In the 1930s, circuses and shows were extremely popular in the United Kingdom and these women, advertised as "giraffe women", were star attractions, drawing huge crowds. One of the most striking of these groups is the Padaung. Arrangements were made with Thai companies that ran "tribal trekking tours" out of the northern Thai city of Chiangmai. It is an easy trip to 'make' money out of, but this is not our interest!PLEASE DO NOT SUPPORT THIS VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS! The rings are given to the women by their husbands and worn as a sign of faithfulness, and were once removed only after the women diedtoday, however, the women dont tend to wear them permanently. One of the biggest legends surrounding the rings claim that villagers wore them as a defense against tiger attacks, which were most likely to be directed at the neck. Then Thai officials from Chiangmai came to the Karennis to request the Padaung women's presence at a tourist fair in their city. None of the Padaung I spoke with wished to return to Burma, but several expressed a desire for more freedom of movement. Practices such as an unusual degree of male involvement in delivering babies and in child care are considered remnants of the old way of life. In present times, the annual Kay Htein Bo festival is always accompanied by a reading of the chicken bones to predict the year ahead. In Burma's early days of independence after World War II, travelers went to Loikaw in hopes of seeing Padaung women trading in the marketplace there or hired jeeps to reach their villages. According to U Aung Roe (1999:21ss) Kayan number about 90,000 in Shan State (around the Pekhon Township area) about 20,000 around Thandaung kayin state, and 70,000 in Kayah State (around Demawso and Loikaw). The Padaung, commonly known as the long-necked women, are refugees from Myanmar (also known as Burma) who are famous for their giraffe-like appearance, which is caused by brass rings coiled. At the age of 5, girls in the Karen (or Kayan) and Padaung tribes of Myanmar are fitted with their first rings. +++, "I want to go out and see things, see the market, see the people," said Maya, 11, who escaped from Burma three years ago. [Sources: peoplesoftheworld.org; Sydney Morning Herald], No one is really sure how the custom evolved. These women however do not choke and die when they remove their neck rings. However, many women both young and old are more frequently making the decision to remove their rings, despite social repercussions. In 1987, the Karenni base was again overrun by Burmese troops, and the local civilians fled by boat to a small village just over the Thai border. The custom of wearing neck rings is related to an ideal of beauty: an elongated neck. She takes off the rings once a year to clean the brass and her neck, but that's it. The legend tells that if you remove these rings, they're going to die. In late 2008, most of the young women who entered the refugee camp removed their rings. The rings can cause near-constant chafing on the skin of the neck and shoulders, which is also more likely to become pretty susceptible to bruising while the rings are on. [1] Coils are then added sporadically until a limit of 21-25 is reached, at the age of marriage. Wearing them isnt always an easy task, though. They call themselves Kekawngdu or Kayan, but other ethnic groups in Burma and foreigners know them as Padaung. The Padaung like to live in river valleys wherever they can. "We have to stay with the middleman," Mamombee said. Padaung Modification of the torso focuses on the neck, trunk, and breasts. Padaung (Yan Pa Doung) is a Shan term for the Kayan Lahwi (the group in which women wear the brass neck rings). the Padaung women and their children could stay, however. Not only are the coils not entirely comfortable to wear, but they can also lead to permanent muscle weakness in the head when worn for long periodsits the coils that hold up the head, so the neck muscles dont get used and become weak. Bitter arguments exploded between young and old generations, the Thai businessmen who run the camps were furious and worried, and a new role model was born for a generation of disgruntled women. Cultural Survival envisions a future that respects and honors Indigenous Peoples' inherent rights and dynamic cultures, deeply and richly interwoven in lands, languages, spiritual traditions, and artistic expression, rooted in self-determination and self-governance. Some Padaung women have removed their rings after converting to Christianity, and others have simply rejected the practice as antiquated and cumbersome. She was even featured on an episode of the show My Strange Addiction because of her obsessive interested with neck elongation, though she eventually did have them removed. body modifications and mutilations: The torso. Omissions? said Mamombee, 52, whose neck seemed particularly elongated. The rule of marriage is only those genetically related are allowed to marry. The Padaung have no written language and are best known for its long-necked women. Girls in these places do not attend school. This is a cruel punishment, as the cervical vertebrae become deformed after years of wearing and the neck muscles atrophy. [2], In the late 1980s and early 1990s due to conflict with the military regime in Myanmar, many Kayan tribes fled to the Thai border area. Please fill in your details and we will stay in touch. Thai shelling drove the Burmese intruders back into Burma, but there were friendly meetings between Burmese and Thai officers at the time of the withdrawal. Yes, people are being more