Thanksgiving of the Khmu people

(Baonghean) - Thanksgiving, or the custom of repaying gratitude of the Khmu people, is often held during the off-season. This is the ceremony that the son-in-law dedicates to his wife's family, when they have children, their own house and are doing well in business.

At that time, the son-in-law and his wife will prepare pigs, chickens, and wine to hold a ceremony to thank his wife's parents for giving birth to them. At the Thanksgiving Ceremony, all relatives and everyone in the village will be invited to join in the fun.

The meaningful and indispensable offerings in Thanksgiving are a pig and two jars of rice wine. The size of the pig depends on the economic conditions of each couple. When performing the Thanksgiving ceremony, people only take the head, a little intestines, butt meat and tail of the animal.

Thanksgiving offerings.

The beauty of Thanksgiving is not only its beautiful meaning, but also that people can “make a ceremony” depending on their economic conditions, and there is no time requirement. A couple can be married for 2 years, 3 years, maybe 10 years, and when they have the conditions, they can organize a Thanksgiving for the wife’s parents.

If in the custom of the Mong or Thai people, when performing the ritual, a shaman is needed to pray, the Thanksgiving Ceremony of the Khmu people is performed by the son-in-law himself. Wine is poured into 4 cups, then the son-in-law will stand up to bless the wife's family and invite the grandparents to each have 2 cups, and tie a white thread on the left wrist of his parents-in-law, and the relatives and guests will wish the host by squeezing a little sticky rice, rolling it into a ball and placing it on the hands of the grandparents, the more people attend, the bigger the sticky rice in the hand, the healthier and happier the grandparents will be. In response to the affection of the brothers, relatives and guests, the son-in-law pours wine to invite the guests back.

The location of the Thanksgiving ceremony is also considered important by the people, it must be the kitchen, where there is a small kitchen loft, according to the Khmu people's concept, this is the place where ancestors and grandparents live. When the Thanksgiving ceremony ends, relatives and everyone will celebrate together with a jar of rice wine right in the kitchen.

Lu Phu