The Ha Nhi People
Also
called U Ni and Xa U Ni, there are about 12,500 Ha Nhi, in the
provinces of Lai Chau and Lao Cai. Ha Nhi language belongs to
the Tibeto-Burman Group, while their culture is based on ancestor
worship.
Building road leading to the villages of the Ha Nhi in Muong
Te (Lai
Chau province).
They live on rice cultivation of burnt-over land or terraced
fields.
They are one of the groups who are highly skilled at building
terraced
fields on mountain slopes, digging canals and building small dams.
They use ploughs and harrows pulled by oxen and buffaloes to work
the
fields. The gardens are often close to their houses.
Animal husbandry is developed as well as the cloth weaving, and
basketry. Most of the Ha Nhi make their own clothes. Women's dress
varies depending on the region. The women in Lai Chau have colourful
and decorated dresses, while Lao Cai women wear only dark indigo.
Each Ha Nhi hamlet contains 60 households. The Ha Nhi consist
of many
family lineages. Each lineage comprises many branches. Every year,
at
Tet (New Year's Day), the people of the same lineage get together
to
listen to an elderly man speaking about their ancestors. Some
lineages
can recall their ancestors up to 40 generations in the past. The
children often take the name of their father or of an animal as
their
middle names. The young men and women are free to choose their
partners. Each marriage goes through two stages. In the first
stage,
the young man and women become husband and wife. The bride comes
to
live with her husband's family and take the family name of the
husband
according to custom of the Ha Nhi in Lai Chau province. The second
stage is organised when the couple get rich or have a child.
Funeral customs vary according to regions, but some common practices
are observed. When a person dies, the partition marking off the
bedroom of the deceased is dismantled, as well as the altar to
the
ancestors. The dead body is placed on a bed in the kitchen, and
auspicious hours and days must be chosen for burial. To determine
the
place of burial, an egg is tossed in the air and the grave dug
where
the egg hits the ground and breaks. There are no cemeteries. Around
the grave, stones are piled up to make a funeral house or a protective
fence.
The Ha Nhi possess many ancient tales and stories in long verses.
The
young men and women play their own dances according to rhythms
and
accompanied by musical instruments. The young couples used to
expose
their love by playing leaf panpipe, lip organ and vertical flute.
The
young girls like to play am ba, met du, tuy huy or nat xi (various
kinds of traditional flutes) when night falls. The young boys
like to
play la khu, a string zither. Besides, at the festivals, drums,
cymbals and castanets are performed. The Ha Nhi also have many
songs
such as lullabies, duet songs, wedding songs, mourning songs and
songs
reserved for new houses, receiving guests and welcoming Tet holidays.
Particularly, a wedding song of the Ha Nhi in Muong Te district
of Lai
Chau province is composed by 400 verses.
