Book on ethnic group translated

HA NOI — Research on the Ka Tu ethnic group written by French expeditionary soldier Le Pichon has been published in Vietnamese, 73 years after it was first released.

The book, entitled in French Les Chasseurs de Sang, is translated into Vietnamese as Nhung Ke San Mau (Blood Hunters). The name is derived from a primitive ritual of the Ka Tu people from the Central Highlands in the early 20th century. People they disliked came to a gruesome end and their blood was used to worship the gods in the hope that there would be an abundant harvest.

Besides focusing on this bloody ritual, the book also talks about the cultural life of the Ka Tu people including their lifestyle, rituals to worship dead people, customs, festivals and dances.

In the book, the author also confirms that Sogny, a French officer, was the first person to name the Ka Tu ethnic group in 1913, an important point in ethnography.

Les Chasseurs de Sang was published for the first time in the magazine Nhung Nguoi Ban Hue (Hue's Old Friends) in 1938. It was translated into Vietnamese by ethnographer Ta Duc. — VNS