reckless on the road, and no, youre not wrong for noticing. Of the two most notable types, one is the torc, an often heavy and valuable ornament normally open at the throat. Parents of girls are often very happy and men like to marry long-necked women because of the money they will bring in. Other say the custom began as a tribute to a dragon-mother progenitor.According to some people, Padaung women began wearing the coils to protect their necks against tiger attacks and continued wearing them after tigers were no longer a threat because Padaung men found the coils made the women more sexually desirable. In 1985, a Padaung man named Moli brought three Padaung women, in their twenties and thirties and wearing the traditional neck spirals, from a contested area in the war zone near Loikaw to the relative security of the Karenni base. The Padaung women of Myanmar were famous for stretching their necksby means of coiled brass neck ringsto a length of about 15 inches (38 cm), pushing down the collarbone, compressing the rib cage, and pulling up about four thoracic vertebrae into the neck. |Email: mission@myanmargeneva.org, Permanent Mission of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations, Geneva, Switzerland, Permanent Mission of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, Factual accounts regarding Tatmadaws attacks on base of so-called PDF, NUG terrorists near Pazigyi village in Kantbalu Township, Sagaing Region, Myanmars response to a politically motivated resolution on Myanmar tabled by Sweden on behalf of the European Union, Myanmar categorically rejects every act of interfering in the sovereign State under the pretext of the Human Rights, Myanmars observations on the draft resolution entitled Situation of human rights in Myanmar at the 52nd Session of the Human Rights Council, Public Health Requirements for Travelers Entering Myanmar through International Commercial Flights. Their oral history holds that they had been a matrilineal society until tribal warfare killed so many men that polygamy had to be instituted. Helen "Lee" Jayu, a Lisu shopkeeper from the same tribe as U Dee, said that all the Padaung are in Thailand under U Dee's patronage and that there are no problems as long as no one leaves the area. Most women prefer to wear the rings constantly because the skin underneath is often bruised and discolored. The belief that only girls born under a full moon on Wednesday can wear them also seems to be a myth. They pay 250 baht (about 4) each; Mr Surachai admits to taking up to 150,000 baht a month (2,400) from the entrance fee. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Several hundred Padaung live along the Thai-Myanmar border. The rings may appear cumbersome, but the Padaungs believe that beauty lies in a long neck, which is regarded as graceful as a swan's. Mu Tu is one of the few women who knows how to . The Kayan consists of the following groups: Kayan Lahwi (also called Padaung, [bd]), Kayan Ka Khaung (Gekho), Kayan Lahta, Kayan Ka Ngan. After politely refusing, I asked her why she did not wear the costume. Mae Hong Son officials were not unaware of the Padaung women's worth as a tourist attraction. In their free time some like to ride around on motorbikes and hunt dragonflies with poles and eat them. The other two are her grandmother and grand aunt. Their only option is to stay or pay U Dee money to be returned to Burma. The neck was carefully smeared with a salve and massage for several hours, after which a priest would fit small cushions under the first ring-usually made of bronze to prevent soreness. Dont be quick to judge, thoughshe ultimately just did something other people use exercises and surgeries to achieve. In fact this has led latterly to their being brought down to Durbars for viceroys and distinguished visitors to look at." Amit R. Paley wrote in the Washington Post, Nae Naheng, 52, the matriarch of the family said the Padaung believe that women used to be angels in the past world, and that male hunters used rattan rings to catch them and bring them to Earth. Although the Karennis retook the headquarters camp, some of the civilians remained in the refugee village on the Thai side, including the Padaung women. 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. Whatever you think of their customs, striking is certainly the word to describe the Padaung of eastern Myanmar. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Privately, some Karenni at the headquarters said that the three had been "kidnapped" by Moli, who saw their potential as a tourist attraction for visitors near the Thai border. The contract ceremony may be ended by the families eating chicken provided by the grooms family together. The Burmese Army's counterinsurgency tactics in Kayah State (documented by Amnesty International and other human rights organizations) have included beatings, torture, rape, summary executions, forced labor, and destruction of entire villages. One of the ways they planned to do this was by eliminating what they considered to be primitive aspects of the culture, including neck elongation. The age of a village can often be reckoned from the size of its jackfruit trees. This policy was relaxed in late 2008 and a small group of Kayan have left for New Zealand in August 2008. The Karenni rebels' introductory lecture tried to give the affair a political overtone, but when the boat tourists came ashore at the Padaung camp there was no pretense of "cultural exchange" or learning experience. Some people have compared the experience to a zoo trip. None of the Padaung I spoke to knew of any