Karen (people)

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The Karen are a group of related ethnic minorities in Myanmar and Thailand . In Myanmar, along with other ethnic groups, they have been persecuted by the military dictatorship for decades and are either forcibly resettled or often flee to Thailand, where they are counted among the “ hill tribes ”.

Karen girls in Khun Yuam Amphoe in Mae Hong Son Province , northern Thailand.

Settlement areas

Karen refugee village in northern Thailand

The Karen inhabit an extensive area along the Burmese-Thai border, stretching from the Shan Plateau in the north to the Malay Peninsula, as well as parts of the Irrawaddy Delta. Its main distribution area is east of the Sittaung River and on the lower reaches of the Saluen , in the mountainous southeast of the multi-ethnic state of Myanmar with a population of over 50 million, where it is the third largest population group after the Burmese (about 69%) and Shan (about 8.5%) 7%). In addition, around 400,000 Karen live in Thailand, particularly near the border with Myanmar. There they represent about half of the Thai hill tribes. Thailand distinguishes between Karen settlers, who immigrated from the 17th century at the latest, and Karen refugees, who fled Myanmar since 1984 because of blatant human rights violations.

origin

From an ethnographic point of view, the Karen belong to the Tibetan Burman peoples. Their ancestors probably immigrated to Southeast Asia, following the river valleys of the Irrawaddy, Salween and Mekong , from the southern Chinese province of Yunnan , although their actual roots are likely to be further north, as the oral tradition of some Karen groups emphasizes. The often rumored claim that this could be Mongolia, however, is in stark contradiction to the linguistic classification of the Karen (see section Languages). Today it is unanimously assumed that their foray was part of the first wave of the Sino-Tibetan north-south migrations that took place around the turn of the century in response to the expansion of the Han Chinese into central and southern China. By the end of the first millennium at the latest, the first Karen-speaking groups should have arrived in what is now Myanmar. The blatant differences in their dialects lead to the assumption that they - unlike the Burmese and Shan, for example - did not immigrate in distinct waves, but rather in small communities over a longer period of time.

Own and external names

Densely populated village in northern Thailand

The term Karen is an English word creation that summarizes the indigenous peoples described here mainly on the basis of linguistic aspects. The Burmese name Kayin is also used in Myanmar (from which the English Karen is probably derived), in central Thailand Kariang and in northern Thailand Yang . Since the Karen did not use a collective term for the collective designation of all groups belonging to them, the English foreign designation also became common in their language use over time: today many members of the ethnic group call themselves Karen , especially when dealing with non-Karen the national identity should be emphasized. In addition, they use the word Karen as an umbrella term for around 15 more or less related languages.

Even the first missionaries, who tried to subdivide the Karen and other peoples of Myanmar into subgroups, caused utter confusion, especially since they often only considered their clothing to differentiate between ethnic groups. In addition to the fact that the military regime had declared the border region a restricted area, serious research from the 1960s onwards was made more difficult by the fact that the traditional settlement areas of related Karen peoples were rarely clearly delimited and often included enclaves with residents from other groups. In general, today - in addition to numerous smaller groups - four major subgroups are distinguished: The Sgaw (own name: Pwa Ka Nyaw), Pwo (own name: Phlong), Kayah (own name: Kaya Li) and Taungthu (own name: Pa'o).

Two fuzzy collective terms survived from the time before the British: The Karen speakers (mainly Sgaw) who lived in the flat lowlands and who have now often converted to Christianity were summarized as "White Karen", those in the mountains - due to their traditionally mostly red-colored clothing - as "Red Karen" (Karen-ni; ni = "red" Birman.). Some sources also refer to the Taungthu as "Black Karen". As an ironic accessory to the tough dispute about a useful structure, it is stated that the so-called “White Karen” vehemently denied their relationship with the “Reds”, at least in the colonial period, while the Taungthu rejected the term “Karen” at all. Since the 1980s, Padaung women who have fled Myanmar to Thailand have repeatedly appeared in the media : They belong to a Karen splinter group and are known as “Long Neck Karen” or “Long Neck Karen” in supervised villages in northern Thailand because of their traditional brass necklaces "Giraffe (neck) women" marketed for tourism.

languages

Karen fields in northern Thailand

The Karen languages are monosyllabic tonal languages. Their linguistic classification was a matter of dispute for a long time. Although there was unanimous agreement that they belonged to the Sino- Tibetan languages , their position within the Sino- Tibetan language family, especially the now recognized membership of the Tibetan-Burman branch , was the subject of discussion. Despite the clear influences of Burmese as well as Mon and Thai on the Karenian languages, several authors expressly emphasize their differences from the other languages ​​of the region.

