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The Degar (referred to by French colonists as Montagnard) are the indigenous peoples of the Central Highlands of Vietnam. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The term Indigenous Peoples or autochthonous peoples can be used to describe any Ethnic group who inhabit a geographic region with which they have the earliest historical Tây Nguyên, translated as Western Highlands and sometimes also called Central Highlands, is one of the regions of Vietnam. Vietnam (ˌviːɛtˈnɑːm Việt Nam) officially The term Montagnard means "mountain people" in French and is a carryover from the French colonial period in Vietnam. In Vietnamese, they are known by the term thượng (highlanders) - this term can also be applied to other minority ethnic groups in Vietnam). Vietnamese ( tiếng Việt, or less commonly Việt ngữ) formerly known under French colonization as Annamese ( see Annam) Vietnam is a multi-ethnic country with over fifty distinct groups (54 are recognized by the Vietnamese government each with its own language lifestyle and cultural heritage Thượng is the Vietnamese adaptation of the Chinese "Shang" (上). Montagnard was the term, typically shortened to "Yard", used by U. S. military personnel in the Central Highlands during the Vietnam War. However the term has been viewed as derogatory and the official term is now Người dân tộc thiếu số (literally means minority people).

Contents

History

Before the Vietnam War, the population of the Central Highlands, estimated at between 3 and 3. The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, or the Vietnam Conflict, occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia 5 million, was almost exclusively Degar. Today, the population is approximately 4 million, of whom about 1 million are Degars. The 30 or so Degar tribes in the Central Highlands comprise more than six different ethnic groups who speak languages drawn primarily from the Malayo-Polynesian, Tai, and Mon-Khmer language families. The Malayo-Polynesian languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages, with approximately 351 million speakers The Tai languages (ภาษาไต are a subgroup of the Tai-Kadai Language family. The Mon-Khmer languages are the autochthonous Language family of Southeast Asia. The main tribes, in order of population, are the Jarai, Rhade, Bahnar, Koho, Mnong, and Stieng. The Jarai (also Người Gia Rai, Gia Rai, or Gia-rai) is an ethnic group based primarily in Vietnam 's Central Highlands. The E De (also Ê Đê, Rhade, or Rade) are an ethnic group of the Hill Cham agglomeration of southern Vietnam (population 270348 The Bahnar (also spelled Ba Na) are an ethnic group of Vietnam living primarily in the Central Highland provinces of Gia Lai and Kon The Mnong or M'nong (Vietnamese M'Nông are an ethnic group from Vietnam (92451 in 1999

Originally inhabitants of the coastal areas of the region, they were driven to the uninhabited mountainous areas by invading Vietnamese and Cambodians beginning prior to the 9th century AD.

Although French Catholic missionaries converted some Degar in the nineteenth century, American missionaries made more of an impact in the 1930s, and many Degar are now Protestant. Catholic is an Adjective derived from the Greek adjective '' / 'katholikos' meaning "whole" or "complete". A missionary is a member of a Religion who works to convert those who do not share the missionary's faith someone who proselytizes. Year 1930 ( MCMXXX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Protestantism refers to the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated in the 16th century Protestant Reformation. Of the approximately 1 million Degar, close to half are Protestant, while around 200,000 are Catholic. Catholic is an Adjective derived from the Greek adjective '' / 'katholikos' meaning "whole" or "complete". This made Vietnam's Communist Party suspicious of the Degar, particularly during the Vietnam War, since it was thought that they would be more inclined to help the American forces (predominantly Christian—mainly Protestant).

In the mid 1950s, the once-isolated Degar began experiencing more contact with outsiders after the Vietnamese government launched efforts to gain better control of the Central Highlands and, following the 1954 Geneva Accord, new ethnic minorities from North Vietnam moved into the area. Year 1950 ( MCML) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1954 ( MCMLIV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1954 Gregorian calendar) The Geneva Conference ( May 8 – July 21, 1954) was a conference between many countries that agreed to end hostilities and restore Peace in As a result of these changes, Degar communities felt a need to strengthen some of their own social structures and to develop a more formal shared identity.

In 1950, the French government established the Central Highlands as the Pays Montagnard du Sud (PMS) under the authority of Vietnamese Emperor Bao Dai, whom the French had installed as nominal chief of state in 1949 as an alternative to Ho Chi Minh's Democratic Republic of Vietnam. The Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRVN or less commonly Vietnamese Democratic Republic (Việt Nam Dân Chủ Cộng Hòa was a Country on the northern half of Vietnam When the French withdrew from Vietnam and recognized a Vietnamese government, Degar political independence was drastically diminished.

The Degar have a long history of tensions with the Vietnamese majority. While the Vietnamese are themselves heterogeneous, they generally share a common language and culture and have developed and maintained the dominant social institutions of Vietnam. The Degar do not share that heritage. There have been conflicts between the two groups over many issues, including land ownership, language and cultural preservation, access to education and resources, and political representation.

In 1958, the Degar launched a movement known as BAJARAKA (the name is made up of the first letters of prominent tribes; compare to the later Nicaraguan Misurasata) to unite the tribes against the Vietnamese. There was a related, well-organized political and (occasionally) military force within the Degar communities known by the French acronym, FULRO, or United Front for the Liberation of Oppressed Races. The United Front for the Liberation of Oppressed Races (FULRO was an organization within Vietnam whose objective was autonomy for the Degar tribes FULRO’s objectives were autonomy for the Degar tribes.

A US Army Ranger trains Degar guerillas
A US Army Ranger trains Degar guerillas

The 1960s saw contact between the Degar and the U. S. military, as American involvement in the Vietnam War escalated and the Central Highlands emerged as a strategically important area, in large part because it included the Ho Chi Minh trail, the North Vietnamese supply line for Viet Cong forces in the south. The Ho Chi Minh trail was a logistical system that ran from the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam to the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam through The U. S. military, particularly the U.S. Army’s Special Forces, developed base camps in the area and recruited the Degar, roughly 40,000 of whom fought alongside American soldiers and became a major part of the U. The United States Army is a military organization whose primary mission is to "provide necessary forces and capabilities. In most countries special forces (SF is a generic term for highly-trained Military teams/units that conduct specialized operations such as Reconnaissance S. military effort in the Highlands.

Thousands of Degar fled to Cambodia after the fall of Saigon to the North Vietnamese Army, fearing that the new government would launch reprisals against them because they had aided the U. S. Army. The U. S. military resettled some Degar in the United States, primarily in South Carolina, but these evacuees numbered less than two thousand. In addition, the Vietnamese government has steadily displaced thousands of villagers from Vietnam's central highlands, to use the fertile land for coffee plantations.

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