story or reason for wearing the rings. To protect the tradition, many tribes in the area fled to nearby Thailand and, although it did help them keep the practice of wearing neck coils alive, it also turned the tribes themselves into a tourist attraction. That night an Australian family was paying $15 to sleep in his hut. Most tourist s see the long-necked women in Sompron village (about three miles south of the center of town), where ten long-necked women and girls live in small huts set up for them by a travel agency. Pulling together a magic act takes a lot more than you think, yet the tricks are somehow much simpler than you'd ever imagine. The neck is a fairly sensitive area to begin with, so adding that amount of weight and pressure to it doesnt do great things for it. Thai authorities actually "negotiated" to keep them in Thailand, while repatriating other tribespeople to the Burma war zone. The result was generally a disquieting encounter between embarrassed tourists and sullen Padaungs. The Karenni base was easily accessible from the Thai side of the border by narrow, wooden motor boats. "Once I took them off when I was young, and I felt sick and very sad," she said. A study conducted in 2020 by researchers from Otsuma Womens . However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission. The Padaung have said that this practice originated to protect women from tigers, which often attack a victim by biting the neck. Treason among Padaung women has always been punished by removing the rings - a sad fate worse than death. On the other hand, many of them appeared to prefer living in virtual confinement as long as they are paid and safe. We acknowledge that we are headquartered on Massachusett land, in Cambridge, MA, and we thank the past, current, and future Indigenous stewards of this territory. Naheng said she even sleeps in them and only briefly takes off the rings in the shower. Article copyright Cultural Survival, Inc. El Golpe Militar de Myanmar Plantea Dificultades para los Pueblos Indgenas, Myanmars Military Coup Poses Hardships for Indigenous Peoples. It is preferable for first cousins to get married. After allowing you take some pictures, the women speak up and say the only English words they know, "Five dollars please." I had never seen a Westerner before. Then she said she got used it. The young mans family have to provide a dowry to seal the contract. Having endured enough flashbulb-popping tourism, the Padaung women threw in their lot with the pushed-back Karenni refugees, only to be exposed to Burmese artillery fire when the base on the Pai River was attacked again in July 1989. Occasionally one or two Padaung women were brought to a town where tourists were permitted, such as Kalaw or Taunggyi in Shan State, so that tourists could observe and photograph them. "We have been running culturally and environmentally friendly treks for 22 years and have never run treks to visit this tribal group as we would consider this exploitation as they have no rights. [5] About 600 Kayan reside in the three villages open to tourists in Mae Hong Sorn, or in the Ban Mai Nai Soy refugee camp. Traditionally, at the age of five the first coils are placed around a young girl's neck by a medicine man who chose the date for this ritual by examining chicken bones. Billboards showing the womens necks are on roadsides all over the north. The vertebrae do not elongate, though the space between them may increase as the intervertebral discs absorb liquid. Most women prefer to wear the rings once their clavicle has been lowered, as the area of the neck and collarbone often becomes bruised and discolored. This political cartoon reveals the degree to which the "giraffe-necked woman" had become a well-known icon in the U.S. Three Burmese women members of a circus play cards as they wear the brass neck and leg rings traditionally worn by Padaung women since childhood and which cannot be removed, London, January 4, 1935. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit. Additionally, the collar feels like an integral part of the body after ten or more years of continuous wear. Girls first start to wear rings when they are around 5 years old. According to the British journalist J.G. If they move to a refugee camp, they get an education, but opportunities to earn money or leave the country are limited. If you want to see them, you have to go to them. From the craziest myths in human history to real stories that expose the untold truths behind married life and so much more-our mission at Urbo is to create intriguing content that youll not only enjoy reading, but want to share with the ones who mean the most to you. According to Kayan tradition the Kayan settled in the Demawso area of Karenni State (Kayah State) in 739 AD. "I have no choice. These severe decorations express the Padaung womens own concept of beauty and social ranking but there are other theories concerning the origins ofthese rings. The Karenni rebels have gone into underground guerrilla squads in other areas of Kayah State. When the rings push down enough, they can actually cause the position of the rib cage to shift, as welltypically, wearing the rings will move the rib cage and the collarbones approximately 45 degrees below where they normally sit in the body. According to the Sydney Morning Herald: Young girls typically start wearing about 3 1/2 pounds of brass coil around their necks and keep adding weight until they have more than 11 pounds. Padaung women wear a short, dark-blue skirt edged with red with a loose white tunic also trimmed with red and a short blue jacket