Baskets of wisdom: Bahnar basketry, folk taxonomies, and the maintenance of upland environmental intelligence in Vietnam.

This article examines the diverse basketry traditions of the Bahnar (or Ba Na) ethnic group in Vietnam's Central Highlands, highlighting how their varied basket types embody rich cultural, ecological, and environmental knowledge. While Vietnamese public media and heritage representations often use the single term gùi to denote ethnic backpack baskets, the Bahnar distinguish numerous basket types with specific names, uses, and associated folk taxonomies that reflect detailed Indigenous knowledge of plants, materials, and environmental conditions. The study emphasizes that Bahnar basketry serves not only practical and ritual functions but also acts as a vessel for Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and environmental intelligence, linking material culture with biodiversity conservation and cultural identity. However, socioeconomic changes and material scarcity are contributing to the loss of basketry diversity and related knowledge, underscoring the importance of ethnographic documentation and cultural transmission within the community.