Free in the Forest: Ethnohistory of the Vietnamese central Highlands, 1954-1976

370 Pages·1982·19.847 MB·English

by  Gerald Cannon Hickey

Free"
I
the
In
fir&
Etllwolristory of the
Vietnamese Cez trul H<qhla~d~,
..
1954-1976
C;ERA1.11 CANNUN HICKEY
Scattcrcd through thc highlands of thc So-
cialist Itcpublic of Victnam arc divcrslic cth-
nic ppup that numbcr khvttq~3 W).fMM)
and onr: nlilliw~p coplc. T~Lh-icgh landcrs
and thcir ant-mtors urhv scttl~rlt his crucial
arL2 arc thc subjects uf Gcrald Hickey's
conlpnh~msivca nd faxirlating rn~dl?I .l ickcy
trams thc cthnohistory of thr. ccrltral high-
hnds, wing svurccs that cncompass archc-
ological data. Khtllrr and Virt~~tn;lmcsacn -
nals, French administracivc and ~nilitary
reports. and his own personal obscrvatio~i.i-
klc. dismvcrs that. dcspltc tlicir vari~ulc ul-
tural backgrounds. thc highla~ldcrs sharc
many cotnnlon traditions and value; they
arc villagc- and familydric~~tcpdw pk who
earn thrir livelihood, practicc thcir ntu:~lb c-
lids. and form thcir political systcl~~ins a
similar rna1lnc.r.
Frcr thr h~rejtt,h c sr-c-vnd vt>lumco f this
twwvvlumc study. traccu; thc history of
thcsc plwplc fmnl 19-54 to 1976. Hickcy rr.-
latcs that with thc C~ncvaA g~c't'nic-ntso i-
1954 the highlandcrs toutid thcillsclvcs
~II-
dcr Vi~-tnamcscr ule, classifi~da s one of sc\?-
craI "L-thnicm itioritics" \-ho would haw tu
bc rc~roupcda nd rcslztlcd in orclcr to bc-
comc assimihttd. Enragcd l~ighla~Iltda dcrr;.
in n-taliation, fvr~llcda political nlovcnlcnt
- thc first timc that their r-thno~~atiorlal~sm
had takcn this fonn.
By thc early 1CMA)r; rnlc~v~Crol tll~r~uniins-t
surgcnq- had ushcrcd in a pcriod ofhighlalid
militancy against rhc. Communist ruhcls.
Sooil a h ,t hc Vicrtiat~Wl ar s\v~-ptt hrough
thc mountain country. bringing devastation
in its wdkc. Highland Icadcrs rallicd to
blstcr thrir thrcatcncd social and cuu~~oriiic
programs and to dcvisc rclidctTvrts frjr thc
FREE IN TI IE FOREST
F R E E I N THE F O R E S T
Ethnohistory of the Vietnamese
Central Hkhlands 1954- 19 76
Gerald Cannon Hickey
I'u~hl~hcwdi th rhc g<n~rrlu.si :~ixt~i~,i*l-i thl- l3tl1.1rt Ftrlltldaticln.
Cop)=rnght (I 1 !)U2 hy Yalc Uniir-t.rGty .
All riKlim rcw-rv~.cl.
This IICXIn~rl ar; 11t?th c rcyrtduccd. in x\-tiulc
or in 11.lR. in1 JII>= fijrnu (~C~Lt~haIt IL~
copyins p-rrn~trcdb >=S ~riolir1 07 aricl I !M
of thc U.5. Elr~~~-rLia~wh dtil il TYII-~I by
mvi~.lh-crri br rllc pul~lir[-l nx%:. u-ithout
~vrittcltp crrnis<1,3n tiurn th r?ublislicrr.
Ih~i~1wl[y1k lly 1 iarris
and wt In Mu~lt>phoroU cr~tbot yp1 1);
Arco Tradr- T>p~.*-ttiu#L td.. H~31ti:l ions.
Priiruvl ill thl- Unutrd Stntcr. t>t Anlcrir.~h ?
Va~l-Balli~Iu' n-s. Uinighai~in~Ni.~.Y .
Library of hgrcss Cataloging in Publication Data
Hlckcy. Eiralrl C:.IIIIIOII. I P.15-
Free in thc hr~st-
CONTENTS
Illustrations vii
1X
.
