A rare museum to preserve and popularize the culture of ethnic minorities: Lam Dong Museum, Da Lat - Vietnam.

Lam Dong Museum attracts me a lot because it stores and displays artifacts, relics, tools and cultural lifestyles of indigenous ethnic minorities. The Kinh now make up 85% of the population and continue to overwhelm and assimilate other ethnic groups across the country. Before the French discovered this land and the Kinh group immigrated to serve alongside the colonial government, the ethnic group that dominated other ethnic minorities built most of the face of Da Lat city. Currently. Most museums across the country do not depict too much or do not have documents of indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities. I want to see a picture of Da Lat from hundreds of years ago and Lam Dong museum is quite complete and detailed so that younger generations and tourists can learn the history of this land.

22,000 VND ($1) is the entrance price you have to pay. It is located at 4 Hung Vuong, Ward 10, Da Lat city, Viet Nam and only about 2km from the city center. Consisting of 2 square floors like the old Soviet box office architecture, because I'm from the North, I see these blocks a lot. Each floor has its own subdivision and belongs to the type of large and diverse museum of old artifacts and objects left over from each historical period.

What impressed me most were the wax figures of the three indigenous ethnic groups: the Co Ho, the Churu and the Ede, and had Indian origins and cultural influences and the Malayo-Adonesian island groups. Before the French and the Kinh came to build a colony and settle in, these groups have lived for thousands of years in the heart of the vast valley basin. But now they have been pushed back far away from the city fringes and remote high mountains.

From here, I can have a preliminary picture of the common life, religion and social activities of these ethnic groups according to the progress from thousands of years ago to the present. From age-old stone tools, to fine brass, gold, and familiar everyday items such as hunting, musical instruments, crafts, jewelry, weaving cloth, decoration, worship, etc. They are all new to me and other people, because mostly only Kinh people and tourists come here.

Some simulations of the animal world here in the past show great diversity from bears, deer, leopards, wild boars showing the remarkable richness of the forests. Now with a population hundreds of times what they were back then, most of them have disappeared due to hunting or simply lying around in the city zoo.

The museum shows many other aspects of life, from means of transport, houses, tools through different periods, but also especially recreates the vestiges of the resistance war against France and the US of Vietnam. these ethnic groups.

As some people also know, the French and Americans during the war in Vietnam were afraid and obsessed with guerrilla fighting and weapons like the hunter-gatherer era. These ethnic groups are still very backward with rudimentary weapons such as bows and arrows, crossbows, spears, traps, and swords. But they once brought nightmares to the soldiers fighting the modern army. The French and Americans controlled only the big cities and the plains. In rural areas with few people and rugged mountains, the Communists of the North controlled and manipulated tribes and ethnic minority groups. They are knowledgeable about the land they live in, with hot and humid climates, dense forests they often ambush and retreat quickly. These simple spikes made of sharp bamboo poles once instilled fear in patrols and marching bands. Depending on the large or small trap, the purpose is still to create an open wound because the weather in this area is easy to cause infection if not treated promptly.

When there was no war, they often used traps to trap animals and wild boars. Now it is used for combat. They often dig a hole and bury it in the ground, covering it with dried leaves. Large traps with many spikes can kill people, small traps with few spikes will create wounds when they puncture the feet, easily causing infection. This is a great psychological weapon due to surprise and feeling like being hunted like an animal.

Of course, along with the Kinh liberators, they also have more powerful and modern firepower from the aid of China and the Soviet Union. Since then they have new and much more effective fighting methods. A small corner of the museum shows the presence of Kinh people here.

The museum also has many descriptions of life, geography, economy and farming issues of Lam Dong province before and today. I have more overview and more understanding about the country's history and the ethnic groups living in the country. This will be an interesting destination for tourists and for young people who need to know more about this special land.

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