Souy Indigenous people had lived in Cambodia for a long long time ago. In the past, people lived by hunting animals and picking up the fruits from the forest and mountainous area. As the evidence, presently, all Souy people live near mountain area. Obversely, upto 2018, Souy indigenous people live in 5 villages. There are Kordountey, Tanil, Chumbok, Trank and Putra villages. They are all located in Ch-en commune, Oral District, Kampong speu province. It’s the place that is full of forest and mountains around the villages.
Based on the interview from uncle Heal Sen, the representative of Souy indigenous people in october 2018, said that Souy indigenous people in all five villages have 316 families and the total number of people are 1325. Below is the population statistic of villagers and villages.
The most recognizable musical instruments that the modern Souy have a clear explanation about are only drum and Ploy. As a result of conflict and war during the past, Souy has lost so much identity of their musical instrument. In addition, the modern Ploy instruments often making it impossible to blow since the steps of this musical instrument is clearly hidden and the people who are skillful of creating this particular type of flute is contracting.
Instrument: Drum, Phloy By: Yanich
Dance & Music
Most Souy style dance was lost during the Khmer Rouge. The only well-known dance in the community is Sa Van and Ploy Souy. Since information relates to the dance is indeed hidden we aren’t clear of how long the dance has been around. However, the meaning behind each dance is still obvious. The meaning behind Sa Van dance is to show your appreciation to mothers through her hard work over time. Most of the dancers are considered from the age 13 years old.For Phloy Souy they made this dance because when they dance the rain will come. The modern Souy dance can be performed at any time, as long as they have completed the permission ceremony. The ceremony consists of asking permission from their spiritual ancestors to perform this dance outside of their local community. Although, if we’re unfamiliar to the tribe, they would not be able to perform dance from us, even though we’re in their community.
Back in the old days, Souy traditional clothes were used as their everyday custom. By reason of influencing from the modern living style, Souy considers ordinary clothes for their living standard. On the other hand, for every Samnon, which mean ceremonies, they must transparent into their traditional clothing. Black or dark blue clothing with kroma is what represents their traditional identity.
Education is the first priority to every country. Because of education, people invented mobile phones and other tools for daily needs. Indigenous minority group Souy also regarded education as an important tool to develop their community. Before Khmer Rouge, Suoy had never been to school and people didn’t even believe that education would help. In 1975, people were forced to leave their houses and Suoy people were separated into different places. In 1979, after the calamity of Khmer Rouge, Souy people returned to their village along with their forcefully married family. Cambodians got to know more indigenous Suoy due to the fact that they were living together during Pol Pot’s regime. Promptly, after the dark period, indigenous Suoy hadn’t received good education yet. Later, the government started building a school and a health center in their community. Since then, more people came to live in Suoy’s village and got married with one another.
According to an interview with Mr. Lak Puthea, who is a Cambodian school director at Chha-en Primary School, Kordountey village, Chha-en commune, Aoral district, Kompong Speu province, said that currently, there are 9 teachers and approximately 230 students. In the past, it was hard for him to teach those indigenous people because they couldn’t communicate in Khmer well. He added that even though the ministry of education as well as the educational department tried hard to support the school, the school is still lack of teaching materials, torn books, and outdated books. Therefore there has only been one student who has graduated and became a teacher to help the village. Mr. Lak Puthea also wishes that there will be funding and help from locals and foreigners to develop education in Suoy’s villages.
Mr. Puthea, the principal in Chha-en Primary School, Kordountey village, Chha-en commun, Aoral district, Kompong Speu province
Sornom is one of Suoy’s traditional ceremonies. Suoy people celebrate this ceremony because they believe that they would get good luck, safety, and rain to grow plants. Sornom is held in May every year and Suoy people are not allowed to hold this ceremony when there is a flood or it is not on a full-moon week. This ceremony lasts four days and three nights. On the first day, people pound Ambok, which is a dry-frying grain of paddy rice, to eat together in villages. On the second day, they go to the ceremony shelter and pray for their ancestors. On the third day, they go to the ceremony shelter again and cook food to dedicate to their ancestors. The last day, only men are allowed to enter the ceremony shelter, and they have to go and collect a variety of foods from the different families in the village to offer to the spirits in the forest. Villagers are not allowed to join the hall by wearing normal clothes. They all have to wear traditional clothes and if they break the rule, there will consequences and death. Souy people believe in animism. The common animals are tiger, python, and other dangerous species. If people break the rules, they will encounter those dangerous animals somehow. Suoy hopes that they get good luck after they do the ceremony and they want to preserve that this ceremony forever in their culture.
