Were not necessarily talking about achieving it with surgical cosmetic procedures, thoughwere talking about the practice of lengthening the neck with rings. Some Padaung women have removed their rings after converting to Christianity, and others have simply rejected the practice as antiquated and cumbersome. The Padaung are an ethnic group related to the Karen and Karenni, indigenous only to the Kayah State of Burma. A few journalists ventured there to cover the frontier war, including a French photographer who published photographs of "les femmes girafes" in European magazines. The Padaung women would be offered temporary border passes so that they could stay near the Mae Hong Son Resort "to promote tourism." But now, younger Kayan women are turning away from the tradition of their ancestors. The Padaung men were conspicuous by their absence, out in the fields tending crops. Natives of Kayah State the Padaung are seldom seen in the lowlands and, if they appear at all, tend to congregate around the provincial town of Loikaw near the border with Thailand. Updates? My head aches, and I feel like my neck can't support my head. Many foreigners dont like practice and describe the villages as human zoos, but they visit them anyway. Amit R. Paley wrote in the Washington Post, The traditional wardrobe for Padaung women is a red, saronglike dress with a blue or magenta jacket and towellike head covering. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. At the age of 5, girls in the Karen (or Kayan) and Padaung tribes of Myanmar are fitted with their first rings. In spite of the inaccessibility, photographs and paintings of Padaung women continue to be used by the Burmese government tourist agency in its advertising brochures and posters, and their image has been popular on Burmese crafts made for tourists. There have even been reports that some of the Padaung are prisoners held captive in the villages by businessmen. There are different theories as to how the custom originated. Some people call them "Karen long neck village Chiang Mai". According to Kayan tradition the Kayan settled in the Demawso area of Karenni State (Kayah State) in 739 AD. Here's how to spot these scams and also how to avoid them. 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. "We do it to put on a show for the foreigners and tourists!" 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. [7] Copyright 2023 Solid Ventures, Inc. All Rights Reserved. There were no men in sight and only a handful of tourists during my two-hour visit. However, many women both young and old are more frequently making the decision to remove their rings, despite social repercussions. 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. "This is our culture. [3] Among the refugee camps set up there was a Long Neck section, which became a tourist site, self-sufficient on tourist revenue and not needing financial assistance.[4]. 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 their most distinctive custom, beginning at about five years of age, many Padaung girls have their necks wound with spirals of brass. If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. That means that the expression "Padaung neck rings" is correct. As the girl grows taller, larger sets of coils replace the outgrown ones. A little pillow on top of the loops cushions the chin. One woman who had worn the rings for over 40 years removed them. Most agree it is a form of adornment and may have been a way of saving and showing off family wealth. 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 were ushered into a 50-square-yard collection of shacks where two dozen Padaung women sat and sewed or tried to sell their wares. National Geographic. Although there were accusations that the Padaung women were being used as a freak show or circus attraction, their celebrity increased and they were promoted as a tribe of Thailand. All products featured on Urbo.com are independently selected by our editors. I had never seen a Westerner before. Then she said she got used it. 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. [6] Today, they reside in Karenni (Kayah) State around Demawso and Loikow, in the southern region of Shan State and in Mandalays Pyinmana and Karens Than Daung township. The Kayans' traditional religion is called Kan Khwan, and has been practiced since the people migrated from Mongolia during the Bronze Age. Contrary to what guides tell tourists, her head did not collapse on atrophied muscles; but mutiny by the most photographed woman in Nasoi Kayan Tayar village has provoked spectacular results. After politely refusing, I asked her why she did not wear the costume. 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. 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. Coils are then added sporadically until a limit of 21-25 is reached, at the age of marriage. "If I take it off for a long time, it is uncomfortable. Some people have compared the experience to a zoo trip. 