Tribal Feasting in Vietnam

Vietnam has an unusual number and diversity of hill tribe groups. Some of these still lived in long houses until recently. These groups provided important information on how feasting differed in communities dominated by corporate groups. Residential corporate groups constitute important phenomena in prehistoric archaeology. This chapter tries to address reasons for corporate group formation, variability in corporate group organization and dynamics, and reasons for abandoning residential corporate group lifestyles. Defense and elder control via bridewealth are viewed as the main proximate reasons for creating corporate groups, while aggrandizer strategies based on self-interest provide the ultimate reasons for their creation. This chapter describes the dynamics of corporate groups and the way in which feasting patterns help create these organizations among the Rhadé, Monong, and Ta Oi. Benefits for member families are also discussed.