Become acquaint­ed with the leg­endary Raglaï tribe, a matri­ar­chal eth­nic group locat­ed in the provinces of Khanh Hoa, Binh Thuân and Ninh Thuân on Vietnam’s south-cen­tral coast. Also known as Rac Laï, Orang Glaï, or Roglaï, the approx­i­mate­ly 110,000 Raglaï are Aus­trone­sian and speak a lan­guage that belongs to Malayo-Poly­ne­sian lan­guage family.

<figcaption>A Raglai in the back­ground of Okha mountain</figcaption>

<img alt="A Raglai in Okha mountain" src="https://www.secretindochina.com/upload-images/programmes/the-raglai/Raglai-in-okha-moutain-1578380644.jpg" />
<figcaption>A Raglai in Okha mountain</figcaption>

The Raglai live in stilt hous­es made of wood, rat­tan, bam­boo with thatched roofs, on high land areas near a water source. Unlike most stilt hous­es of oth­er eth­nic groups in Cen­tral High­lands of Viet­nam which are enor­mous, the Raglai stilt hous­es are small­er, locat­ed at the foot of moun­tains, sur­round­ed by dense and impen­e­tra­ble forests, help­ing to pre­serve their unique cul­ture. Each ham­let (palay) has sev­er­al stilt hous­es and around 10 to 20 fam­i­lies of the same clan live each house. Raglai vil­lages are scat­tered apart.

Despite not hav­ing a writ­ing sys­tem or con­cept of time, the Raglai speak their own lan­guage and the Raglai cul­ture is pre­served through oral lit­er­a­ture. Raglai leg­ends, proverbs, epics and folk­songs are told by the elders to the younger gen­er­a­tions by the wood stove in the house. Like many oth­er tribes in Cen­tral High­lands, the Raglai are ani­mists who believe every­thing has a spir­it. They take the names of moun­tains, rocks, trees, or ani­mals as their fam­i­ly name and con­sid­er them their guardian angels. The supreme being in the Raglai belief sys­tem is called Giang, the God of heav­en, along­side the genies of moun­tains, forests and promi­nent rocks.

<figcaption>Raglai slash-and-burn field</figcaption>

<img alt="Raglai - South Vietnam" src="https://www.secretindochina.com/upload-images/programmes/the-raglai/Raglai-south-vietnam-1578380408.jpg" />
<figcaption>Raglai — South Vietnam</figcaption>

Secret Indochi­na offers trekking and eth­nic immer­sions, oper­at­ed with Raglai peo­ple, an eth­nic group that have intrigu­ing links with the Cham­pa king­dom. Accord­ing to leg­end, dur­ing the dis­ap­pear­ance of Pan­duran­ga in 1832, Cham princes entrust­ed part of their trea­sures and archives to the Raglaï, includ­ing roy­al tiara, relics, and pre­cious antiq­ui­ties. Tales about trea­sures hid­den in the Raglai moun­tains have become part of Raglaï lore and giv­en the area an aura of myth and spirituality.