A turban-like headscarf is draped around their head. Nick Meo wrote in The Times: It began when Zember, 21, decided to cast off the brass rings. [Source: Amit R. Paley, Washington Post, August 23, 2009]. Women of the Kayan Lahwi tribe are well known for wearing neck rings, brass coils that are placed around the neck, appearing to lengthen it. Here's how Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and other childhood figures came about. As we walked across the village, Asung began broadcasting over loudspeakers: "This is a reminder that all women should wear traditional dress. [Source: Richard Lloyd Parry, The Times, April 8, 2008]. Within Africas Ndebele tribe, the women of the tribe wear copper and brass rings not only around their necks, but around their legs and arms, as well. [1], Padaung (Kayan Lahwi) women of the Kayan people begin to wear neck coils from as young as age two. Some fled to Burma to escape war. The coil weakens the neck muscles and often bruise and discolor the collarbone. "[Source: Amit R. Paley, Washington Post, August 23, 2009 +++], Joy Thaijun, 28, was wearing shorts and a T-shirt when I saw her. [Source: Nick Meo, The Times (London), November 6, 2006 ==], When they arrived a decade ago as refugees from Burmese army offensives ravaging their homeland, the Kayan people meekly accepted their role of being photographed by tourists. National Geographic. Loikow (five hours from Kalaw) is a medium-size town located on a lake in the Kayah State in Myanmar Most visitors come here to see the long-necked women of the Paduang tribe, a branch of the Karen tribe with only 7,000 members, most of whom live in villages within a 100 mile radius of Loikow. But now, younger Kayan women are turning away from the tradition of their ancestors. The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted every aspect of our lives, including how people drive. Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings. Among the other refugees in the makeshift camp are the two padaung women with the brass-spiraled necks. | Donor Privacy Policy | EIN: 23-7182593. At first glance, the Padaung appear to belong to a different continent than Asia, their green and purple headresses, white caftans and shining ornaments suggesting some African tribe or even the Plain Indians of old. A symbol of wealth, position and beauty, the coils can stretch their necks over a foot and weigh over 20 pounds According to the Guinness Book of Records, the world record for longest neck 40 centimeters (15 inches) belonged to a Padaung woman. Cultural Survival E-Newsletter - News and Updates, Information on conferences, meetings and global events pertaining to Indigenous Peoples, 14-1 Breaking Out of the Tourist Trap Part 1. Some foreigners just came to complain that some women were not wearing their costumes." Many tribal villages transformed themselves into virtual souvenir stands pandering to tourist dollars. They woman come out when visitors call on them. The rings are given to the women by their husbands and worn as a sign of faithfulness, and were once removed only after the women diedtoday, however, the women don't tend to wear them permanently. The women shifted poses like extremely bored fashion models, and the tourists snapped away with their Nikons and Canons and zoomed in with their camcorders. The major religious festival is the three-day Kay Htein Bo festival, which commemorates the belief that the creator god gave form to the world by planting a small post in the ground. FEIN 23-7182593. There are three Kayan villages in Mae Hong Son province in Thailand. All the women and girls tried to raise extra money by selling trinkets or charging money to be photographed. Small Kayan girls may wear brass collars from the age of two to five years old, as it is more comfortable to deform the collarbone and upper ribs slowly. If the girl accepts then the couple are now engaged. Were not necessarily talking about achieving it with surgical cosmetic procedures, thoughwere talking about the practice of lengthening the neck with rings. When the annual Mae Hong Son Winter Fair was to be held, they demanded that the Karennis bring the women to be exhibited. In the past Padaung girls were fitted with the rings at the age of five or six. The weight and pressure of the leg spirals can make walking slow and stiff, and the Padaung women have to contend with the challenges of steep mountain rice fields and ladders leading to their stilt-supported houses. After X-raying several long-necked women in Rangoon he discovered that the neck was not expanding. Mae Hong Son's public relations officer, Chanerin Samintarapanya, told the Bangkok Post that "the long-necked Karen hilltribe called Padawn is expected to attract a large number of visitors to the fair.". "This is our culture. The article on the Kayan people states that this is "nonsense", and gives examples of accounts of when the rings are removed. As Padaung custom dictates, she wears heavy brass rings on her neck, arms and legs. The alternative, an accelerated process at around the age of twelve, when girls first begin to compete for the attention of boys, is painful. One woman told the New York Times, It can be a bit boring and hot and it hurts when you first put it onWhen you take off the brass youre a little dizzy, and for one or two minutes you shouldnt walk. A symbol of wealth, position and beauty, the coils can stretch their necks over a foot and weigh over 20 pounds According to the Guinness Book of Records, the world record for longest neck 40 centimeters (15 inches) belonged to a Padaung woman. In fact, one