..
Xlll
1 Timc hctwc.cn the Wars 1
l>ip~~C'so n.wlidt~tior~i fI' ttiit irtii ,4iifhority it1 SC1It1Ii L'ictr1~111- 1-1 hr
Pdiry r$Assitrlilntian - S a ~;rZ -i~w~et~toi ~:Ynotr th I'iemctr a -
"S~~itwrui~Lokl~~ir~l ~ ~ pi~r~~~ IIiPH~ ~~lrti"tir ~dc
3 Thc FULI<O Movement
<3r[q:ttsO J drc FI :'LK 0 Mal~cra~t- ttT ~PlPcik ~rC t*t!firert~-p
Int~sr[ficnti(n~fntl re Conflict
4- Irlcursion of thc Vietnam War
F~!l.RC)-C;avernrtimt Nqo~iflfio- ~Tsh e Kiny tlfFirc irl 1966.
X~IiP.-L :l-k!O -Co~~t~rt~Nr~e~~eotriic~ ~tiot~s
5 Thc Tct 0tfc.nsivc and Changi~~Ggo vcmmmt Policius
TI~EPs rcution of Pliilippc Droriitl - T/IPSi qqc nt Kht Snn h md tire
7Pr U~FI-~ I'Smt-~ 'Pli-PiC t rt~crtrnrerri-H<qi~it~r~Rdetl*arti atts - 711r
Issue t$ Forced Rcl~cntiorr- I\'tw~ Politit-01 r)evelnpt11er1tsi n IIIP
H*irlattds - IJki~latrdL nrr. Ctbtrrts, Edt~~~tionntrd, t lre Etknic
i%lit~ori(ieCs o~~tici/
6 Wartime lnflucnces on Ethtionationalisrn
Expansion oJdi~IJ lqhlnnder Elite - Eratto~ricl r~rrov~rtiufil~tsn ot~th e
7 NLWT hreats to Survival
The 1972 Cnittmutrict Offmsive - Xeu~P olirict~lD ci~ellyirtents-
Percei1.t-d T$PCIS (lff i t-rbiridfs Ust-d it1 tirr I ligklnndc
8 Uctxvccn Zero and Infinity
T/ICCe t~sc-Firp* Rtsurptrc (!f FC'LRO mld the Foil c$Bm 3-It-
'ri~uor- Loss tftirr H[qlllundc and Collnpr~o f thp Tlli~rr
Goverrttt~enr- The Highlnnd~rsm d ~Cro ttrmunisr Rrdb - T/ic Etid
of tVny $L$e?
Appcndix A Highland l'opulation Figurcs
Appendix B Onr Hundred Highland Leaders: Ethnic Atfiliation,
Approximate Birth Date, and Rcligion
Appmdix C I'crccived Effcccs of Hcrbicidcs Uwd it> thc
Highlands
MAYS
1 I~ldochincseS tates
2 Ethnolinguistic Groups
3 Southcr~ll ortion of the Highlands
4 Northern Portion of the Highlands
5 Provinces of the Republic of Vietnam
6 Ban McT huot. 1968
7 I'rovinccs of thc Socialist Rcpublic of Victnam
CHARTS
1 Elite Kin Network in the Dak To-Kontum-Pleiku Area
2 Scgmcnt A of the Elitc Kin Network at Chro Kcu,
3 Scgmcnt B ofthc Elite Kin Nctwclrk at Chco Rrr,
4 Chru-Lat-Src Kin Nctwc~rk
5 RhadG Kin Group in thc. Ban M rT huot Area
A Notc on Bibliography
Index of Highlander Namcs
General Indcx
ILLUSTRATIONS
Unlcss otherwise indicated, photographs wcrc taken by thc author
The main room (tmx gall) (of a RhadC house in the vicinity of Ban
Mc Thuot
Stieng womcn fishing with hand-traps
A Khadi proprictrr-ss of clan land
A Jarai strategic hamlct near Plciku (1964)
The 1964 FULRO revolt: rckased Buon Sar Pa hostages arrive in
Ban Me Thuot
Y Bham in dress uniform at his forest hcadquartcrs (1965) (Photo-
graph ofthe Front I In$% de Lrittc des Races Opprirnlt-s [ FEL ROI )
FULRO flag-raising ceremony at thc forcst headquarters (1965); Y
Bham in the foreground (I'/ioro~rapho f the Frofit tinfit! de Ltitte des
Races Oppri~ttit-1s F L'LROI )
A Bru village (1965)
A Cua rcfwee in Tra Bung (1966)
Oi Anhot, the Kmg of Firc, at his village (1966)
Ksor Wol, assistant of the King of Firc (1966)
The eve of thc Tct Clffensivc: a group of Rhadi girls in traditional
