Xtieng ethnic group
Customs and habits
The Xtieng live a sedentary
lifestyle. Each family builds its own house. Each village is led by an elderly
man who must be experienced in the affairs of the community, dynamic, and
trusted by the villagers. The Xtieng can marry outside their lineage. After the
wedding, the bride comes to live in her husband's house. The Xtieng believe in
animism and the mystical powers of thunder, lightning bolts, the heavens, and
the earth. The Xtieng calculate their age according to the number of harvests
that they have gathered.
Culture
The Xtieng language belongs to the
Mon-Khmer Group. The Xtieng enjoy music and popular musical instruments, such
as the six-patterned gong set. These gongs are made of bamboo panpipes.
Costumes
Xtieng women wear skirts and the men wear
loincloths. In winter, they cover themselves in blankets. The women wear their
hair long and tie it in a bun at the back of their heads. They usually wear
ivory earrings pierced into their earlobes, or tattoo their faces and body with
simple motifs.
Economy
The Xtieng cultivate rice in
submerged fields and have used oxen and buffaloes as draught animals for a long
time.
