lonely-planet-myanmar-burma-11-edition

310PEOPLE OF MYANMAR (BURMA) MAIN ETHNIC GROUPSTHE WOMEN WITH TATTOOED FACESThe most extraordinary (but no longer practised) Chin fashion was the custom of tattooingwomen’s faces. Chin facial tattoos vary according to tribe, but often cover thewhole face – starting at just above the bridge of the nose and radiating out in a patternof dark lines that resemble a spider’s web. Even the eyelids were tattooed. A painfulprocess, the tattooing was traditionally done to girls once they reached puberty.Legend has it that this practice was initiated to keep young Chin maidens from beingcoveted by Rakhaing princes whose kingdom bordered the southern Chin Hills. But it’sjust as likely that the tattoos were seen as a mark of beauty and womanhood. One proudold Chin woman we met told us that she was just seven when she started pestering herparents to have her own facial inking.Efforts by Christian missionaries and a government ban on facial tattoos in the 1960shas resulted in the practice dying out. But in some Chin villages (particularly in the moretraditional southern areas) live a handful of tattooed grannies; see p 286 for details onhow to visit these places.Author AlanRabinowitz showsmuch of the locallife in the Kachinhills in his fascinatingLife in theValley of Death.Little Daughter:A Memoir ofSurvival in Burmaand the West isthe autobiographyof Zoya Phan(written withDamien Lewis), aKayin woman whois the internationalcoordinatorof the UK BurmaCampaign andwho spent manyyears as a childliving in refugeecamps.About the only vestige of Kachin dress that foreign visitors are likely toencounter are men’s longyi (sarong-style lower garment) of indigo, greenand deep-purple plaid. During festive occasions, Kachin women sport finelywoven wool skirts decorated with zigzag or diamond patterns, and darkblouses festooned with hammered silver medallions and tassels.Following independence from Britain, Kachin relations with the Burmese-rungovernment were increasingly precarious. After the militarycoup in 1962, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) was formed underthe Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO). These two organisationseffectively ran the state on an economy based on smuggling and narcoticsuntil a ceasefire agreement was struck in 1994.Since the 2010 election when some pro-KIO politicians were barredfrom standing, the situation has again turned volatile. In July 2011 fightingwith the Tatmadaw broke out in the state again, forcing, according tohuman rights groups, some 10,000 people to flee.KayahAlso known as the Karenni or Red Karen, the Kayah are settled in themountainous isolation of Kayah State – an area closed to travellers.As with many of Myanmar’s ethnic groups that traditionally practisedanimism, the Kayah were targeted for conversion to Christianity by Baptistand Catholic missionaries during the colonial period. The name ‘RedKaren’ refers to the favoured colour of the Kayah traditional dress and thefact that their apparel resembles that of some Kayin (Karen) tribes – aresemblance that caused the Kayah to be classified by colonisers and missionariesas ‘Karen’.Today the Kayah make up a very small percentage of the populationof Myanmar – perhaps less than 1% – and the vast majority lead agrarianlives. A significant number of Kayah also live in Thailand’s Mae HongSon Province.Kayin (Karen)No one knows for sure how many Kayin (also known as Karen) thereare in Myanmar. This ethnic group numbers anything between four andseven million and is linguistically very diverse, with a dozen related butnot mutually intelligible dialects. Originally animists, it’s now reckonedthat the majority are Buddhists, with around 20% Christian and a smallpercentage Muslim.