Located at the confluence of Indochina, Dak Lak is today a cultural intersection of many different ethnic peoples and local groups. Today, one can find 44 ethnic minority groups in Dak Lak Province which account for about 30% of the province’s population of 1,718,855 people. The Ede, M’nong and J’rai are the main local or indigenous groups, while many others have immigrated over the past 30 years, e.g. Tay, Nung, Muong, Dao, Thai and Mong. Most of these groups still maintain their cultural heritage, creating a colorful spectrum of cultural life in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, which is also called Tay Nguyen. While the ethnic minority groups do not strictly occupy separated parts of the province, clans tend to live in the same areas.

Of all central highland provinces, Dak Lak is the heart land of the Ede People where most of its population lives. With a population of 285,715 persons, they also form the largest ethnic minority group within the province. They speak their own language which is of Malayo-Polynesian origin. The Ede reside mainly in Buon Ma Thuot City, Krong Pak, Krong Buk, Ea Sup and M’Drak Districts.

Uplandfarming (hma) holds the key position in agricultural production. Sparse forests, plots of grass or hill slopes are selected as places for clearing and farming utilising simple tools such as axes (jông), kgac, small-bladed hoes (wăngbriêng) and grass rakes (hwar).

Because the climate in the Central Highlands is divided into two distinguished season, Ede people previously only cultivated one crop annually during the rainy season and practiced shifting cultivation. Over the recent years, they gradually adopted more advanced technologies to improve productivity and diversify their production with , e.g. rice, maize, beans, vegetables and others. Coffee, pepper and rubber increasingly play an important role in the Ede people’s household economy. Ede people also raise buffalos, oxen, pigs, goats, chicken, ducks, swans, geese and other livestock. Rich families may even have as many as hundreds of buffalos and oxen. Buffalos and oxen are both assets of a family and items of value to exchange for precious jars and gongs. Buffalos, oxen, goats and pigs are still used as sacrifice animals during the annual rituals in their families and villages.

Until now, Ede people are a matriarchal society. Their traditionally social unit is the buôn (village). The village of Ede people is the place of assembly of some tens, sometimes hundreds of long houses on stilts with different sizes, depending on the number of family members along the maternal lines. Each village has separate forest and residential areas. The boundaries are rivers, trees or rocks. Every villager has the right to hunt, collect forest products and farm on farm and forest land according to village rules. However, encroaching other areas, e.g. sacred forests is a taboo.

Every social activity, communal custom and ritual follows common laws and practices which are put in place by a traditional village leadership, the khoa kpin ea which is headed by the mtao  (chief). The pô phạt kđy (judge) enforces the laws and practices in the village. He or she calls a verdict on violaters and trespasers and mediates in conflicts among members of the village community. The pô riu Yang (deity prayer) leads rituals on behalf of villagers and the pa ghê (fortune teller, magician) treats the ill and predicts the future and fate.

While large families live usually together in the same long house on stilts, the head of each family is an elderly woman who has prestige (khoa sang). She is takes care of the common assets of the family and makes the decisions on production and family life. She also represents the family in the village. Offspring bears the maternal surname and assets are inherited along the maternal lines.

Ede people follow polytheism expressed in rituals which cover every aspect of life. There are rituals following the life cycle from pregnancy to birth, growth, marriage, old age and death. There are rituals for farming from land selection to harvesting, while other rituals serve communal puposes, e.g., the river landing place ceremony which is usually held at the beginning of the rainy season, or the Kpan reception, which is held when a new house has been built. For their dead, they build distinctively decorated grave houses which are surrounded by statues to guard the transition from life to death and to life in the other world.

The second largest ethnic minority group in Dak Lak Province are the Mnong People with a population of 38,298. The Mnong people, who’s language originate in the Môn-Khơme-Bahnar-Nam language family, mainly live in Lak, Krông Bông, Krông Nô and Buôn Đôn Districts. The Mnong people live in villages which they call bon. Each bon has some tens of long houses. The surrounding land and forests are traditionally reserved for farming, hunting, timber logging with clear natural boundaries such as rivers, lakes, etc. Within each bon, there are smaller residential units, i.e. aluh (hamlet). As for the Ede People, the Mnong have a matriarchal society with extended families living in the same house under the leadership of a woman. While Ede live in stilt houses, many Mnong prefer to build their houses directly on the ground.

Having relied mainly on shifting cultivation in the uplands in the past, the Mnong gradually adopted sedentary forms of agriculture over the recent decades. They diversify their staple food production into rice, maize or beans and also engage in rubber, coffee, and cashew plantations. Animal husbandry. i.e. rearing buffalos, cattle, highland pigs and chicken plays nowadays an important role in the Mnong household economy. However, collecting forest products still remains an important source of traditional food and nutrition.

The Mnong people are famous for their tradition in hunting and taming wild elephants. Originally, the elephants were kept as working animals for timber logging, transportation and for hunting but also for their ivory. Today, they are a major attraction for the tourists coming to Dak Lak Province. Buon Don District has become today’s major centre of hunting and taming elephants.

In their spiritual life, the Mnong people have a wide variety of rituals and festivals, which are closely related to their cycle of life as well as to the pattern of their farming. There is the lơ yangkoih ritual which takes place prior to planting or the paddy rice washing rituals when rice is put into storage. In addition there are communal rituals, e.g. when a new bon is established or the hunting season starts.

The traditional clothes of the Mnong people, i.e. overcoats, shirts, trousers or skirts and a loin-cloth (áo chui đầu), are made of woven material with brocade patterns based on the colors red, black, dark green, white, purple. The patterns resemble drawings of animals, stylized flowers and leaves.

The Jrai People mainly live in the two districts Ea Sup and Ea H’Leo and in the Aya Unpa region of the neighboring Gia Lai Province. In Dak Lak, they have a population of 13,589 people. As with the Ede language, Jrai originates from the Malayo- Polynesian language family and is also related to the Nam Dao language family. Their society is based on a matriarchal system where the family is lead by a woman. She is assisted by a group of further family members, the dăm dei, which also includes men from the same blood line, e.g. her brothers.

In the old days, the village (plei or plơi) was formed by one family only. However several families may live together in one village now. The village head is selected by a group of village leaders who consists of the head women of the families (phun sang).

As for the Ede, the communal life of the Jrai people takes place at river landings and in the communal long house (sang rung). As for all local ethnic minority groups in the Central Highlands, rituals play an important role in the Jrai society and are celebrated particularly at the transition from the dry to the rainy season (March/April) and after harvest (November/December). The Tha plơi is the ceremonial leader in community rituals. In addition, each Jrai village has magicians and mediators between the people and the deities.

The life of all local ethnic groups in the Central Highlands, from birth to adulthood until the return to the world of the ancestors is accompanied by the harmony of gongs. The melody of the Jrai, Ede and Mnong gongs is harmonic and lyric and their deep sound combined with a repeating rhythm reaches not only the people in the Central Highlands but also their far away relatives. Gongs of the Central Highlands are recognized as masterpiece of cultural heritage by UNESCO.

Rượu cần, a local wine which is drunk from a large jar with long bamboo straws,is the most popularwine of native residents of the Central Highlands. The way to make and drink Rượu cần has become a long-standing custom and a cultural feature in their life. Drinking Rượu cần is a ritual which is often practiced to honor guests. Usually, the host or the highest person in the village starts to drink in order to show that this is a jar of good wine. Then the guests of honor and other community members are invited to taste the delicious brew.