Kayan (Burma)
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The Kayan are a group of the Karenni people, a Tibeto-Burman ethnic minority of Burma (Myanmar).One of the first occurrences of the name Kayan is in Khin Maung Nyunt The Ka-yans (White Karen) of the Pinlong District (1967), but he refers not to Padaungs, but to White Karens. In The Hardy Padaungs (1967) the same author says that Padaung prefer to be called Kayan[1].
The Kayan resident in Mae Hong Son Province in Northern Thailand refer to themselves as Kayan and are offended by the persistent use of the terms “Padaung” or “Long-neck Karen hill tribe”. Padaung (Yan Pa Doung) is a Shan term for the Kayan Lahwi (the group whose women wear the brass neck coils).
The Kayan are made up of the following groups: Kayan Lahwi, Kayan Ka Khaung (Gekho) , Kayan Lahta , Kayan Ka Ngan. The Kayan Gebar, Kayan Kakhi and the Kayaw are also sometimes grouped with the Kayan.
In the late 1980 and early 1990s[2], due to conflict with the military regime in Burma, many Kayan tribes people fled into neighbouring Thailand. There they live with an uncertain legal status in the border area, in villages set up to display them to tourists who are willing to pay to admire their particular body modification, which consists of coiling lengths of brass around the necks of the women.
According to U Aung Roe (1993:21ss) Kayan number about 40,000 in Shan State (around the Pekon area) and 20,000 in Kayah State (around Demawso and Loikow). A 2004 estimate puts the population at approximately 130,000[3]. In Mae Hong Son there are about 600 Kayan residing in the three villages open to tourists, or in the Ban Mai Nai Soi refugee camp.
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[edit] Geography
[edit] Present Settlement of the Kayans
According to Kayan tradition the Kayan settled in the Demawso area of Karenni State (Kayah State) in 739 BC[4]. Today they are to be found in Karenni (Kayah) State around Demawso and Loikow, in the southern region of Shan State and in Mandalay’s Pyinmana and Karen’s Than Daung township.
There are three Kayan villages in Mae Hong Son province in Thailand. The largest is Huay Pu Keng, on the Pai river, close to the Thai Burma border. Huai Seau Tao is a commercial village opened in 1995. Many of the residents of Nai Soi Kayan Tayar moved into the Karenni refugee camp in September 2008, but a few families remain there.
Most of the Kayan people in Mae Hong Son are formerly from nine villages in Karenni State. The majority are from Rwan Khu and Daw Kee village. The people of Huay Pu Keng are mainly from Lay Mile village.
[edit] Culture
[edit] Brass coils
Women of the various Kayan tribes identify themselves by their different form of dress. The Kayan Lahwi tribe are the most renowned as they wear ornaments known as neck rings, brass coils that are placed around the neck. These coils are first applied to young girls when they are around five years old[5].
Each coil is replaced with longer coils as the weight of the brass pushes the collar bone down and compresses the rib cage. Contrary to popular belief, the neck is not actually lengthened; the illusion of a stretched neck is created by the deformation of the clavicle[6]. Many ideas regarding why the coils are worn have been suggested, often formed by visiting anthropologists, who have hypothesized that the rings protected women from becoming slaves by making them less attractive to other tribes. Contrastingly it has been theorised that the coils originate from the desire to look more attractive by exaggerating sexual dimorphism, as women have more slender necks than men. It has also been suggested that the coils give the women resemblance to a dragon, an important figure in Kayan folklore [7]. The coils might be meant to protect from tiger bites, perhaps literally, but probably symbolically[8].
Kayan women, when asked, acknowledge these ideas, but often say that their purpose for wearing the rings is cultural identity (one associated with beauty). The rings, once on, are seldom removed, as the coiling and uncoiling is a somewhat lengthy procedure. They are usually only removed to be replaced by a new or longer set of coils. The women do not suffocate if the rings are removed, though the muscles covered by them are weakened.
Many women have removed the rings for medical examinations. Most women prefer to wear the rings once their necks are elongated, as their necks and collar bones are often bruised and discolored from being hidden behind brass for so long. Additionally, the collar feels like an integral part of the body after ten or more years of continuous wear.
In 2006 some of the younger women in Mae Hong Son started to remove their rings either to give them the opportunity to continue their education, or in protest against the exploitation of their culture and the restrictions that came with it. In late 2008, most of the young women who entered the refugee camp removed their rings. One woman who wore the rings for over 40 years also removed her rings. The women report temporary discomfort which faded after three days. The discolouration is more persistent.
