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Proper name: Romam.
Population: 286
people.
Language: The Romam
language belongs to Mon-Khmer group (of the Austroasiatic
language family). Romam language is strongly influenced by
the Khmer language and is close to languages spoken by
some groups of the Sedang. Nowadays, the Romam speak the
languages of other ethnic groups, as well as Vietnamese.
History: Elders say
that the Romam have been living in this area for a long
time. In the early 20th century, the population of this
ethnic group was quite dense, distributed in 12 villages
in which they live together with the Raglai. Today, Romam
people live together in one village.
Production activities:
The Romam live mainly from cultivation on swidden fields.
Sticky rice is grown as the main staple, mixed with
ordinary rice, maize and corn. In preparing the land for
planting, people use a knife to slash the vegetation, the
axe to cut the trees, and then light fires to burn and
clear the land. When spreading seeds they use two
sharpened sticks to dig holes and a tube to hold the
seeds. They use their hands to pluck rice off the rice
ears. Hunting and gathering also play an important role in
their economic life.
Fish catching in the streams
is done by hand or by using baskets and cylindrical bamboo
fish pots; poisonous leaves also prove very efficient for
catching fish. Among the family's part-time jobs, those of
cotton planting and weaving are the most well-developed.
Formerly, the Romam wove enough cloth to meet the needs of
the whole family. In addition, the Romam also barter their
woven goods for oil, salt and steel tools that they do not
produce themselves.
Diet: Today, the
custom of eating by hands is still prevalent. The Romam
enjoy eating sticky rice which is cooked in a bamboo tube.
Soup and chili-salt are also popular. They take water from
underground locations and store it in dried gourds for
drinking without boiling. On Tet holidays and festivals,
the Romam drink pipe wine made from rice, corn and manioc.
Clothing: According
to traditional customs, the Romam men wear loincloths,
with the front flap hanging over their knees and back flap
falling down to their calves. Women wear skirts, and some
wear shirts with short sleeves. Both the skirt and
loincloth are made from un-dyed coarse white hand-spun
cotton. Women like wearing earrings made of ivory, bamboo
or wood. According to the old custom, young people have
four to six of their upper teeth filed.
Housing: The
traditional Romam village is built in a certain
arrangement. They live in long-houses on stilts which are
built adjacent to or surround the communal house.. All the
main doors of the house must face the communal house,
There is a public space between the communal house and
those of the villagers. Surrounding each Romam village is
a protective fence. One house has many kitchens. A couple
lives in one room, which has a partition to separate it
from the other rooms and a separate kitchen. The central
part of the house serves as a reception area for guests.
In Le village, Mo Rai commune, Sa Thay district, Kon Turn
province, each household lives in a large house, with wood
partitions and a metal roof, built using government funds.
Transportation: The
Romam transport goods using a basket with shoulder straps.
The basket is decorated with blackened bamboo motifs.
Romam men use a separate basket for carrying hunting tools
and tools for cultivating swidden fields. When they go to
festivals, Romam women use a particular basket for
carrying their clothing, shirts, and jewellery.
Social organization:
The head of a Romam village is an old chief who is the
eldest; he is elected by the villagers. Traditionally, a
village is a closely-related community linked together by
mutual obligations and benefits. Barter trade and
marriages provide the Romam with relationships with other
neighboring villages and ethnic groups. Romam social
relationships are still affected by a long-standing
matriarchal system, though nowadays it is making a quick
transition to a patriarchal system.
