Ta Oi people

The Tà Ôi is an ethnic group of Vietnam (52,356 in 2019) and Laos (45,991 in 2015). They speak the Ta’Oi language, a Mon–Khmer language. They are concentrated in A Lưới district of Thừa Thiên–Huế Province and Hướng Hóa District of Quảng Trị Province in Vietnam, and in muang Ta Oy of Saravane Province in southern Laos. The Ta-oi ethnic group speaks a language in the Mon–Khmer language family, and is regarded as one of Vietnam's indigenous groups. The Ta Oi call themselves Taoih, or sometimes as Taoih or Ta Uot, and is called by the Paco sub-group as Can Tua or Can Tang, which means "highlanders". According to the April 1, 1999 census on population and housing, the Ta-oi have a population of 34,960, accounting for 0.07% of the national population. At present, the Ta-oi live in both Vietnam and Laos, in the latter nation where they the Ta oi mainstream population and also call themselves as Ta-oih. Another sub-group of the Ta-Oi is called as Paco (Pa coh), which means "persons who live behind the mountains." Judging by the family clan origin, marriage and family relationship and language, the Ba hi people who mainly lives in Hướng Hóa District, Quảng Trị Province, can be regarded as a local sub-group of the Ta-oi. The Ta-oi in Nham commune explain that they called themselves as Ta uot, but the members of the Kinh ethnic group coming from the lowlands of Thừa Thiên–Huế called them as Ta-oi. The Ta uot group lives mainly in middle-level of mountains and are sparsely distributed in the mountain tops. In addition to swidden cultivation, they are adept in growing cotton, weaving cloth and brocades, in sewing or fastening glass beads on costumes, and in making some musical instruments (drums, pan flutes). The Paco live at the foot of mountains and hills, are conversant in slope field cultivation, in bamboo and rattan weaving, but are not adept in cloth weaving. But they are good traders who earn profits through exchanging cloth and clothes, blacksmith goods, beautiful shoulder baskets, honey against other more valuable goods.