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The Co-ho's
population is of nearly 100,000 inhabitants
who settle mainly in Lam Dong province. The
Co-ho com mutiny has other names such as Xre,
Nop. Co-don, Chil, Lat and Tring. The Xre
group has the largest population and
inhabits in Di Linh plateau. Co-ho language
belongs to the Mon-Khmer Group.
The Co-ho cultivate
rice on burnt-over land and submerged
fields. The Xre group mainly cultivates rice
in submerged fields and lives in a sedentary
lifestyle for a long time. The remaining
groups practice cultivation on burnt-over
land only. They use farm tools such as axes,
beams and sticks to dig holes to grow
plants. The Co-ho are good at horticulture.
In the gardens they grow jackfruit,
rice-fruit, banana, bobo and papaya. Many
Co-ho villages lead a sedentary life and
cultivate coffee, grow mulberry and rear
silkworm.
The Co-ho people live in a village naturally
have blood ties. The young Co-ho women play
an active role in marriage. Monogamy is the
rule in the Co-ho society. After the
wedding, the groom comes to live with his
wife's family.
The Co-ho believe in
the existence of many genies. Of them Ndu
reigns supreme and under this god are genies
representing a force or a natural object:
the sun, moon, mountain, river, earth and
rice. Many rites are organized relating to
rice growing such as buffalo-stabbing (nho
sa ro-pu), seed sowing and buffalo-feet
washing. The buffalo-stabbing is a grand
ceremony organized when the old crop is
finished and the new crop is prepared. In
these rites the Co-ho play traditional
musical instruments. By the fire and the can
(pipe) alcohol jar, the elderly men tell
their descendants legends, myths and explain
verses of poems and folk ballads of their
ancestors and nativeland.
The Co-ho possess an abundant source of
folklore and culture. The verses of the
lyrical poems, called Tampla, sound very
romantic. The Co-ho also have many
traditional dances to perform at festivals
and ceremonies. Their musical instruments
include gongs, dear-skin drums, bamboo
flutes, box pan-pipes, lip organs,
six-stringed zithers, bamboo oboes, and so
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