TL;DR: The Ra Glai are one of Vietnam's 54 recognized ethnic groups, long settled in the mountains and valleys of south-central Vietnam, mainly in Ninh Thuận and Bình Thuận, with communities also in Phú Yên, Khánh Hoà, and Lâm Đồng. Their language belongs to the Malayo-Polynesian group of the Austronesian family, and bilingualism is now common. Their spiritual life centers on a world of deities, the spirits of the dead, and rituals tied to the farming cycle, with major festivals falling around January to February after the harvest.
Who are the Ra Glai and where do they live?
The Ra Glai are one of the 54 ethnic groups recognized in Vietnam, long settled in the south-central region. In the official list of Vietnam's ethnic groups, they are formally named Ra-glai, alongside other names such as O-rang, Glai, Ro-glai, Radlai, and Moi. Recorded local groups include the Rai (in Hàm Tân, Bình Thuận), the Hoang and La Oang (in Đức Trọng, Lâm Đồng), and the names Ra-clay (Rai) and Noong (La-oang).
They live in mountains and valleys at elevations of 500 to 1,000 meters, concentrated in Ninh Sơn district (Ninh Thuận), Bắc Bình district (Bình Thuận), and some areas of Phú Yên, Khánh Hoà, and Lâm Đồng. This terrain is fragmented and travel is difficult, placing them among Vietnam's ethnic minority and mountainous areas.
Population figures vary by survey. The April 1, 2019 survey of 53 ethnic minority groups counted 146,613 Ra Glai. Earlier, the 2009 population and housing census counted 122,245. Figures should always be cited with their year and source, since differences between surveys are normal.
Which language family does Ra Glai belong to?
Ra Glai belongs to the Malayo-Polynesian group of the Austronesian language family. This group is found on many islands and coastal areas of Southeast Asia, and its presence in south-central Vietnam is a notable feature of Vietnam's language map.
Through contact with neighboring peoples, bilingualism and multilingualism have emerged among the Ra Glai. The national language now plays an important role as the language of communication with neighboring communities, reflecting economic, marital, and administrative exchange across the region.
Note that formal documents and everyday usage may differ. The official list records Ra-glai, while Ra Glay or Ra Glai are common in speech. This is a spelling and transliteration difference, not two separate peoples.
What is farming and material life like for the Ra Glai?
Swidden farming dominates other economic activities. On the fields, people sow rice, corn, beans, gourds, and fruit trees. Fields are cleared with machetes or axes. People use short, pointed sticks to dibble seeds, small rakes to weed, and harvest rice by hand. Today they also grow wet rice.
Smithing and weaving are two fairly developed crafts. Livestock raising is common, with herds of buffalo, pigs, chickens, and ducks. Rice is processed in several ways: by milling, by foot-powered mortar, by water-powered mortar, and by hand-pounding mortar. Like other peoples of the Central Highlands, the Ra Glai commonly pound rice with a hand pestle.
As for housing, they once lived in stilt houses. Today, houses built on the ground are common. These are usually square, only about 12 to 14 square meters. A few are larger and rectangular. Joinery is very simple, mainly using forked branches and binding cord. Roofs are thatched with straw or palm leaves. Walls are covered with woven panels or plastered earth.
The main means of transport is the carrying basket, as among other peoples of the Trường Sơn range and the Central Highlands. The baskets are simply woven, without decorative patterns, and come in different sizes to suit each person's shoulders and each specific task.
As for food, morning and evening are the two main meals. Lunch is usually carried to the fields. Soup cooked with meat, fish, and vegetables is a favorite dish. Drinks include plain water kept in dried gourd shells and jar wine. Home-cut tobacco rolled in corn husk is widely used in households.
Traditional Ra Glai clothing is now hard to find. Today, men wear trousers and shirts, women wear skirts or trousers with a ba ba shirt. In the distant past, men went bare-chested and wore a simple loincloth with no decorative patterns. On traditional festival days, women wear a long dress whose upper part is pieced into alternating red and white squares.
How does Ra Glai social organization and the matrilineal system work?
Each village is home to several lineages. When necessary, a council of village elders forms based on the recognition of all village members. Each settlement has a head, the person credited with finding the land and founding the village. When several villages settle in one forested mountain area, there is a mountain owner alongside the village heads. A class of ritual specialists has also formed.
Importantly, all social relations among the Ra Glai, past and present, are governed by the matrilineal family system. This is clear in marriage and post-marital residence: after the wedding, residence with the wife's family remains common.
