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Anthony Morreale amorreale22 at gmail.com
Tue Aug 4 11:27:01 PDT 2015
Dear list,
I'm wondering if anybody can point me to literature that deals with the
Montagnard students killed in Hue in 68. The only information I've been
able to dig up so far is either from Montagnard Human Rights sources or is
mired in the larger controversy regarding NVA assassinations. I know there
may not be much documentation, but surely there must be some original
source that these others are referencing.
Thanks for any help,
Anthony Morreale
MA student
UC Berkeley
Paul Schmehl pschmehl at tx.rr.com
Tue Aug 4 11:42:35 PDT 2015
There is a paucity of accurate information regarding what happened in Hue.
I'm not familiar with any documents that discuss Montagnard fatalities in
Hue.
You may be able to find Montagnard names among these two lists:
List of Civilians Massacred by the Communists During “Tet Mau Than” in
Thua Thien Province ad Hue City1.pdf
List of Civilians Massacred by the Communists During “Tet Mau Than” in
Thua Thien Province ad Hue City2.pdf
They can be downloaded or viewed here:
<http://www.vvfh.org/research/research-files.html>
Paul Schmehl (pschmehl at tx.rr.com)
Independent Researcher
Frank Proschan frank.proschan at yahoo.com
Tue Aug 4 12:30:06 PDT 2015
Without wishing to reopen long-festering wounds, may I call to Mr Morreale’s attention the previous debates (in 1999) on the use of the anachronistic terms ‘Montagnard’ and ‘Degar’ or ‘Dega’ (the former also shows up in the essay by Michael Benge linked yesterday by R.J. Del Vecchio):
The Great Montagnard Debate: <http://www.lib.washington.edu/southeastasia/vsg/elist_1999/mont1.html> Part I; <http://www.lib.washington.edu/southeastasia/vsg/elist_1999/mont2.html> Part II ; <http://www.lib.washington.edu/southeastasia/vsg/elist_1999/mont3.html> Part III
If one is citing 1968-era documents, ‘Montagnard’ is the contemporaneous term, with all of its accumulated pejorative baggage, but Mr Morreale and Mr Benge are writing in 2015. The Dega or Degar only came into being in the mid-1980s (when many were allied with Pol Pot, although we’re not supposed to remember this), so it is anachronistic to refer to them in Hue in 1968.
Best,
Frank Proschan
Independent (truly)
Washington, DC
Anthony Morreale amorreale22 at gmail.com
Tue Aug 4 12:54:37 PDT 2015
Dear group,
I meant no offense when using the terms Montagnard or Degar. I only used
the terms used by the activist organizations that were publishing
information about the massacre.
http://www.mhro.org/montangards-history
http://www.degarfoundation.org/who-are-degar-2
I do not intend to debate the relative offensiveness of the terms here,
only to ask for the groups help in recovering the relevant information. If
the group prefers, I will instead call them "The student victims at the
boarding school of the Ministry of Ethnic Minority Development".
Anthony Morreale
MA Student
Group in Asian Studies
UC Berkeley
David Brown nworbd at gmail.com
Tue Aug 4 17:47:44 PDT 2015
Frank, I'm sure that we all want to use the appropriate terms. If I
understand you correctly, one should only use the term 'montagnard' when
quoting documents from a bygone era. That's reasonable. You seem to prefer
'Dega' or 'Degar' as the currently politically correct descriptor. Do all
of the Central Highlands ethnic minorities use that term when referring to
themselves, or is it specific only to certain minority groups (E-de, Ba-Na,
Gia Rai, etc.) or perhaps only some members of certain minority groups? Do
the minority groups in Vietnam's northwest also refer to themselves as
'Dega/r'? Is it acceptable to refer to Vietnamese citizens who are neither
Kinh nor Khmer nor Cham nor Chinese simply as 'highlanders'? Regards, David
--
*David Brown*
*Writer on contemporary Vietnam*
*Fresno, California USA*
*1-559-681-2008*
Frank Proschan frank.proschan at yahoo.com
Tue Aug 4 18:44:31 PDT 2015
Dear David,
Sorry if I left you with the impression that I prefer the name Dega or Degar as a general term. There are various origin myths circulating about how that name came to be used (especially from the mid-1980s onwards) to denote a particular political alignment of ethnic minority people of the Central Highlands. I am not personally sympathetic to their claim to represent ALL of the indigenous populations of the Central Highlands and to impose the name they have chosen for themselves onto others who do not share their political views. If by “Dega” or “Degar” we mean, “all those who choose for themselves the autonym Dega or Degar, and only those”, of course they have the right to identify themselves how they choose. That does not mean that it can be accepted as a general designation for Central Highlands minorities who do not so self-identify.
I like “highlanders” as a term that characterizes people in neutral, non-pejorative terms and does not pretend to describe any single ethnic group. When speaking of particular ethnic groups, I like to use their own autonym (thus, farther north, Iduh rather than O Du or Tay Hat, Ksing Mul rather than Xinh Mun, etc.). So yes, Dega or Degar for those who so wish to identify themselves, but not as a general term for those who do not – which probably means the vast majority of Central Highlanders still living in the Central Highlands, as distinct from expat communities in the U.S. or France.
Best,
Frank Proschan
Independent
Washington, DC
William Noseworthy wnosewor at gmail.com
Wed Aug 5 11:57:00 PDT 2015
Dear All,
What a good set of questions David and all!
As far as I am aware Degar is an accepted term in a given socio-historical
cum political context. What I mean hear is that it has very specific
origins to the attempt to create a unified highland identity that bridged
across Austronesian and Austroasiatic lines. However, more recently, there
have been some individuals who are members of specific communities who have
rejected the term. Most of these individuals seem to be from Phnong cross
border Cambodia-Vietnam communities (southern Austroasiatic), although I am
certain with other communities there has been some rejection as well, since
certain individuals that I spoke with in Vietnam rejected the term out of
its 'danger,' preferring to simply identify with their individual ethnic
groups. However, I would welcome other information and 'two cents' on the
subject.
Very best,
Billy
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