Kayan (Burma)

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A Kayan woman in Northern Thailand

A Kayan girl in Northern Thailand

The Kayan are a group of the Karenni people, a Tibeto-Burman ethnic minority of Burma (Myanmar). They are also known as Padaung (Burmese: ပဒောင္‌လူမ္ယုိး). In the 1990s, due to conflict with the military regime in Burma, many Kayan tribespeople 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. There are around 7,000 members of the Kayan tribe.

[edit] Brass coils

Women of the tribe 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.^[1] 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.^{[citation needed]} 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^[2]. The coils might be meant to protect from tiger bites, perhaps literally, but probably symbolically. 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.

The government of Burma began discouraging this tradition as it struggled to appear more modern to the developed world. Consequently, many women began breaking the tradition. However, in Thailand the practice has gained popularity in recent years because it draws tourists who bring business to the tribe. The Kayan village of Nai Soi receives an average of 1,200 tourists annually, and collects an entry fee of 250B per person. As of January 2008 the UNHCR has recommended a tourism boycott of Kayan villages in Thailand.

[edit] References

[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

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Kayan

• Huay Pu Keng A Kayan village in Thailand
• Guernicamag.com: "The Dragon Mothers Polish their Metal Coils"
• Burmese women in Thai "human zoo" BBC News article
• Video showing "neck stretching" over time