The hundred-year-old tree is green all year round, protecting the peaceful life of the M'nong people in M'lieng village.
According to NDO, over the past years, along with the development of ethnic minority communities in the Central Highlands, the M'nong Rlam people in M'lieng village have always preserved, respected and promoted traditional cultural beauties of their ancestors in contemporary life.
The entrance to the ancient M'lieng village.
Only about 3 km from the center of Lien Son town, Lak district, coming to M'lieng village is like being lost in an ancient and peaceful village, with traditional long houses of the M'nong Rlam people lying close to each other. Surrounding the village are lush green rice fields, which are watered all year round from the fresh water of Lak Lake.
The life of the M'nong people in M'liang village has been associated with fishing on Lak Lake for generations.
In the village, there are ancient trees over 200 years old with luxuriant branches and leaves that are reflected all year round in Lak lake, both bringing ancient and mysterious beauty to M'lieng village and creating a cool and fresh atmosphere and showing the lifestyle in harmony with nature of the M'nong people here.
According to the village elders in the village, these ancient trees have existed for a long time, despite storms, floods or droughts. This ancient tree still grows green all year round. “The people of M'liang village consider the ancient banyan tree as a sacred forest. Whenever there is a festival in the village or a family has an important job, the village elder, the head of the village and the head of the household buy offerings to worship the tree god and pray for favorable rain and wind, a warm and happy village life. For generations, the lives of the M'lieng villagers have been attached to the water source of Lak lake and the sacred forest, therefore, the villagers, from young to old, have joined hands to protect and take care of the trees, especially the remaining old trees in the village," said village elder Y San.
Many ethnic M'nong families in M'lieng hamlet still keep precious sets of gongs.
Comrade Y Bhin Bkrong, Secretary of the M'Lieng village branch, said that Buon M'Lieng currently has 151 households with 750 people, of which 99.8% are from the M'nong Rlam ethnic group. People in the village produce 81 hectares of wet rice with two crops and 15 hectares of fields with short-term crops. In terms of economic development, M'lieng village may not be equal to many other villages in the Central Highlands, but in terms of spiritual life, the people of M'lieng village are really proud of preserving the traditional cultural beauty of the M'nong Rlam people, including the preservation of gongs, festivals, houses on stilts, weaving, making sedge mats, planting wet rice and fishing nets on Lak lake.
Many traditional stilt houses of the M'nong Rlam people are tens of meters long, close to each other, creating a unique and ancient feature for M'liang village that few villages in the Central Highlands have been preserved.
People in the village actively participate in cultural conservation activities such as restoring and preserving 30 wooden long stilt houses, 50 long brick stilt houses, preserving 30 sets of gongs and maintaining brocade weaving. Buon M'lieng also has maintained the activities of 3 gong teams, 1 dance team, including a young gong team and a female gong team.
Many ancient drums are made of buffalo skin, elephant skin, preserved by the M'lieng traders to this day. (Photo source: NDO)
Visiting the ancient village of M'liang in the first days of the new year, the life of the M'nong people here is adapting to the new normal after having just gone through a difficult year due to the outbreak of the COVID-19. We visited 5 out of 6 households supported by the M'lieng Ancient Village Conservation Project to preserve the traditional long stilt house, including households Y Soan Ong, H'Ge Bkrong, H'Srong Enuol, Y Dhang Nom and Y Thoan Hlong. All households have preserved the gongs, drums, jars, kpan chairs and traditional long houses of the M'nong people./.