The La Ha people in Muong La commune possess many unique traditional cultural features, reflected in their clothing, music, rituals, and cuisine. In recent years, Muong La commune has focused on raising people's awareness of the value of traditional culture and working together to preserve the cultural identity of the ethnic group.
We arrived at Pi Tay village, Muong La commune, where 42 out of 219 households of the La Ha ethnic group live. Our first impression was the traditional clothing, handcrafted by the women themselves. La Ha women typically wear silver-buttoned blouses, black skirts with blue waistbands and belts, embroidered headscarves, and their hair is styled in a bun on top of their heads after marriage, similar to Thai women. Men's clothing is simpler, consisting of short-sleeved shirts, loose-fitting trousers, and headscarves, all dyed with indigo. From a young age, girls are introduced to fabrics and colored threads by their grandmothers and mothers, learning to sew and embroider traditional clothing.
Women in Pi Tay village teach their children and grandchildren to embroider the piêu scarf.
Ms. Ca Thi Quyet, from Pi Tay village, said: "From a young age, I taught my children and grandchildren how to choose fabric and spin thread to embroider traditional ethnic costumes. My children and granddaughters all learned to embroider by the age of 12 and know how to sew traditional costumes for themselves and their families."
Women in Pi Tay village guide their granddaughters in wearing the piêu headscarf.
Leaving Pi Tay village, we arrived at Cha Lao village, where 76 out of 79 households are La Ha people. The village maintains a folk art troupe, which brings together talented individuals and serves as the "nucleus" for preserving and spreading ethnic identity. The Tang Bu dances, symbolizing fertility, and the lively A Sung Lung dances around the ceremonial pole and rice wine jars... all tell stories of labor, production, and harvests, conveying hopes for favorable weather and a prosperous village.
Rice wine is a distinctive drink deeply rooted in the traditional culture of the La Ha ethnic group.
Ms. Lo Thi Mai, from the Cha Lao village's performing arts group, shared: "The La Ha people associate traditional dances with their farming life. To preserve their identity, we regularly practice and perform at cultural events in the village and commune, and pass them on to our children and grandchildren, ensuring that this beautiful cultural tradition does not fade away."
A cultural performance by the La Ha people at the Pang A Festival.
The La Ha community lives in 7 villages of Muong La commune: Huoi Ban, Huoi Lieng, Huoi Hoc, Nong Quai, Pa Kim, Cha Lao, and Pi Tay, with 357 inhabitants. Implementing the policy of socio-economic development in ethnic minority areas, the commune has implemented many policies to preserve and promote traditional cultural values in a comprehensive and creative way. The commune government always pays attention to and supports the maintenance of core performing arts groups in the villages, effectively mobilizing social resources to organize traditional programs and festivals, most notably the restoration of the Xen Pang A festival. In particular, people in the villages have proactively opened La Ha language classes for their children of different age groups, usually held on weekends. In addition, the commune also organizes training courses on cultural preservation, creating a space for the La Ha people and other ethnic groups in the area to interact and learn from each other's experiences, thereby fostering pride and responsibility in preserving their ethnic cultural heritage.
The woman is wearing the traditional attire of the La Ha ethnic group.
Ms. Ca Thi Thuy, Head of the Culture Department of Muong La Commune, said: "The preferential policies for the La Ha people not only support economic development and poverty reduction, but also encourage the preservation and promotion of traditional cultural values and improve their spiritual lives. This helps the people trust in the Party's guidelines and the State's laws, and strengthens national unity, especially in remote villages."
Despite achieving many positive results, the preservation of the La Ha ethnic culture still faces challenges from modern life, putting some festivals, folk songs, folk dances, and written language at risk of disappearing. In the coming time, Muong La commune will continue to implement support programs to restore festivals, improve the quality of the performing arts troupe, expand oral language classes, and contribute to the sustainable preservation of the cultural values of the La Ha and other ethnic communities in the area.