Scope and Contents

Approximately 20 linear feet of books, periodicals, maps, clippings, carvings, swords, pipes, and textiles donated to the Vietnam Archive by the famous anthropologist Gerald Hickey from his personal collection. The books are primarily written in French, but also include some Vietnamese and English publications. The dates of the material range throughout the 20th century and even some into the late 19th century. The majority of the books concern the study of the Montagnard tribes of Vietnam. The artifacts were collected during Hickey's anthropological fieldwork in the Vietnamese Highlands from the 1950s through the 1970s and include Montagnard hand-carved wooden statues of a peahen and an androgynous human figure which was placed on a grave from the Katu tribe. Also included are five swords and multiple examples of Jarai, Rhade, Bahnar, and Maa woven textiles to include shirts, blankets, and loincloths. There are also multiple examples of ornamented bamboo pipes of Bahanar, Cua, Stieng, and Halang origin.

Biographical / Historical

Gerald Hickey (aka Gerald Cannon Hickey, Gerald C. Hickey) was born in 1925 in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Hickey was an noted anthropologist who worked in Southeast Asia, primarily in Vietnam and Laos. From 1956 to 1973 he conducted ethnographic field research in Vietnam studying the Montagnard tribes in the Central Highlands. Much of that time he spent working for the RAND Corporation. He was considered to be the world's foremost academic authority on the Montagnards, publishing several books and RAND papers.

Dr. Hickey passed away on 9 November 2010.