dress wmt through Buon AleA inviting evcryone to celebrate at the
house of Y Wik Buon Ya, who was captured the following day and
later cxccutrd
vn...l Ill~urr~rri~~ru
Thr first afternoon of tlw Tct Offc'nsix~cr; c.inf;rwrnc'nts pour it~tcl
crntral Ban Me Thu~tin anticipation of rcncwed fighting
Clru leader Touprung Hinu, at Diun~(1 970)
Nay Luett at Dalat (late 197 1)
1)r. Pat Smith in her tcmpjrary hospital in Kr~ntun(i l'l~otob y B,rrbsrd
Cltdrk)
A Bahnar boy with fragment wounds at I'at Smith's hospltal (PI~t~to
by Barblrrrr Clrrck)
Sedang and Bahnar rcfugcc-s from Kontl~nla rrivc in l'lciku during
thu 1972 offcnsivc
Scdang and Bahnar rr.fugc.c-s on a co~lvoyfr om I'lciku ttl Ban Mc.
Thuot during thc 1972 offcnsivr
Young Bahnar, former soldiers, in Ktlnturn (1972) (I'l~otoh y Jot
Cdrri~r)
I Ialatlg villagers running to at1 c\~acuation hrlicoptcr during thc
sicgc of Hen 1 lct in August 1972 (Plt~ttb)y itfM Frt~t!jol)
Mnong fleeing fighting at Kicn Iluc, near Gia Nghia (December
19 73) (1'~1otu~ryolj-t I,Viiie IVorld Phottl.~)
PREFACE
Early it1 1963 I was approached by the RANI3 Curporatiorl about return-
ing to Vict~lamw ith the pr,ssibility of cc~ntitluingrc srarch on thc pt-oplc of
thc ccntral highlands. I was at the timc. near thc cnd of my temporary
appointmc~iti n thr. Southeast Asia Studies Program at Yalc Univcrsity,
atid therc wcrc othvr academic pr,ssibilities. I had crlmplctcd my portioti of
thc book Eth~licC rotrps of iWainlattd So*ikel~st Asin (thr coauthors were
Fmtlk Lc Bar andjclhn Musgravc.), and Yalc Univcrsity 1'rr.s~h ad acccptt*d
thc manuscript of Fillqe in ViPtnaln fix publication. Most of my cc~llcaguc-s
adviwd mc to rcmain at a university and pursuc an acadcnlic carryr. An
exception was Paul Mus, thc noted savant of Far Eastern civilizatio~w> ho
had bccn born in Victnam and who had taken an active political role in
trying to end the Indochina war through p-aucf'ul negotiations. Hc
thought such a decision should tx. bascd on whcthcr or rlot one chose to
participate in tllc cvt-nts c~hfi story, and he dr.scritxul to mr- somr of thc
cvclits arising out nf his own i~~vdvcmrnTth. c intctlt. I think, was to
illustrate thc clcmcnh ufdrama, frustration, and pcril that such a rolc might
hold. I shall ever grateful for his wisc words.
My intcrc3t in the people of the ccntral llighla~ldsw as first stimulated in
1953 whcn I was in I'aris on a fellowship to rcscarch thc vthrlcllogy of
h~dochlna'.I nhisi ntcrcst was hrighta~cdin 1956 whcn, as a mcmkr of thc
Michigan Statc University Victnam Advisory Group, I had the occasiorl to
visit thc highlatlds and hrg-in actual ficld rcscarch- I also bccamc acquainted
u=ith some of the youngcr highland lcadcrs and thcir rising spirit of
cthoonatio~lalisma, rc-ponsr to Saigon's attempts to integrate them into
the Victnamcw cultural sphcrc.. I sailed frum Saigotl in IJcccmbur 1959
with a strong desire to karn morc about the central highlands, its pcc~plr,
and its problcms.