*Other Names: Xá Khao, Xá Xúa, Xá Đón, Xá Dâng, Xá Hộc, Xá Ái, Xá Bung, Quảng Lâm.
*Population: Approximately 4,000 people.
*Residency: Sơn La and Lai Châu province
*Language: Belongs to the Mon-Khmer language group.

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*Economy: The Kháng people practice slash-and-burn agriculture, planting a lot of sticky rice as their main staple. Nowadays, many have switched to plowing and sowing seeds, and some have terraced fields, although not many. The community commonly raises chickens, pigs, and buffaloes. They also produce woven items such as chairs, baskets, trays, chests, and gourd containers. The Kháng people use a single-strap gourd worn across the forehead. They grow cotton and exchange it for fabric and clothing from the Thai, resulting in clothing similar to that of the Thai. Kháng women blacken their teeth and chew betel.

*Housing: The Kháng live in stilt houses. Typically, their houses have three compartments and two wings, with a turtle-shell style roof and two doors at either end of the house, and two windows on the side walls. Each house has two hearths (one for daily cooking and one for heating and for preparing offerings when parents pass away).

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*Marriage: The Kháng people’s marriage customs involve several stages: the initial proposal, requesting to live as a son-in-law, the wedding, a second wedding ceremony, and finally, bringing the bride to the groom’s house to start a new family. The maternal uncle plays a special role in arranging marriages for his nieces and nephews.

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*Funeral Customs: According to Kháng customs, the deceased are buried with care. The grave includes a small mortuary house and various items for the deceased such as a clothing chest, rice basket, wine straw, bowls, and chopsticks. At the head of the grave, a 4-5 meter tall post is planted, with a wooden bird at the top and the deceased's spouse's clothing hanging from it.

The Kháng people believe that a person has five "souls." After death, one soul remains at home, one at the fields, one at the base of the tree used for making the coffin, one at the mortuary house, and one in the sky. Deceased parents are worshipped on a panel in the corner of the house, known as the house spirit. Every year, the villagers perform rituals to honor the sky spirit and the earth spirit.

Translated by Huyen Vu