The government of Burma began discouraging this tradition as it struggled to appear more modern to the developed world. Consequently, many women in Burma began breaking the tradition, though a few older women still wear them and in remote villages some of the younger girls are carrying on the tradition. In Thailand the practice has gained popularity in recent years because it draws tourists who bring business to the tribe and to the local businessmen who run the villages and collect an entry fee of 250B per person.The Karenni National People's Liberation Front (KNPLF), an armed cease-fire group, have also made attempts to invite the Kayan to return to Kayah State in order to set up their own tourist villages.
In January 2008 the UNHCR expressed reservations about tourists visiting the Kayan villages in Northern Thailand due to the Provincial Government’s refusal to allow registered Kayan refugees to take up offers of resettlement in third countries[9]. It is believed this policy was linked to their economic importance to the area. This policy was relaxed in late 2008 and a small group of Kayan have left for New Zealand in August 2008 [10]. Others entered the main Karenni refugee camp (which is not open to tourists) in September 2008 and they are now eligible for resettlement.
[edit] Traditional Religion
 Kay Htoe Bo poles. |
 The Pwai dance. |
 Following the pwai dance the women sprinkle the men with water using eugenia leaves. |
 Fowl bone prognostication. |
The Kayans’ traditional belief about the origins of the universe is the Kan Khwan Genesis and the traditions and beliefs that are still practiced today in Kayah State and Thailand stem from the oral narratives that have been passed down.
The major 3-day festival is the Kay Htoe Bo festival held towards the end of March or in early April. During this festival a Kan Htein Bo pole is erected and this is accompanied by pwai dances around the pole. This festival is held to venerate the eternal god and creator messengers, to give thanks for blessings during the year, to appeal for forgiveness, and pray for rain. It is also an opportunity for Kayan from different villages to come together to maintain the solidarity of the tribe.
The Kayan have a strong belief in augury and nothing is done without reference to some form of divination, including breaking thatch grass, but most importantly consulting the chicken bones[11].
In present times the annual Kay Hto Bo festival is always accompanied by a reading of the chicken bones to predict the year ahead. Fowl bone prognostication can be witnessed in the Kayan villages in Thailand’s Mae Hong Son province during the annual festival and during “Cleansing Ceremonies” which are held when a family has encountered ill fortune. Dreams are also used to make predictions.
 Cleansing Ceremony Rituals |
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[edit] Current Religious Practices
Although many of the Kayan still participate in these traditional festivals, in the 19th Century Italian missionaries worked amongst them for many years and today the majority of Kayan and Kayaw people are Roman Catholics. Statistics published in 2004 lists 306 Kayan villages, out of which 209 are Roman Catholic, 19 Kan Khwan, 32 Baptist, 44 Buddhist and 2 Byamaso[12].
 Catholic First Communion |
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[edit] Notes
- ^ Rastorfer, Jean-Marc (1994), On the Development of Kayah and Kayan National Identity, Bangkok: Southeast Asian Publishing House
- ^ Thai Burma Border Consortium / A brief history of the Thailand Burma border situation
- ^ Eden Phan, Khon (2004), The Narratives, Beliefs and Customs of the Kayan People, Mae Hong Son: Kayan Literacy and Culture Committee
- ^ Eden Phan, Khon (2004), The Narratives, Beliefs and Customs of the Kayan People, Mae Hong Son: Kayan Literacy and Culture Committee
- ^ Mirante, Edith T. (1994), Burmese Looking Glass: A Human Rights Adventure and a Jungle Revolution, New York: Atlantic Monthly Press
- ^ Keshishian, J.M. (1979), Anatomy of a Burmese Beauty Secret (155.6 ed.), Washington: National Geographic, pp. 798–801
- ^ Mirante, Edith T. (September 2006), The Dragon Mothers Polish their Metal Coils, http://www.guernicamag.com/features/229/the_dragon_mothers/, retrieved on 2009-01-01
- ^ Mirante, Edith T. (January 1990), "Hostages to Tourism", Cultural Survival Quarterly (14.1)
- ^ BBC news / Burmese women in Thai 'human zoo'
- ^ huaypukeng.com
- ^ Manna, Padre Paolo (1902), The Ghekhu-Karen Tribe of Eastern Burma, S. Guiseppe Pontificial Printing
- ^ Eden Phan, Khon (2004), The Narratives, Beliefs and Customs of the Kayan People, Mae Hong Son: Kayan Literacy and Culture Committee
[edit] See also
- Ndebele people of South Africa - An African tribe with a similar practice.
- The Kayan of Borneo share the name but are not related and do not have the same customs.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kayan |
- Huay Pu Keng A Kayan village in Thailand
- Karenni Homeland Current news from Karenni State
- Burmese women in Thai "human zoo" BBC News article
- Video showing "neck stretching" over time
- Flicker Group: Dragon Neck Coils
- Hostage to Tourism Article by Edith T. Mirante. Need to create account to view article.