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. Any content older than 10 years is archival and Cultural Survival does not necessarily agree with the content and word choice today. A Padaung women of marriageable age will probably have had her neck extended by aboui 25 cms. Her chin juts over the top ring of a thick coil which spirals around her throat and reaches down to her collarbones. .In Nao Soi and Mae Hong Son Thailand, visitors pay $10 to be driven to a village where they can take photographs of long necked woman. They did needlework and studiously ignored the fairgrounds who bought tickets to enter the enclosure and observe them. Thai threats went unheeded. The visit to Sompron is a little strange and awkward. The Karennis protested that the Padaung women were not "animals in a zoo," but the Thais threatened to shut down the Karenni black market trade, and the women were brought to the fairgrounds. This special identity, paid for in some initial pain and considerable discomfort, has not been found to create health problems. Many women have removed the rings for medical examinations. The Padaung like to live in river valleys wherever they can. Amit R. Paley wrote in the Washington Post, a village chief named Asung said they must wear the dress because of tradition, but he also spoke excitedly about its appeal to tourists and noted that half of the village's income of $30,000 a year comes from tourism. Wearing them isnt always an easy task, though. Sometimes the coils are placed on girls as young as two. This constitutes 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. Richard Lloyd Parry wrote in The Times: As many as ten thousand tourists visit Nai Soi every year to see about 50 long-neck women and girls who pose for photographs and sell postcards, bracelets and souvenirs. 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. The legend tells that if you remove these rings, they're going to die. Does she want to escape? It is usually only removed to be replaced by a new or longer coil. ==. [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. Embarrassed, Thaijun put on her costume and immediately tried to sell me some trinkets and handicrafts. Decades of warfare in Kayah State have displaced tribal populations. After X-raying several long-necked women in Rangoon he discovered that the neck was not expanding. London: Grayson & Grayson. Questions or comments, e-mail ajhays98@yahoo.com, Ethnic Minorities - Hill Tribes from the Golden Triangle. The first set of coils have a break at about the seventh rung above the clavicle to permit head mobility. Have you tried having indoor plants before, but can't seem to keep anything alive? The muscles covered by the coil become weakened. The day chosen for this ritual was prescribed by the horoscopic findings of the village shamans. As Padaung custom dictates, she wears heavy brass rings on her neck, arms and legs. So is it unethical to visit the long-necked women? The upscale Mae Hong Sin Resort began to advertise "Padawn Hilltribe now available. Her tourist pictures had always showed her gazing slightly away from the camera, detached, closed off. The custom is dying out in traditional Pandaung villages in Myanmar, where people are so poor they prefer spend their hard earned money on rice rather than brass, but it is gaining new convert along the Thai border. ", The Padaung women remained in Thailand under the sponsorship of the Mae Hong Son Resort. 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. The Padaung women meant an increase in the price of any tour that visited them, and one budget traveler was heard to remark, "I'm not going to see them, I've heard it's a bit of a rip-off-their necks aren't really all that long. But with them we can live in Thailand because they want us to stay this way.Our lives are better here. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. 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. Some of the bamboo walls were stained blue where cloth had been hung to dry. Has the quarantine reinvigorated your desire to nurture and grow things? A Paduang woman told National Geographic, "Wearing brass ring around your neck makes you beautiful.". 1973 Peoples of the Earth: Southeast Asia. These loops force the women to waddle when they walk and sit straight legged. KAREN LIFE AND CULTURE factsanddetails.com ; TREKKING IN NORTHERN THAILAND, HILL TRIBES, ELEPHANTS AND LONG-NECKED WOMEN factsanddetails.com; KALAW, TAUNGGYI AND SOUTHWESTERN SHAN STATE AND KAYAH STATE factsanddetails.com, The Padaungs famous long-necked women wear brass coils not rings around their necks. Salvation Mountain is a man-made mountain built to spread the idea of love for one another, and visiting it is a real interesting experience. After allowing you take some pictures, the women speak up and say the only English words they know, "Five dollars please." Among the students from Kayah State in the refugee camp is a young Padaung man who has reportedly won a scholarship to Cambridge University and obtained the travel documents necessary to get there. The Padaung's own opinions of the practice have been of little importance to the world outside their mountain home. 