{"id":3624,"date":"2014-04-21T14:29:09","date_gmt":"2014-04-21T21:29:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maelstromcore.com\/?p=3624"},"modified":"2017-10-18T21:22:26","modified_gmt":"2017-10-19T04:22:26","slug":"montagnard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/maelstromcore.com\/?p=3624","title":{"rendered":"The Montagnard – Many People Far from Home"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Montagnards (French for “mountain people”) are indigenous to the highlands of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.\u00a0 They are a little known ethnicity who today consist of about 30 tribes, 4 million people.\u00a0 They represent a collection of unique indigenous cultures and speak a range of Austronesian languages.\u00a0 The highland people have a history of tensions with the Vietnamese majority, centering around land ownership, religious freedoms,\u00a0 and rights to the preservation of their culture – a culture which is distinctly different.<\/p>\n

\"vietnam-central-highlands-51\"<\/a>During the Vietnam war, many Montagnards were trained by the American special forces in hopes that they would be able to stop the Viet Cong activity in the highlands.\u00a0 Around 40,000 Montagnard troops fought with the Americans and were crucial to military efforts in the highlands.\u00a0 Veterans of the Vietnam conflict often speak highly of the bravery, integrity, and faithfulness of the “Yards”, as they were fondly called.<\/p>\n

After the fall of Saigon, the decision was made to leave the Montagnards behind when the US troops pulled out.\u00a0 Many of the Montagnards fled to Cambodia for fear that the government would \u00a0punish them for helping the Americans.\u00a0 After they withdrew, their situation became increasingly worse – Montagnards who had been taken from their homes for security reasons came back to find their traditional living places occupied.\u00a0 Many became refugees as fighting between the North and South intensified.\u00a0 Land was taken over, forests were cut down, and their homes ruined.<\/p>\n

\"759px-F38\"<\/a>By the time the fighting had ceased, it was estimated around 200,000 Montagnards had been killed and the vast majority of their villages destroyed. Because of their involvement with the Americans during the war and their commitment to their Christian faith, the Montagnard found themselves severely repressed by the government –\u00a0 many were arrested, beaten, killed or imprisoned.<\/p>\n

Below is an audio link to stories from both Montagnard people and Americans who fought beside them during the Vietnam war.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/thecurrent\/episode\/2014\/03\/17\/the-forgotten-army-the-story-of-forgotten-victims-of-the-vietnam-war\/<\/p>\n

Still actively repressed by the government, over 250 Montagnard people have fled to Vancouver, where they are now able to practice their cultural traditions and follow their own religion.<\/p>\n