Meet mahout Y Quang Bya in Buon Don district
WVR - For people in the Central Highlands, elephants are considered as family members and friends of the village.
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Accordingly, from the time of domestication to the process of living together with elephants, the M’Nong people always treat elephants like a family member. Young mahout Y Quang Bya (M’nong ethnic group) in Ban Don village, Krong Na hamlet, Buon Don district, Dak Lak province is such a person.
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| Elephant Kham On participated in 2023 Buon Don Elephant Festival. (Photo: VNA) |
After his “performance”, Mr. Y Quang Bya shouted: “Trum!”. And then, the elephant Kham On knelt down immediately, helping him to easily come down and talk to the tourists. He introduced himself, along with the words “communicating” with the elephant were entirely in M’Nong language: “My name is Y Quang Bya, I’m 17 years old. Next to me is Kham On (the elephant), I raised this elephant from the time he was 10 years old up to now. Considering Kham On as an indispensable family member, I take care of his meals and drinks”.
Mr. Y Quang Bya is the fourth-generation member in a family with a tradition of taming elephants. Kham On came from the mountains and forests to Mr. Y Quang’s family, M’Nong village, when he was 10 years old. Through the process of domestication, Mr. Y Thot Knul passed on the elephant tamer’s profession to his son, Mr. Y Quang Bya.
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| Mahout Y Quang Bya and elephant Kham On won first prize in the audience greeting competition. (Photo: baodantoc.vn) |
After years of diligent domestication, the wild elephant has become a family member and was named after Laotian custom in Buon Don. Reaching his adulthood, Kham On helped his family and village with many tasks, including transporting agricultural products and pulling wood to build houses. There was a time when Kham On participated in tourist services, leading tourists across the Serepok River and taking tourists to visit villages. In his spare time, Mr. Y Quang Bya took Kham On back to the forest as a way of returning Kham On back to his wild roots.
Having been taught by his father for many years attached to Kham On, Mr. Y Quang Bya has mastered the skills of controlling the elephant with voice commands, such as: go, stop, kneel down, wade, go fast, go slow, turn right, turn left, and swim underwater.
Mr. Y Quang Bya said that elephant taming is a dangerous profession as elephant handlers have been injured when falling from the elephants’ bodies to the ground. The mahout must feel the elephant’s “mood”, for instance, when the elephant is angry, do not approach and let it rest. Each elephant has its own unique personality and approach that only the elephant keeper can understand. In order for the elephant to obey, the mahout not only has to be gentle but also threatening. In particular, the mahout must love, understand, and have a close bond with the elephant.
Behaving with elephants has become a cultural feature of the M’Nong people. At the end of 2022, Dak Lak province decided to spend 55.400 billion VND to transform the elephant riding tourism model into an elephant-friendly tourism model. The project’s goal is to implement an elephant-friendly tourism model, end elephant-riding tourism activities, and promote the welfare of captive elephants.
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| Tourists are excited for the 2023 Buon Don Elephant Festival. (Photo: VNA) |
The project has been officially implemented. Mahouts in general and young mahout Y Quang Bya in particular strongly agree with this activity. He said: “From this year, the village will eliminate all elephant riding tourism services, only taking photos with elephants and promoting elephant-friendly tourism. I think that’s fine, although it’s a bit sad since I’ve been attached to elephants since I was little. If my family no longer improves elephant tourism, we will take the elephants into the forest, feeding them bananas and sugarcanes”.
The “elephant-friendly tourism” model, ending elephant-riding tourism activities, also received a response from tourists. According to Mr. Tran Van Bay (Buon Ma Thuot city), when switching to elephant-friendly tourism, elephants will have better health protection. Locals and tourists both unanimously support the province’s policy on a friendly tourism model.
Elephants are always present in the lives of the M’Nong people in the legendary land of Buon Don. Since ancient times, elephants have transported goods and humans, worked with people in the fields, and participated in festivals. The strength of elephants is also considered a symbol of the strength of community solidarity, family, and village. Consequently, behaving with elephants is also a cultural beauty of the M’Nong people.
