girl who got married far away: I am from this region and must go to find a husband in another place.../ I return to live in a strange land/ Turning back, there are no brothers/ No relatives or neighbors/ While in pain, there is no one to look after me...
It is also because of the need to depend on each other to survive that ethnic minorities in the Truong Son mountains often have the custom of forming friendships. There are many different types of friendships.

First of all, brotherhood is between people of the same ethnicity, living in the same village. This type of brotherhood is always between people who are not relatives, completely unrelated by blood.

The second is twinning between this group of people and the same ethnic group; or between people of different ethnicities but living close to each other geographically (same sub-region, same mountain, stream, forest). This twinning between people of different ethnicities usually only happens when harsh nature causes disaster or when they are invaded and exploited by outsiders...

The Co Tu people - the most populous ethnic group among the ethnic minorities in Quang Nam, have many good customs and practices. The custom of "Trvin" - rotating labor in slash-and-burn farming, shows the spirit of mutual support and assistance in production, internal solidarity, and collective spirit.

The Co Tu people have a “village rice field” to help poor families. This rice field is made by the young men in the village who join hands to make it. When the harvest season comes, the rice is transferred to the village’s common granary to provide food for single-parent, sick, and infirm families who cannot clear the fields to support their families.

The ethnic groups in the mountainous region of Quang Nam all attach great importance to brotherhood. The agreement is usually made after a solemn ceremony, witnessed by gods and related members.

Humanistic practices

The festival of brotherhood has existed for a long time, making two strangers become close friends, leaving behind feelings for their children and grandchildren. Generations consider each other as brothers and sisters, helping each other in times of difficulty or need, regardless of merit or debt.

Descendants of both sides must not harm each other, if conflicts arise, the gods will punish them.
The Co Tu people also have the custom of forming friendships between villages, between two families or two different clans. The “Prônggooch Ceremony” of the Co Tu people is a ceremony of swearing in and becoming brothers - a long-standing traditional festival, preserved by the Co Tu people.

The oath-taking ceremony comes from the need to become close friends, and sometimes to reconcile the custom of returning heads, conflicts in labor production, or to resolve disputes over land, fields, rivers, when having to live next to each other geographically.

According to the villagers, without this ceremony, people would feel afraid every time they entered another village and vice versa. Usually, only the big villages would organize the ceremony; thanks to that, the small villages would automatically follow suit and live well together.

The ceremony of brotherhood is called Prôngooch by the Cơ Tu people, which means Prơliêm - to make the relationship better, Prơ âm - to invite each other to drink wine to maintain a close and affectionate relationship. From that meaning, this ceremony of brotherhood creates humanity in the relationship between villages (Vel) and villages, between this ethnic community and other ethnic communities, expressing the spirit of solidarity, attachment, and working together to live.

During the ceremony to worship the gods (Yang), when performing the oath of brotherhood, the shaman stands solemnly facing the east to receive the rays of light from the sun to pass on to the sworn brothers.

When the gong sound ended, the shaman prayed with the following meaning: “Oh Gods of heaven, Gods of earth, Gods of mountains, Gods of rivers, Gods of the east, Gods of the west, please come here to witness the brotherhood ceremony of… (names of the two sworn brothers), the two sides have been truly kind to each other, today we hold a ceremony to inform the Gods, to our ancestors, from now until the end of our lives, we will forever be brothers, happy and sad together, oh Gods!”.

The sworn brothers will eat sticky rice, eggs and bananas together to express their loyalty to each other, considering each other as family. The men and women in the village will sing songs to celebrate the sworn brothers. The sworn brothers between the ethnic groups in the mountainous regions are also often depicted in folk tales.

The spirit of community cohesion is a cultural value that reflects the humane lifestyle of the ethnic minorities in the mountainous areas of Quang Nam. This nurtures the source of ethnic culture and is a positive factor that brings stability and peace to the village. This spirit will certainly be promoted in life today and in the future!

Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/tua-nui-ket-tinh-anh-em-3145695.html