Brief history of the Thanksgiving Day in America
In September 1620, there were 102 passengers on a small ship called
the Mayflower left Plymouth, England, to seek for a new home in the New
World, so they could freely practice their faith and own a prosperity
lands. After a long trip on the sea, faced a brutal winter, and suffered
from outbreaks of the contagious disease, only half of the Mayflower’s
passengers survived and moved ashore in Massachusetts in March 2011.
They were fortunate to be greeted in English by an Abenaki Indian and
later introduced to another Native American, Squanto, who could speak
English. Squanto taught them how to cultivate corn, catch fish in
rivers, extract sap from maple tree, and avoid poisonous plants.
In November 1621, the Pilgrims successfully harvested their first
corn. They organized a celebratory feast and invited the Native American
to celebrate the American’s “first Thanksgiving” to the Native
American. In December 26, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a
bill into law making Thanksgiving a national holiday on the fourth
Thursday in November of each year.
Brief history of the First Present of the Vietnamese in Kampuchea-Krom
In 1620, North Vietnam was still divided and controlled by Trinh Lord
(Upper North) and Nguyen Lord (Lower North). With the pressure from the
North by the Trinh Lord and constant attacks from the South by Champa
in efforts to reclaim its land, the Nguyen Lord tactically presented his
daughter, Princess Ngoc Van, to the Cambodian King, King Chey Chetha
II. At that time, King Chey Chettha was 42 years old and already
married. King Chey Chettha accepted the offering from Nguyen Lord to
build a relationship of mutual interest between Cambodia and Nguyen
Lord. King Chey Chettha thought that with his relationship with Nguyen
Lord, Siam would give up their influence and encroachment on Cambodia
territory. Unfortunately, he did not know that his political marriage
with the Vietnamese princess started to fall into the Nguyen Lord’s
strategy called the “March to the South”
In 1623, aided by Queen Ngoc Van’s intervention, the Nguyen warlord
sent Vietnamese delegates to ask the Court of Udong to grant permission
for the Vietnamese people to conduct trade in Preah Sourkea (Baria),
Prei Nokor (Sai Gon), and Chonva Tropeang (Bien Hoa) provinces. Obliged
through his marriage, King Chey Chettha II gave trade permission and
allowed the Vietnamese people temporary settlement in those provinces.
This was the first time that the Vietnamese obtained a foothold in
Kampuchea-Krom and began their ambitious expansion plans toward the
South in which the Kingdom of Champa became their first target.
The Fabricated and Distorted History by the Vietnamese Government
In recent years, the Vietnamese Association of Historical Sciences
published a book entitled Brief History of the Southwestern Territory of
Vietnam, in which many historical “facts” were fabricated and distorted
with regard to the history of the indigenous Khmer-Krom peoples in
Kampuchea-Krom.
Vietnam keeps claiming that Kampuchea-Krom was a wasted vast land.
The Vietnamese ancestors came to cultivate this land and have made it
becoming the prosperous land as today. Vietnam totally ignores the facts
that the Khmer-Krom people have lived on their ancestral lands way
before the Vietnamese arrived. Their temples and historical sites were
built in this land over thousand years. If Kampuchea-Krom have
Khmer-Krom living there before Vietnamese arrived, it could not be
claimed that this land has no owner. If this land had no owner, the Cham
people in Champa Kingdom already moved down to live on this land while
the Nguyen Lord had been gradually annexed their Kingdom.
It is time for the Vietnamese historian and government to start
accepting the truth just like the western historians and government. In
America, Australia, Canada, students are allowed to learn about the true
history of their countries. Teach the true history does not mean that
it would invoke the revenge, but it actually does to prevent the history
to be repeated. Unfortunately, the Vietnamese government still does not
think that way. They believe in using force to threaten the Khmer-Krom
students to learn the fabricated history that they wrote for Khmer-Krom
students to study.
Eliminating the Khmer-Krom Identity
Vietnam signed to adopt the United Nations Declaration on the Rights
of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) on September 13, 2007, but Vietnam
refused to accept the existence of the Indigenous Peoples in Vietnam and
just called them as “ethnic minority” to tactically refusing
implementing the rights of the Indigenous Peoples in Vietnam.
Vietnam does not allow Khmer-Krom people to call be called as
“Khmer-Krom”. The tourists will not know that the temple or village of
the “ethnic Khmer minority” that they are visiting belong to the
Khmer-Krom.
Since 2004, the Khmers Kampuchea-Krom (KKF) has brought the
Khmer-Krom’s issues regarding to the basic human rights violations
committed by the Vietnamese government to the International spotlight at
the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII). The
Vietnamese government accused the KKF for presenting the falsity evident
to the forum and refused to have the open dialog to resolve the
Khmer-Krom’s issues.
Under pressure from international community and governments, Vietnam
has started implement some programs to help the Khmer-Krom. Vietnam
allows for Khmer-Krom students to study their own language about 2 to 3
hours a week in their boarding schools that have only the Khmer-Krom
students study. Not all the public schools where the Khmer-Krom people
habitat have their language classes.
Vietnam also has Khmer program on its propaganda television channel.
Even the program is broadcasted in Khmer for the Khmer-Krom to watch,
but the Vietnamese government does not allow the Khmer-Krom reporters to
call the names of their villages, districts, or provinces in their own
language, but in Vietnamese. It shows that the Vietnamese government is
implementing a hidden agenda to brainwash the Khmer-Krom younger
generation to forget calling their villages, districts, and provinces in
their own language, and to gradually erasing their identity and
history.
When will Vietnam Accept the Truth?
Vietnam always says that the Vietnamese and the Khmer-Krom people
have “thousand years of friendship”. In reality, the friendship between
the Vietnamese and the Khmer-Krom is a one way friendship. The
Khmer-Krom has no voice in their relationship with the Vietnamese.
Vietnam has received billion dollars from extracting the crude oils
from Kampuchea-Krom’s sea in O-Kap (Vung Tau) province. The Khmer-Krom
farmers in Mekong Delta have helped Vietnam become the second country of
the world in exporting rice. Vietnam has gained million dollars from
exploiting the Khmer-Krom temples, sacred sites, tradition sports (boat
racing, ox racing), and Khmer-Krom cultural events, to lure the foreign
tourists visiting Mekong Delta. Unfortunately, the Khmer-Krom people
just receive very little benefits that the Vietnamese government has
provided to them. Whatever Vietnam helps Khmer-Krom, Vietnam uses it to
propagate to the world that Vietnam helps the Khmer-Krom.
The Khmer-Krom youths keep dropping out school to look for works in
big cities. The Khmer-Krom people are still the poorest of the poor in
Mekong Delta.
The true friendship between the Vietnamese and the Khmer-Krom people
only could be achieved if it is built upon honesty for constructional
dialogs and respect for the truth. The Khmer-Krom people have
contributed too much to the current economy of Vietnam and have made
Mekong Delta to be one of the attractive places for foreigners coming to
invest and visit.
Unfortunately, the Khmer-Krom people still live in fear and have no
basic rights as mentioned in the Vietnam constitution or UNDRIP.
When would Vietnam recognize a day as a Thanksgiving Day to
honestly and truthfully thank the Khmer-Krom as its national holiday so
the Khmer-Krom can live freely from fear and oppression?
Published by: khmerkrom.net
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