The Forest Tet Festival of the Mong People in Na Hau

Culture

The Forest Tet Festival of the Mong People in Na Hau

Tuesday, March 4, 2025

Beyond its unique spiritual significance in seeking blessings, the "forest worship" ritual of the Mong people in Na Hau (Van Yen) plays a crucial role in forest resource management and protection.

Na Hau has emerged as a rare locality, boasting an impressive 90% forest coverage.

With a total natural area of 5,640 hectares—over 4,500 hectares of which are special-use natural forests—Na Hau Forest (Na Hau Commune, Van Yen District, Yen Bai Province) has long served as a communal home for more than 500 Mong households, totaling over 2,500 residents. Despite economic hardships, the Mong people have preserved the forest for generations through their own customs and age-old traditions.

Deeply connected to the forest, living in harmony with it, the Mong people of Na Hau regard the forest as their lifeline and spiritual anchor.

Having coexisted with the forest for centuries, they have established customary regulations for its protection—rules that the entire community respects as sacred traditions.

For the Mong people of Na Hau, the forest is not just a natural resource—it is a sacred space where they conduct spiritual rituals, seeking protection from deities for health, happiness, and peace. They pray for the prosperity of their crops, livestock, and the enduring legacy of their clans.

Every year, on the last day of the first lunar month, villages across Na Hau Commune gather in the "forbidden forest and sacred forest" of their hamlet to perform the "Forest Spirit Worship Ceremony," also known as the "Forest Festival.

The sacred forest ritual takes place beneath the ancient "Vatica Odorata” tree (Tau Mat tree )

This unique ritual not only carries deep spiritual significance, preserving cultural and communal values, but also plays a vital role in forest conservation.

The ceremony begins with a solemn procession of offerings to the sacred forest. Conducted at the forest entrance, beneath an ancient "Vatica Odorata” tree (Tau Mat tree), the ritual includes traditional offerings to the Forest Spirit: a pair of roosters, a black pig, rice wine, incense, and ceremonial paper.

At the auspicious hour, the shaman respectfully offers incense, turning in four directions while striking a wooden gong and chanting invocations to summon the spirits. He invites them to witness the ritual, accept the offerings, and bless the villagers with prosperity—favorable weather, lush forests, and abundant harvests.

Following this, the shaman and several young men from the commune perform the ritual of sacrificing a chicken and a pig. They smear the animals’ blood onto feathers and press them against the trunk of an ancient tree.

A unique aspect of the "Forest Festival" is that after the ceremony, all villages in the commune observe a three-day forest prohibition to express gratitude to the Forest Spirit. During this period, strict taboos are followed: no cutting of green trees, no bringing fresh leaves from the forest home, no digging for roots or gathering bamboo shoots, no disturbing the soil, no letting livestock roam freely, no drying clothes outdoors, and no milling corn or pounding rice.

At the conclusion of the main ritual, the entire community raises their hands three times in unison, solemnly swearing an oath and chanting, "Pê mông thoàng trì giố giông cu giống," meaning "The Mong people stand united in protecting the forest."

The Community Celebrates Tet and the Oath to Protect the Forest

For the Mong people of Na Hau, safeguarding the forest is akin to preserving their shared home. They uphold an unspoken rule: no one is to clear the forest for farming, nor allow outsiders to intrude.

Thanks to this deep-rooted commitment, the core zone of the Na Hau Nature Reserve remains intact, protected by local households entrusted with conservation duties. Towering and resilient, the primeval forest continues to shelter and sustain the community. Ná Hẩu stands as a rare locality with an impressive forest coverage rate of 90%.

Van Tuan

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