Young Indigenous Love in the Digital Age.

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Kung-fu Hillbilly
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Young Indigenous Love in the Digital Age.

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The Kreung are one of the countries largest groups, part of the Khmer Loeu — highlanders in the northeast provinces of Ratanakiri, Mondulkiri, and Stung Treng — residing in Ratanakiri Province. Ratanakiri, one of the most sparsely populated provinces, is also home to the highest number of indigenous people in the country..
“Bride and Groom huts” — often incorrectly referred to as “love huts” were once an indigenous Kreung custom, where young girls and boys approaching adolescence were given their own private huts outside the family home. Here they could live independently, court the opposite sex to find the correct life partner, as well as experiment with premarital sex without judgement or social stigma.
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the REMANENCE of one of the last “love Huts” in a village, belonging to a village chief, which has not been used since 2008. before huts were common practice, as parents wanted their children to be independent. around 2008, parents stopped building the huts as there were rape cases in other villages. the chief thinks young people are changing because they have phones and are interacting with khmer people who are coming into Kreung villages “Things are not as they were before”.
Now this tradition which was once a key part of Kreung culture no longer exists. These huts have not been used for the past 10-15 years, being made redundant within indigenous society due to technology and better road conditions. As people are increasingly more exposed to Cambodian culture, their traditional practices are being altered and viewed as “taboo” in contrast to Khmer society. From their growing exposure to mainstream Khmer culture, the youth are developing a new perception of what’s “right and wrong”.
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At sunset, after she finishes work on the rubber plantation, she baths in the open well, eats with her family by an open wood fire, then eagerly heads into the village to watch television with the other girls. Playing with her friends and ducking out from the group, she speaks with Ra on the phone.
Ra, an indigenous Tampeun, lives in Ping a few villages away from Channy. Unlike the other young people in the village, Ra does not own a phone of his own as he cannot afford one. Instead, he constantly borrows the phones of other workers and villagers, throughout the day and night.
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As young people were able to experiment with partners in the past, like before, Ra also experiments … Instead of using huts, Ra experiments through technology.
Full article https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/201 ... -cambodia/
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