GIE-TRIENG ETHNIC GROUP

Name of Ethnic Group: Gie Trieng (Dgieh, Tareh, Giang Ray, Pin, Trieng, Treng, Ta-Lieng, Ve, La-Ve, and Bnoong).

Population: About 27,000 people.

Locality: Kon Tum Province and the mountainous areas of Quang Nam-Da Nang.

Customs and Habits:The Gie Trieng live in long houses built on stilts. Houses in the village are arranged in a circle around the Rong (communal house). Young woman decide when they will marry according to their own initiative.

The Gie Trieng believe that all beings have a "soul" and a "spirit". Therefore ritual ceremonies and the watching of good and bad omens have prevailed. The sacrifice of buffaloes is a common ritual ceremony.

Culture: The Gie Trieng language belongs to the Mon-Khmer Group.

Costumes: Men usually wear loincloths. Women wear skirts long enough to cover their chests and some have adopted to wearing a bra sewn into their skirts.

Economy: The Gie Trieng live mainly on the cultivation of the land, hunting, fishing, and gathering.