As for marriage, the Ra Glai respect young people's love before marriage. Weddings involve many steps and fairly complex procedures. The ceremony is held at both families: the bride's house first, then the groom's. The most important part is the ritual of spreading a mat for the bride and groom. They sit on this mat while the maternal uncles of both sides make offerings to ancestors and deities regarding the marriage. On this same mat, they share their first meal together before both families.
As for childbirth, before and after giving birth, Ra Glai women avoid certain foods, do not speak the names of certain animals, and avoid heavy work. The husband builds a small house at the forest edge for the birth. Women give birth sitting and handle the delivery themselves. In some places, an experienced woman assists. After giving birth, the mother carries the baby home and about seven days later resumes normal work. Today, women give birth at clinics with the help of midwives.
As for funerals, the dead are wrapped in cloth or old clothes and placed in a coffin made from a hollowed tree trunk or wrapped in bark, depending on the family's wealth. The dead are buried in the fields or forest, head facing west. When economically able, families hold the grave-abandonment ceremony and build a grave house. Around the grave house they plant bananas, sugarcane, pineapple, and taro. On the roof is a boat shape and figures of birds. The belongings of the dead are broken and placed around the house and inside the grave house.
What are Ra Glai worship customs?
The Ra Glai believe a world of deities surrounds them and exceeds their understanding. These deities can reduce harm or help them if offered sacrifices and prayers. The spirits of the dead are the supernatural force they fear most. People also believe animals have spirits. Therefore, rituals with sacrifices are held regularly each year to seek divine help.
These offerings involve ritual specialists. Sources note that they are gradually withdrawing from labor and treating ritual practice as a formal occupation. This describes an existing cultural and religious practice, not a claim about the efficacy of the rituals.
What are the main Ra Glai festivals and rituals of the year?
By the farming cycle, the Ra Glai hold rituals when choosing fields, clearing and burning fields, sowing, and harvesting. By the life cycle, there are ceremonies for childbirth, illness, marriage, and funerals.
The major rituals of the year cluster around January to February of the solar calendar, after the fields are harvested, including the harvest celebration, weddings, and the grave-abandonment ceremony. These are the Tet days of the people of this region. Thus the Ra Glai ritual system is closely tied to the swidden season, and the period after harvest is the peak of community life.
| Ritual group | Timing | Main content |
|---|---|---|
| Farming rituals | By the field cycle | Choosing fields, clearing and burning fields, sowing, harvesting |
| Life-cycle rituals | By the human life cycle | Childbirth, illness, marriage, funerals |
| Major annual festivals | Around January to February of the solar calendar | Harvest celebration, weddings, grave-abandonment ceremony |
| Grave-abandonment ceremony | When economically able | Building the grave house, planting around the grave, placing the dead's belongings |
What musical instruments and arts do the Ra Glai have?
The Ra Glai artistic repertoire includes folktales, myths, folk songs, proverbs, and folk verses expressing people's thoughts and feelings.
As for instruments, the gong is very common in the Central Highlands and central provinces. Ra Glai men and women, old and young, all enjoy playing and listening to gongs on festival nights. A full set of bronze gongs has 12 pieces, though 4, 6, 7, or 9 may be used. Gourd pipes, lip harps, and bamboo tube zithers are fairly common.
The lip harp is a traditional Ra Glai instrument, with parts made from different materials: aluminum, brass leaf, bamboo, strings, and beeswax. To play, the right hand holds the frame, the body is placed against the lips, and the left index finger plucks the tip of the reed.
Notably, the Ra Glai also use sounding stones assembled into sets commonly called lithophones, played in place of gongs. This shows the cross-cultural exchange of instruments in south-central Vietnam and the Central Highlands.
What should you keep in mind when learning about the Ra Glai?
First, distinguish the official name in the list of 54 ethnic groups from other names and local group names. Ra-glai is the official name, while O-rang, Glai, Ro-glai, Radlai, Moi, Rai, Hoang, and La Oang are other names or group names. These groups are not separate ethnic peoples.
Second, population figures must be tied to their survey year. The numbers 122,245 (2009) and 146,613 (2019) do not conflict; they reflect different points in time.
Third, many descriptions of customs in the sources are generalizations for the whole community, while reality may differ between local groups and villages. When reading ethnographic materials, treat them as observations within a certain scope, not as applying everywhere Ra Glai people live.
Fourth, practices such as offerings, childbirth taboos, and grave abandonment are cultural and religious practices. They should be understood within their specific cultural context, not judged by the standards of another culture.
