Montagnard

Montagnard is the most common term for a group of at least 20 tribal peoples, whose ancestral lands are in the highlands of Southeast Asia, principally in Vietnam but also in Laos and Cambodia. The term moi has also been used, especially by the French colonial administration, but that is sometimes considered derogatory.

The individual groups have distinct identities, but warrior traditions are common. They include the Rhade, Meo, Bru, Katu, Tai, Jeh, Sedang, Halang, Jarai, M'Nong, and Stieng.

While less involved than some of the lowland, politicized sects such as the Cao Dai and Hoa Hao, they did become part of some coalitions.

Under the French
In French Indochina, they maintained some autonomy, and there traditionally was little intermixing or friendship with the lowlanders. The Viet Minh found some quite willing to fight the French, At the end of the Indochinese revolution, some Frenchmen settled in the hill country.

Under the Diem government
Under the South Vietnamese government of Ngo Dinh Diem, there was a policy to "Vietnamize" them, sometimes forcibly relocating them and giving their land to ethnic Vietnamese. The Communists tried to exploit the resentment against these policies, and reported that the tribesmen, in some cases, hated Diem more than the French. United States Army Special Forces personnel working with the hill people were often well-received, as distinct from the lowlanders; the Special Forces units tried to work within the tribal tradition. It is not uncommon, when visiting former Special Forces personnel who served in that area, to wear, with great pride, a tribal bracelet or amulet.

Especially among the Meo and Tai, in Laos and the northern Tonkin area of northern Vietnam, opium growing was traditional and was an economic undercurrent throughout the wars in the area.

After Diem
In 1964, a number of tribal groups that were working with both U.S. Special Forces and their Army of the Republic of Viet Nam (ARVN) counterparts, the Lac Luong Dac Biet (LLDB), rebelled against the Vietnamese. Montagnard members of Civilian Irregular Defense Groups (CIDG) rebelled at Buon Mi Ga,Buon Sar Pa, Bu Prang, Ban Don, and Buon Brieng, restraining but but not harming USASF, but killing 28 Vietnamese,, then advancing on the town of Ban Me Thuot, the province capital.

They remained friendly to the U.S. personnel, and it was only [[Lac Luong Dac Biet#Montagnard revolt |U.S. mediation that calmed the situation.