© John Vink / Magnum Photos

 

Three Rivers Dams (3)

Taveang Leu, still on the banks of the Sesan river. Cambodia being Cambodia, crossing a rickety and dancing suspended bridge not just takes us across a small river. It projects us into another world. The indigenous Brao of the village had finished a ceremony to appease the spirits menacing a member of their community hospitalised in Phnom Penh. A buffalo had been sacrificed, its head cut off and exposed on an altar, its body tossed in a fire to burn off the hair.

The 30,000 Brao of Cambodia are just one of the indigenous communities, montagnards or hilltribes who are living in the areas which will be affected by the construction of the dams along the Sesan, Srepok and Sekong rivers. The refuge from assimilation by their Indianized Khmer cousins offered years ago by the hills and mountains of the Ratanakkiri, Stung Treng and Mondulkiri provinces is not sufficient anymore. The indigenous communities will face a hard time maintaining their customs, social structure and traditional food supplies.

CAMBODIA. Taveang Leu (Ratanakkiri). 19/02/2013: Indigenous Brao pulling a buffalo sacrificed for a relative hospitalised in Phnom Penh out of the fire. The community is under threat of being displaced to make way for the reservoir of the Sesan3 dam.

CAMBODIA. Taveang Leu (Ratanakkiri). 19/02/2013: Indigenous Brao pulling a buffalo sacrificed for a relative hospitalised in Phnom Penh out of the fire. The community is under threat of being displaced to make way for the reservoir of the Sesan3 dam.

CAMBODIA. Taveang Leu (Ratanakkiri). 19/02/2013: Indigenous Brao cutting up a buffalo sacrificed for a relative hospitalised in Phnom Penh. The community is under threat of being displaced to make way for the reservoir of the Sesan3 dam.

CAMBODIA. Taveang Leu (Ratanakkiri). 19/02/2013: Indigenous Brao cutting up a buffalo sacrificed for a relative hospitalised in Phnom Penh. The community is under threat of being displaced to make way for the reservoir of the Sesan3 dam.

CAMBODIA. Taveang Leu (Ratanakkiri). 19/02/2013: Head of a buffalo sacrificed and exposed in a traditional altar by indigenous Brao for a relative hospitalised in Phnom Penh.

CAMBODIA. Taveang Leu (Ratanakkiri). 19/02/2013: Head of a buffalo sacrificed and exposed in a traditional altar by indigenous Brao for a relative hospitalised in Phnom Penh.

CAMBODIA. Taveang Leu (Ratanakkiri). 19/02/2013: Indigenous Brao during a ceremony involving the sacrifice of a buffalo for a relative hospitalised in Phnom Penh. The community is under threat of being displaced to make way for the reservoir of the Sesan3 dam.

CAMBODIA. Taveang Leu (Ratanakkiri). 19/02/2013: Indigenous Brao during a ceremony involving the sacrifice of a buffalo for a relative hospitalised in Phnom Penh. The community is under threat of being displaced to make way for the reservoir of the Sesan3 dam.

CAMBODIA. Taveang Leu (Ratanakkiri). 19/02/2013: Decorations of an altar exposing the head of a buffalo sacrificed by indigenous Brao for a relative hospitalised in Phnom Penh.

CAMBODIA. Taveang Leu (Ratanakkiri). 19/02/2013: Decorations of an altar exposing the head of a buffalo sacrificed by indigenous Brao for a relative hospitalised in Phnom Penh.

CAMBODIA. Taveang Leu (Ratanakkiri). 19/02/2013: Head of a buffalo sacrificed and exposed in a traditional altar by indigenous Brao for a relative hospitalised in Phnom Penh.

CAMBODIA. Taveang Leu (Ratanakkiri). 19/02/2013: Head of a buffalo sacrificed and exposed in a traditional altar by indigenous Brao for a relative hospitalised in Phnom Penh.

CAMBODIA. Taveang Leu (Ratanakkiri). 19/02/2013: Head of a buffalo sacrificed and exposed in a traditional altar by indigenous Brao for a relative hospitalised in Phnom Penh.

CAMBODIA. Taveang Leu (Ratanakkiri). 19/02/2013: Head of a buffalo sacrificed and exposed in a traditional altar by indigenous Brao for a relative hospitalised in Phnom Penh.

CAMBODIA. Taveang Leu (Ratanakkiri). 19/02/2013: Grandsons of Kham Teuv, 68 yrs, former village chief, in front of a map showing all the hydropower dams in the region, Vietnam included. Kham Teuv and his sons are a few of those who are aware of the dangers tied to the building of the Sesan3 dam nearby, as their house was flooded 3 times at a height of up to 7 meters by the waters released from the Yali dam in Vietnam.

CAMBODIA. Taveang Leu (Ratanakkiri). 19/02/2013: Grandsons of Kham Teuv, 68 yrs, former village chief, in front of a map showing all the hydropower dams in the region, Vietnam included. Kham Teuv and his sons are a few of those who are aware of the dangers tied to the building of the Sesan3 dam nearby, as their house was flooded 3 times at a height of up to 7 meters by the waters released from the Yali dam in Vietnam.

CAMBODIA. Taveang Leu (Ratanakkiri). 19/02/2013: Net surrounding a volleyball pitch. The Sesan3 dam is planned nearby.

CAMBODIA. Taveang Leu (Ratanakkiri). 19/02/2013: Net surrounding a volleyball pitch. The Sesan3 dam is planned nearby.

Link to ‘Peuples d’en Haut’ a book about people with a strong cultural identity leaving in mountaineous areas…

See also here and here…

3 Responses to “Three Rivers Dams (3)”

  1. [...] See also here, here and here… [...]

    © John Vink / Magnum Photos » Three Rivers Dams (4) - February 26th, 2013 at 2:03 pm

  2. [...] also here, here, here, and [...]

    © John Vink / Magnum Photos » Three Rivers Dams (5) - February 27th, 2013 at 3:44 am

  3. [...] also here, here, here, here, here, and [...]

    © John Vink / Magnum Photos » Three Rivers Dams (7) - March 9th, 2013 at 6:26 am

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