“Viet­namese Hill Tribes” is some­times used to describe the eth­nic minor­i­ty groups in Viet­nam, most of which, live in the mountains.

Huệ, 68, gets a ride to work in Hoi An, Viet­nam. When I took this pho­to we did­n’t know who she was so we sought her out to learn her story.

Focus­ing on the Eth­nic Minori­ties of Viet­nam. An inter­view with Alden Ander­son by Sam­my T Hoang of Cul­ture Magazin.

B’lôn, 90, from the Stieng (Xtiêng) eth­nic group, sits in front of her small wood­en house in South­ern Viet­nam. Her ear lobes are elon­gat­ed with ivory earrings.

Pra, 92 smokes her pipe in the liv­ing room of her house in the coun­try­side of cen­tral Viet­nam. She is from the Ta Oi Eth­nic Group and walked from Laos with her fam­i­ly, many years ago.

Nga and her friends are from the Si La eth­nic group. They live in a remote vil­lage in the moun­tains of North­ern Viet­nam. With 909 mem­bers, the Si La are one of the small­est eth­nic groups in Vietnam.

“I am a fourth-gen­er­a­­tion shaman. My father is a shaman as well. I start­ed to learn when I was 15.” Lái, Giáy Eth­nic Group, Ha Giang, Vietnam.

The Eth­nic Diver­si­ty of North­ern Viet­nam is a Pho­tog­ra­phy and Cul­ture Project by Pho­tog­ra­ph­er Alden Ander­son and his part­ner Trinh Nguyen, Doc­u­ment­ing the Beau­ti­ful, Rich, and Diverse Eth­nic Groups of North­ern Vietnam.