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. Then Thai officials from Chiangmai came to the Karennis to request the Padaung women's presence at a tourist fair in their city. Local businesses profit from the tourist traffic, and some Padaung women welcome the modest income. In fact this has led latterly to their being brought down to Durbars for viceroys and distinguished visitors to look at." In January 2008, the UNHCR expressed reservations about tourists visiting the Kayan villages in Northern Thailand due to the provincial governments refusal to allow registered Kayan refugees to take up offers of resettlement in developed countries. The largest is Huay Pu Keng, on the Pai river, close to the Thai Myanmar border. ==, Zember, whose hand darts constantly to her bare neck, admits that taking off the rings was a difficult decision. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. (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.) On the other hand, many of them appeared to prefer living in virtual confinement as long as they are paid and safe. Business has fallen off at her souvenir stall and her family no longer has the payments that women receive for wearing the coils, a fraction of the profits made from selling entry tickets to tourists. The Padaung, as an ethnic group suspected of sympathizing with Karenni rebels' fight for autonomy, have been subjected to abuse by the Burmese Army. It depends whether these women are coerced, says National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Wade Davis. Student refugees and tribal civilians are once again camped in the jungle on the Thai border, vulnerable to being forced back to the guns of the waiting Burmese Army. "But I cannot." 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. This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. 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 Karennis believed that the Thais had turned over information about their base to Burmese intelligence agents in retaliation for their refusal to send the women to Chiangmai. These heavy coils can weigh as much as 11 pounds (5kg). They were scheduled to appear at a "Northern Provinces Cultural Relations and Promotions Fair" to be held in Mae Hong Son in April. This is a cruel punishment, as the cervical vertebrae become deformed after years of wearing and the neck muscles atrophy. We would love to hear from you! Padaung women has always been punished by the removal of the rings, a fate almost literally, worse than death. In the past Padaung girls were fitted with the rings at the age of five or six. It is also an opportunity for Kayan from different villages to come together to maintain the solidarity of the tribe. Pulling together a magic act takes a lot more than you think, yet the tricks are somehow much simpler than you'd ever imagine. Mouse Nightshirt 12:30, 25 September 2006 (UTC) Reply [] One Padaung woman told AP, It is not comfortable wearing these coils even while sleeping. When the annual Mae Hong Son Winter Fair was to be held, they demanded that the Karennis bring the women to be exhibited. She is also adorned with jewelry and ornaments of which the most outstanding and unusual are the thick rings of bronze around her neck, worn right up to beneath her chin. The custom of wearing neck rings is related to an ideal of beauty: an elongated neck. Even elders dont know. The Padaung or Kayan Lahwi or Long Necked Karen are a subgroup of the Kayan, a mix of Lawi, Kayan and several other tribes. 1932 Burma and Beyond. For Thailands Padaung women, the choice is very narrow. 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. The fair featured booths showing the crafts and customs of various tribal groups in the province, as well as the "Miss Hill Tribe" beauty contest, notorious for the postcontest auction of teenaged contestants to provincial administrators and police. How they will keep this dignity and composure in the face of encroaching tourism is a problem shared by all the minority tribes of this region. I removed the phrase "This poses a health concern as a person who has worn neck rings for a long time cannot support the weight of their head without neck rings." as I doubt its accuracy. 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. [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. "[Source: Amit R. Paley, Washington Post, August 23, 2009 +++], Joy Thaijun, 28, was wearing shorts and a T-shirt when I saw her. Huai Seau Tao is a commercial village opened in 1995. - 2CC85KB from Alamy's . Otherwise they live relatively normal lives. This is the only way we can earn money., In many cases the women simply go about their daily chores or play volleyball while tourist stare at them and ten ask them for tip or sell souvenirs or other items. KAREN MINORITY: HISTORY, RELIGION, KAYAH AND GROUPS factsanddetails.com ; Although most tribal refugees from Burma's frontier war are unwelcome in Thailand, two women of the Padaung tribal group who sought refuge have been encouraged to stay on - as tourist attractions. "Why do we wear the rings?" A study conducted in 2020 by researchers from Otsuma Womens . Their heads seem to float ethereally over their bodies. 