Making pots in Yang Tao village : Fashioning of a large pot (dlah bay) and a steaming pot (kơl hôl piêng)

Fashioning pot in Mnong is called ‘muôn dlah’. Yo Khoanh is making a dlah bay, a large pot to dye clothes or store things. Mai Kim is making a kơl hôl piêng, a pot to steam rice and sticky rice. They both start with a cylindre of clay that they open all around, 3-4cm away from the edge. They scrape out clay from the middle of the lump to spread around the edge to both hollow and elevate the initial lump of clay. Then they draw the walls from inside and outside. While drawing outside, they also form the shape of the pot. They smooth out the walls with water and a bamboo stick called ‘ne pôi dlah’, where ‘ne’ is the stick, ‘pôi’ the action of drawing the walls from the outside and ‘dlah’ the generic term for pottery. Finally, they form the rim using water and a piece of cloth called ‘at dlah’. During the whole process, the pot stays fixed on its support and the potters walk around the support. This action of turning around is called ‘uôt’ in Mnong. At some point, Mai Xiu joins them with some half dried pots and polish them.