E De people

Ê Đê
Total population
	270,348 (1999 est.)
Regions with significant populations
	Vietnam
Languages
	E De, Vietnamese
Religion
	Christianity

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The E De (also Ê Đê, Rhade, or Rade) are an ethnic group of the Hill Cham agglomeration of southern Vietnam (population 270,348 in 1999).

[edit] Language

An E De longhouse

The E De language is a member of the Chamic group of the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family. It is related to the Cham language of central Vietnam, and the Malayo-Polynesian languages of Indonesia, Malaysia, Madagascar and the Philippines. They have a writing system developed on the basis of the Latin script in the 1920s.

A kind of bamboo bag, created by mythological character Y Rit and has a form of pơ lang flower's sepal

[edit] Literature

[edit] Epic

Epics (E De language: klei khan), such as Klei khan Y Dam San, H'Bia Mlin, Dam Kteh Mlan, Mdrong Dam, etc. are told by epic tellers (E De language: po khan) next to the fire, through the night.

[edit] Music

Ede music is very deversifying and playing music is the way that Ede people communicate to the God (Ede language: yang) and to other people.

[edit] Musical instrument

The Đinh vuốt, a vertical flute used by the E De people

Gong: Ede gongs is a part of World's intangible heritage "Space of Gong culture in the Central Highlands of Vietnam". There are some kinds of a set of gong. Knah gong set comprise six suspended gongs :knah, hlinang or knah hliang, mdu khơk or knah khơk, hluê khơk or mong, hluê hliang, hluê khơk điêt or k'khiêt, knah di, and the largest one is ching sar; as well as two bossed gongs: mđũ and ana (there is also h'gor drum). The others are: chinh k'ram, đinh tút.
Flute (Ede language: đing): đing năm, ky pah, đing tak ta (or đing buốt klé), đing buốt tút, đing buốt trok, đing rinh, đing téc.
String instrument: brố, goong.
Others: chinh đing aráp,gông kram, đing pah, đing ktuk, đing pâng, kni.

[edit] Style of music

Kư- ứt: a kind of telling the epic accompanied with đing buốt trok.

Aray: a kind of love songs accompanied with đing năm.

[edit] Notable E De people

Linh Nga Niê Kđăm, singer and musical researcher
Y Moan, popular singer

[edit] Architecture

A typical house of E De people is the longhouse made of bamboo and wood. The longhouse's length is measured by the number of collar beams (E De language: de). Once a girl living in the house gets married, the house is lengthened one compartment (E De society is matriachal and men live in their wives'houses). The orientation of building is North-South. The longhouse's space is divided into two parts: Gah part's area makes up 1/3- 2/3 the total area is considered as the living room and the other part Ok includes bedrooms. There are two doors: the front door is for men, the back door is for women and two stairs: male stair and female stair.

A longhouse is usually 100m long for 3-9 nuclear families living. Therefore, the longhouse is described like this: "The house is as long as the gong's echo".

E De long house	A stair	A decorated girder	A column with images of stars, crescent moon, and breasts
Images of tortoise, iguana, wine jar, tobacco pipe in a column	Bamboo wall and floor and a wood bench in the long house	A column with images of rhino horns, a hag head, and a ding nam.	A ding nam is hang on the wall
Jars of wine