of the main reasons why some tribes choose to begin the practice when girls are young is because their bones are more pliant, making the desired results easier to achieve and with less pain. My head aches, and I feel like my neck can't support my head. [Source: Amit R. Paley, Washington Post, August 23, 2009 +++], Describing a trek that climaxed with a trip to a Padaung village Amit R. Paley wrote in the Washington Post, In the morning I scrambled up on an elephant for an hour-long ride that left me sore all over (pachyderms, in case you were wondering, are not ergonomically designed) and a hour-long trip down the Ping River on a bamboo raft precariously held together by strips of rubber tire (I thought all was lost when the raft guide fell into the water after we bumped over some nasty rapids, but he recovered and got us to shore). Buying the coils is regarded as an investment. Although the Padaung, a Mongolian tribe who have been assimilated into the Karen group, only number about 7,000 they have attracted a great deal of interest because of their practice of neck-stretching. The price we pay for presents under a tree. After removing the rings, women report discomfort that fades after about three days. This is an unusually cruel punishment as the cervical vertebrae has become deformed after years of wearing the rings, and the neck muscles have atrophied. The trekking tours were often advertised with a lack of sensitivity ("See real primitive hilltribes in the Thai jungle") that extended to the conduct of the guides and tourists. Their increased accessibility led to tour bus visits and features such as a board painted with a picture of a Padaung woman that had the face cut out so tourists could have their picture taken in its place. Permanent Mission of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations, Geneva, Switzerland Annette Kunigagon, the owner of Eagle House Eco-sensitive Tours, wrote in an e-mail. 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.[16]. ", The Padaung women remained in Thailand under the sponsorship of the Mae Hong Son Resort. At the age of 5, girls in the Karen (or Kayan) and Padaung tribes of Myanmar are fitted with their first rings. As a result, the Burmese troops have been able to occupy the Karenni base instead of the usual burn-and-retreat strategy. [7] Kayan women, when asked, acknowledge these ideas, and often say that their purpose for wearing the rings is cultural identity (one associated with beauty). It does severely hamper mobility in conjunction with brass coils wound around the ankles and calves up to the knee. Another says the rings protected children from being killed by tigers, which tend to attack at the neck. This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been authorized by the copyright owner. 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. 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" that a family holds when it has encountered ill fortune. +++, "I am part of a new generation, and I do not like it. The discoloration is more persistent. She said: I want to keep my peoples traditions but we are suffering because of these rings. Im glad when the tourist come because then we can make money.. One 12-year-old girl told the New York Times she started wearing the coils when she was six and had 16 around her neck that cost $160. [13][15] 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. Kayan are a subgroup of the Red Karen (Karenni) people, a Tibeto-Burman ethnic minority of Burma (Myanmar). At the height of the tourist season (winter and spring, before the monsoon rains) several boatloads arrived at the Karenni base each day. The coils, which are typically made of brass, weigh around four-and-a-half pounds to start with, and then more coils are added over time. Questions or comments, e-mail ajhays98@yahoo.com, Ethnic Minorities - Hill Tribes from the Golden Triangle. (We quickly returned to explain to the tribal chief that I was asking questions, not complaining, but, unsurprisingly, he did not issue a correction over the village intercom.) About three miles north of town three long-neck women live in a small village; and about ten miles down the road there is another village near Cabusera with four long-neck women and an Italian who speaks English and doesn't mind answering questions. "I don't care about tourists," Naheng said. In this respect Myanmar, particularly the east with its rich and diverse ethnic minorities, is well endowed. The first set of coils have a break at about the seventh rung above the clavicle to permit head mobility. One of the treasures of any country is its people. Is this economic empowerment, then, or exploitation? The first brass rings are put on a young Padaung girl's neck at about five years of age in an important rite of passage which - in the case of non-Christian Padaung - is supervised by a village shaman who casts chicken bones to determine an auspicious date. It is the reason why Kayan women have earned the moniker " long-necked women." Kayan women barely feel the weight of the brass since the ring feels like part of the body after several years of wear. Most have come to Thailand to make money displaying themselves to gawking tourists. Their heads seem to float ethereally over their bodies. Corrections? +++, The women are not allowed to leave the one-acre village. They did needlework and studiously ignored the fairgrounds who bought tickets to enter the enclosure and observe them. The largest is Huay Pu Keng, on the Pai river, close to the Thai Myanmar border.
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