Living in the Truong Son - Tay Nguyen region in the west of Ngoc Linh mountain range in general and in Nam Tra My district (Quang Nam) in particular, each ploi (village) of the Xo Dang people has its own forest land area, the boundary is marked by terrain such as: streams, mountain peaks, ancient trees...
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| The ferry of the Xo Dang people in KonTum |
Houses are often clustered close together, with granaries of each family in between. They like to live in high places, on the mountainside or in valleys near water sources. In particular, each of their plots always has a water trough (lang tak).
The Xo Dang believe that their ancestors always sought a source of drinking water before choosing land to establish a village. This is an important factor and an immutable principle in the process of establishing a village. Therefore, when visiting Xo Dang villages today, we see that their villages are not far from water sources (water stations).
According to the customary law of the Xo Dang, water stations are a sacred value. Through many generations, when the descendants of the Xo Dang come to the water stations to get water to drink, bathe, wash... they do not say bad words, spit or urinate right there. Because they believe that there is a god named Kara - Mo huyt (God of Water) who saves their people from surviving and developing. For generations, generations of Xo Dang descendants have always voluntarily followed the customary laws of the village. The water wharf and the village of the Xo Dang people are like flesh and blood in daily life, in traditional festivals... creating a unique cultural feature in customs and practices, enriching the material and spiritual life of the mountain residents. Next to the village's water wharf are houses and fields. The Xo Dang people love the water wharf, the water wharf has been with them from generation to generation like flesh and blood. It is the water wharf that has created production methods, making the land fertile, helping the fields to have bumper crops of rice, corn, cassava...
According to Xo Dang tradition, their ancestors are the source of water (the water wharf), and they believe that whether the community and society can exist and develop or not depends on that water source (the water wharf). They consider the water trough as a sacred value of the community. Therefore, every year, the Xo Dang people have the custom of repairing and worshiping their water trough. The custom of worshiping the water trough is a harmonious combination between daily life and the spiritual world, a vivid symbol of the belief in animism of the mountain people. Worshiping the water trough is a form of strengthening community and social solidarity, and at the same time educating descendants to remember their ancestors' origins, to remember the place where they and the community have settled and lived for a long time. The beauty of this custom and practice has been respected and preserved by the Xo Dang people for generations.