Friday 3 September 2010

shining bronze...

The Kayan are a subgroup of the Red Karen (Karenni) people, a Tibeto-Burman ethnic minority of Burma (Myanmar). The Kayan consists of the following groups: Kayan Lahwi (also called Padaung), Kayan Ka Khaung (Gekho), Kayan Lahta, Kayan Ka Ngan. Kayan Gebar, Kayan Kakhi and, sometimes, Kayaw. Padaung (Yan Pa Doung) is a Shan term for the Kayan Lahwi (the group whose women wear the brass neck coils). The Kayan resident in Mae Hong Son Province in Northern Thailand refer to themselves as Kayan and object to being called Padaung. In The Hardy Padaungs (1967) Khin Maung Nyunt, one of the first authors to use the term "Kayan", says that the Padaung prefer to be called Kayan. On the other hand, Pascal Khoo Thwe calls his people Padaung in his 2002 memoir, From the Land of Green Ghosts: A Burmese Odyssey.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s due to conflict with the military regime in Burma, many Kayan tribes fled to the Thai border area, where they live with an uncertain legal status, and villages displaying Padaung women with brass neck coils for tourist dollars appeared.
According to Kayan tradition the Kayan settled in the Demawso area of Karenni State (Kayah State) in 739 BC. 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 P 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.

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 six years old
Each coil is replaced with longer coil, 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. 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



The Kayans’ traditional religion is called Kan Khwan, and has been practiced since the people migrated from Mongolia during the Bronze Age







The Kayans’ traditional religion is called Kan Khwan, and has been practiced since the people migrated from Mongolia during the Bronze Age. It includes the belief that the Kayan people are the result of a union between a female Dragon and a Male Human/angel hybrid.

6 comments:

gabriela said...

Hola Seba
Super interesante el capítulo, como va aprendiendo uno con tus viajes. Una de las cosas que más me llama la atención de esta Tribu, es el colorido de sus vestimentas y las telas, además, por supuesto del trabajo del bronce, es realmente maravilloso. Super limpias, además. Cuanto será el peso que llevan en el cuello las mujeres, que entreparéntesis son muy bonitas.
Y lo más fantástico es la creencia de donde vienen.
Las fotos buenísimas, nada que envidiarle al Nat Geo.Las casas tan limpias y tan bien trabajadas con bambu y se ven super limpias.
Precioso!!! Interesantísimo!!!
...y la música ad hoc.
Por mientras en Chile nos preparamos para celebrar el 18 de Septiembre, ya se ven las banderas por todos lados... se vienen los asados y las empanadas y el buen vino Chileno...les vamos a guardar de todo para cuando vengan. Los echamos de menos.

Besos para tí y la Amy.

Salud!!!desde esta lejanas y hermosa tierra.

gabriela said...

se me repitieron algunas palabras por problemas con el notebook, pero igual se entiende.

Kisses

Sil said...

Hola Seba!
Tanto tiempo!

Hermosas fotos! A propósito, esos "collares" se los pueden quitar cuando quieren, o es algo que lo llevan puesto permanentemente? No sé si lo escribiste, pero como no soy muy buena con el inglés, me entretuve más mirando las fotos que leyendo. Disculpa!

Y ya subí en mi blog las fotos de Tailandia que te había contado hace unos meses. Un poco de Koh Samui, Koh Nang Yuan, y las dos islas de Phi Phi.
Cuando quieras, date una vueltita!

Abrazos!

★ Crazy Drile™ said...

Muchas gracias por tu comentario, es realmente increible estar en esas montañas redeado de esa gente y su poderosa energia...

Saludos en Chile y que pases un MUY FELIZ 18 DE SEPTIEMBRE...especialmente este que es el bicentenario de Chile!!!

Saludos por allá!

★ Crazy Drile™ said...

Hola Sil!
que buena verte por acá!... esos collares los usan de por vida y les deforma no el cuello si no la clavicula y los hombros... No se sacan nunca los anillos (que entreparentesis es uno solo en forma de espiral)...solo se los sacan rara vez cuando tienen que ir al doctor o razones de fuerza mayor...luego de un rato tienen que volver a colocarselo ya que los musculos del cuello, hombros y espaldas estan atrofiados y no son suficientemente fuertes para sostener la cabeza nuevamante.
Extrañas ancestrales tradiciones de concepto de belleza...
Voy a darle una vuelta a tus fotos...nos vemos!

Un abrazo!

seolol said...

so many green, thanks from foto,

You are profesional traveling?