(Mrs. Prom Morn, In person communication, October 2018)
Do you know?
Other peoples (people who are not indigenous Suoy) are not allowed to join Sornom ceremony. According to Suoy’s traditional belief, if other strangers want to attend it, they must bring in a two-meter cloth, a bottle of wine, and be beaten with 100 sticks. The stick is made of 100 veins of coconut leaves. In fact, a bunch of sticks is tied together and hit only one time.
Food is one of the most important things for every single person’s life. Not even Cambodia or other countries, indigenous people also need the food to feed themselves. For Suoy indigenous group, their everyday food is similar to Khmer’s. In the past, there were fewer Khmer people living in Suoy village, so Suoy indigenous group ate less Khmer food. As Suoy community has been developed, more Souy indigenous people get married with Khmer people, so there are more Khmer people coming to live in Suoy’s villages . Because of that, Suoy indigenous people enjoy eating Khmer food to Suoy’s food. However, there are still some elder Souy people eating their traditional food.
Usually, Suoy’s foods are similar to Khmer’s foods. Some of the Suoy foods have the same name as Khmer foods, but they have different taste. Some of Suoy foods have different name from Khmer foods, but the same taste. Sngi is one of the famous Suoy’s foods. According to Mr. Hal Sen, the elder of Suoy, Sngi is rarely known among Cambodian and foreigners. Its name sounds different and few people would know or talk about it. Sngi is similar to Chab Chhay. Chab Chhay is a kind of soup that is mixed with many different types of vegetables but Sngi contains a bit of sour taste, which makes a bit different from Chab Chhay food. The main vegetables that are usually found in Sngi are Kom Pdav (see the picture below) and lemongrass. The process of cooking Sngi is the same as Chab Chhay. Nowaday, there are fewer Suoy people eat this kind of food and other Suoy’s foods.
Vegetable
Kom Pdav is one of the vegetables that Suoy people like to eat. Cambodian people also eat Kom Pdav, but not a lot. Suoy people usually find it near the stream in the forest. Suoy people usually mix it with other foods such as fermented fish and Tek Kreung (Khmer traditional food made of fish, peanut, fermented fish, and basils) or cook it with Kor Ko soup. Kor ko is one of Khmer famous food. The height of Kom Pdav is a bit long. The outer bark of it is really hard and it has sharp thorns. We need to peel off the outer bark first before we eat it. The inside of it is small, white and it tastes bitter. Suoy people don’t sell Kom Pdav to outsiders because it’s rare and it’s hard to find. You can find Kom Pdav in both Khmer seasons–rainy and dry season. Kom Pdov is is easier to find in dry season than rainy season.
Kom Pdav
Dessert
Khmer cake and Suoy cake is the same, but Suoy people call it differently. Nom Bay Treab is known as Khmer sticky coconut rice. Suoy people call it Nom Treab Mok. The process of making it is the same. Suoy Sticky coconut rice is mostly cooked with brown sugar because white sugar is rare in their village. For dessert, Suoy have Nom Kon Trey. Cambodian people call it Nom Ey. The step of making Nom Ey and Nom Kon Trey is the same. Nom Kon Trey is made of flour. First we mixed the flour with water. Then we make it as small balls and boil it in the hot water. Suoy people eat it with sugar sauce. They usually eat it together as a whole family.
Wine
Suoy people make wine for their ceremony and family. They keep their wine in glass bottle. The process of making the wine is different from Cambodia. As you can see the picture below, they have three big rocks on the ground and they make the fire in between the three rocks. Then they put two clay pots on the fire. One big clay pot is for protecting the overheat. On top of the big clay pot is a small one. It is used to cook rice, water and yeast. When it heats to 100 degree celsius, the vapor starts to flow through the straw pipe into the bottle. To make one bottle of wine, Suoy people need 500 grams of the rice and one liter of water and some yeast. It takes one hour to produce a bottle of wine. They serve it during the traditional ceremony, wedding and family reunion.
