The Cham people of Vietnam

When I am asked about my cultural heritage I often give a hypenated answer- I am a Cham, Vietnamese, American, Australian Muslim. The last four labels are self-explanatory but usually the first label perplex people. Who are the Cham people?

The Cham people are one of 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam. They are the indigenous people who once ruled a country called the Kingdom of Champa, which encompassed what is now southern and central Vietnam.

Champa lost its capital, Vijaya, in 1471 and in 1697 it lost the southern area of Panduranga. In 1832, the Kingdom lost all of its land to the Vietnamese.

There are roughly 100,000 Chams in Vietnam, 300,000 Chams in Cambodia and another 5,000 diaspora in Austalia, Malaysia, Hainan, Thailand, France, United States, Indonesia and France.

The Cham people historically were Hindus and Buddhists. In the 10th century, Islam started making inroads into Champa, but it was only in the 17th century when many of the Cham rulers converted to Islam that the religion had a major impact on the Cham people. While there are no known statistics to indicate how many Chams are Muslims (both orthodox and Bani) or Hindu, Buddhists, animist, or a combination of all, Hakim Haji Musa (President of the Islamic Community of An Giang Province in Vietnam) estimates that more than 50 percent of Chams are Muslims.

There are 7 major provinces in Vietnam where the majority of Muslims live. My father's side come from Chau Doc, 6 hours drive from Ho Chi Minh City.

Chau Doc is a busy town in the An Giang District, bordering Cambodia and is home to the Viets, Khmers and the Cham people.

Chau Doc is known for its basa fish (catfish) markets, its different types of fish sauce and its special anchovy.



I have yet to experience this mode of getting around



The view of the Chau Doc markets (both wet and dry) from our hotel room (Trung Nguyen hotel).



Kids riding their bike back to school after lunch on the street I grew up in, where my Grandma, uncles and aunties and many cousins still live

This is the village cafe



And the local convenient store, right across the street from Uncle's house

Many Cham people are poor in the Chau Doc district and this is apparent in the homes in the area.



This house belongs to Grandma's cousin

A typical tin shed home. Some of the homes are no bigger than our backyard sheds.


And this home below is probably one of the nicer homes in the village. It belongs to the most important Cham man in the village, perhaps in all of Vietnam.