チャヴィン省のクメール・クロム : 1995年夏のメコン・デルタ農村調査報告

The Khmers or Cambodians in Vietnam, numbering about 900.000 (1994), today live in paticulary remote areas in the Mekong Delta. They were native in the southern Vietnam before settlement by other ethnic peoples. This paper discusses a number of agricultural problems of the Khmer, situations within their hamlets and societies as they attempt to coexist harmoniously with the Kin (Viet) and Chinese in Travinh province. The paper is based on field research done by the writer in 1995. Travinh province occupies one part of an enormous sand bar between the Haugiang and Cochien Rivers, characterized by complex coastal landforms containing subunits, such as sand ridges, coastal flats, Inter-ridges and mangrove swamps. The Khmer typically inhabit on sand ridges running parallel to the coastline, which are generally the highest altitude in the area, and they use the steep slopes for agriculture. The writer did field research in the Khmer system of agriculture through personal interviews. Questions included those on natural conditions, land use, irrigation work, ethnic cohabitation in the same hamlet, rural institutions, village history, newly immigrated frontiers, and recent socio-economic changes in different villages of three districts. After reporting the effects of this field research, the writer discusses the results giving special attention to the following points: (1) Historical reorganization of social institutions, (2) Cohabitation of ethnic varieties, (3) Agricultural technics for development, and (4) Troubles caused by population increase on sand ridges in Travinh province