“Who Eats the Forest?”: Forest Animacy among the Bahnar People of Vietnam

Abstract

In this paper, we explore Bahnar perspectives on the agency of plants and forest, and human–forest relations in Vietnam. The Bahnar are among Vietnam's 54 recognized ethnic minority peoples 1 , many of whom live in proximity to the forest, gather its resources, and regard it as a spiritual abode in their cosmology. The Bahnar (Ba Na) people who inhabit the Central Highlands and are the main focus of this article have traditionally relied on the forest for subsistence, practising swidden cultivation, hunting birds and mammals, and gathering plants. Their forest knowledge is transmitted primarily orally; through the lexicon, everyday discourses, stories, and songs. It is acquired through participation in forest-related activities and informal learning of arts such as vernacular architecture, basketry, canoe-building, and textiles. The Bahnar see spirits in things in nature with which they have a connection or routine interactions (stones, streams, and trees) but not in everything. The Bahnar spiritual connection with the forest also guides their husbandry of increasingly scarce forest resources, such as rattan used in basketry, and large trees needed to make canoes. Certain plants and trees are protected by taboos, and certain parts of the forest are considered sacred, inhabited by gods and spirits, and not to be touched. Forests possess animacy for the Bahnar in that they are sensitive and responsive to a wide range of human behaviours, and must be treated with respect and care. This human–forest–spirit relationship is the primary lens through which the Bahnar perceive nature, and guides their daily interactions with it.