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). Whatever you think of their customs, striking is certainly the word to describe the Padaung of eastern Myanmar. 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. Necklace Found On Ocean Floor Reveals True Love Story From Titanic, Origin Stories Of Your Favorite Holiday Figures: How We Got Cupid,The Easter Bunny, and Santa, How To Spot Multi-Level Marketing Scams, And How To Avoid Them, Caring For Houseplants: Tips, Tricks And Products You Need, Salvation Mountain And The Last Free City. The longest human necks are found among the women of the Padaung (or Kayan) tribe, who live in the highlands of northwestern Thailand and southeastern Myanmar. The government of Myanmar began discouraging neck rings as it struggled to appear more modern to the developed world. When Burmese military forces took control of Burma(now Myanmar) in 1962, they hoped to help modernize society there. According to what they told me, their situation beats the alternative of living in a repressive country plagued by abject poverty and hunger. It is usually only removed to be replaced by a new or longer coil. 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. +++, Rebellion is brewing in the so-called human zoos where the long-necked women live as virtual prisoners. But in the Nation photograph, this woman, this refugee, has at last allowed herself to give a distinctly hostile glare. Removal is said to have been used as a punishment for adultery; unbraced, the woman's neck would flop over and she would suffocate. 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. [13] It includes the belief that the Kayan people are the result of a union between a female dragon and a male human/angel hybrid.[14]. 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. Rather the chins of the women are pushed up and their collarbones are pushed downwards by the weight of the coils, causing the shoulders to slope. She said: I want to keep my peoples traditions but we are suffering because of these rings. 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. When the news came out local business was outraged, the police were summoned and the Long Neck fugitives were brought back under arrest. Thai and tribal entrepreneurs based in Chiangmai promoted visits to peoples such as the Lahu, Lisu, and Akha as an affordable and exotic travel experience. "We are afraid that they will follow the Karen and the Karenni back to Burma because the Padaung people have been under the rebels' protection," Somprath said. [4][5] The rings are usually made of copper or brass, usually stacked in multiples of 3. [8] Our website houses close to five decades of content and publishing. 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. The town of Mae Hong Son and the surrounding province are inhabited mainly by Shan and tribal people related to ethnic groups of Burma, but there is a large Thai Army presence and a provincial administration that is mainly composed of ethnic Thai. The longer the woman's neck is, the more attractive she is. Kayan are a subgroup of the Red Karen (Karenni) people, a Tibeto-Burman ethnic minority of Burma (Myanmar). Traditionally these rings are given to a wife by her husband, and not removed until the husband's death; however, these rings are individual and do not function as a body modification. 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! Land Acknowledgement 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. None of the Padaung I spoke to knew of any story or reason for wearing the rings. Yes, people are being more reckless on the road, and no, youre not wrong for noticing. The custom requires that the girls who wear the neck rings start before puberty, in order to get the body used to them. 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. The Karenni base was easily accessible from the Thai side of the border by narrow, wooden motor boats. "We have to stay with the middleman," Mamombee said. Girls first start to wear rings when they are around 5 years old. the Padaung women and their children could stay, however. [11] It is believed this policy was linked to their economic importance to the area. The tourists rarely stayed overnight, the usual visit to the Padaung camp consisting of a photo session of fewer than 30 minutes. The weight of the brass pushes the collar bone down and compresses the rib cage. The Padaung women were a photo opportunity for an endless succession of outsiders - nothing more. Padaung (Yan Pa Doung) is a Shan term for the Kayan Lahwi (the group in which women wear the brass neck rings).

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