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I
t is estimated that there are about 20,000 Chu Ru people
around the country, with most in Lam Dong province.
When spring comes and the mountainous region is burst-
ing with white coffee flowers the Chu Ru girls are excited
to start a new season of ‘husband catching’.
A Chu Ru girl and her family will choose a night to take wed-
ding presents to the chosen boy’s family and ask him to become
her husband. Traditionally, the presents include hand-made
scarfs, a buffalo or a cow. If the girl’s family can’t afford these,
they just bring three wide scarfs in white, black and red and a
pair of wedding rings (
srí
) which are made of silver. The mould
to make this srí is made from beeswax, clay and buffalo dung.
After the elders of the girl’s family express their daugh-
ter’s wish to marry the boy and offer the presents, the boy will
be called out to answer. If the boy accepts, he allows others to
put the wedding ring on his finger.
Accoring to Ya Ngon, an elderly man in Pro Ngoh vil-
lage, husband catching usually happens at night to avoid the
embarrassing situation for the girl’s family if the boy’s family
refuses. However, normally the ceremony goes smoothly be-
cause the couple are in love.
Once confirmed, the couple wear a white scarf and use
a sickle to drive ghosts and evil spirits away. They will walk
into a room after listening to the wise advice of parents
with the scarf over their head. The boy will be brought to
the girl’s house, then the couple go back to the boy’s house
the next afternoon. The girl will stay there for seven or eight
days to fulfil her daughter-in-law’s duties, such as farming
and tidying up the house until her parents come to take
them back.
A wedding party will be held at this time to invite the
villagers who come to drink
ruou can
(a traditional wine
CULTURAL WINDOW
timeout
12
A H’mong boy must ‘catch’ his wife, while a Thai boy has to ‘steal’ one, but
among the Chu Ru ethnic people it’s the girls who do the taking. Words by
Hong Nhung
The
PRICE
of
LOVE