In addition, even the differences between some Karenian languages ​​are so blatant that communication without a third language is practically impossible. The impassable topographical conditions as well as the largely lack of large-scale organizational structures that this facilitated apparently stood in the way of the development of a supra-regional high-level language. Sgaw, Pwo, Kayah and Taungthu are also named as the most important Karen languages ​​- corresponding to the largest ethnic subgroups . The Sgaw has a certain special role: it is also written and spoken by the majority of the Christian Karen who have been involved in the independence movement since the beginning, which has given this language, at least in the public perception, a supraregional meaning.

religion

Old ideas

The Karen religious worldview is shaped by animism . Ancestor cult, belief in spirits and traditional ideas of a nature animated on all sides played an important role. If a case of illness occurred, the affected family offered an animal sacrifice (e.g. poultry, pig, dog, ox) to reconcile the responsible, evidently angry spirit. Large-scale sacrificial rituals used to take place at the beginning of raids and armed conflicts. The spirits of the deceased were considered malevolent; after deaths, they were driven out of the village with the use of noise. What is remarkable is the tradition of the chicken bone oracle, which is partly still alive in the mountains and serves as a decision-making aid in decisive questions of individual and community life.

Creation myth

Several authors point to similarities between a creation myth that has been handed down in some Karen communities and the Genesis of the Old Testament. The parallels culminate in a story about a creator god and his adversary as well as about a human couple and their fall into sin, triggered by a dragon who seduced the couple with tempting fruits - whereupon God turned away from humans as a punishment. It is possible that the Karen heard and adopted this religious conception from Nestorians who came to China early on via the Silk Road .

Proselytizing

The Christian proselytizing by American Baptists , which began around 1820, resulted in the abandonment of the time-consuming and costly ancestral cult in a number of Karen groups. Certain sacrifices and animistic rituals intended to prevent the loss of a “sublime” soul of existential importance, such as the soul of a familiar person, an indispensable pet or that of the rice plant, are still practiced in isolated cases. In 1832 the first script was developed by Christian missionaries. Most Karen - especially the literate - are now part of Christianity. A minority still belong to Buddhism - in connection with animistic traditions.

Culture

Entrance of a house in Northern Thailand

The Karen are sedentary. They feed - in flat stretches of land - mainly from wet rice cultivation, in mountain regions traditionally from slash and burn agriculture. After one year of use, the fields are left fallow for several years, then freed from wild growth by being burned down again and planted again. Unlike their northern neighbors, the Shan, the Karen cultivate any opium poppy ( opium ). Instead, many Karen men have dedicated themselves to the teak forests and have proven themselves as mahouts in the regional timber industry . Some Karen gained a dreaded reputation as highly organized robbers and slave traders before the arrival of the British: They repeatedly attacked Shan and Burmese, abducted men, women and children and exchanged them for cattle across the border to Siam. Headhunting and cannibalism were alien to them.

In many Karen societies, cultic groups are organized in a matrilineal manner, less often in family relationships. In such cases, the uxorilocal residence pattern is common, that is, newly wed couples settle at the home of the bride mother and spend their lives there. Movable property (e.g. cattle) is traditionally passed on to the sons who leave the parental home to start a family, while immovable property (e.g. house, fields) are passed on to the daughters who are tied to a place.

Many traditional Karen songs are performed without instrumental accompaniment. In mixed choirs, young men and women enter into an antiphonal musical competition. Instead of an old bamboo jaw harp , like the one the Thai have, a jaw harp made from the spokes of umbrellas is predominantly played today. The characteristic accompanying instrument for singing is the bow harp na to , like other cultural elements of a now-vanished harp Mon was acquired. The na den has six metal strings that are tensioned with wooden tuning pegs. Apart from the Burmese saung gauk , this string instrument is extremely rare in Asia and is otherwise only found in tiny niche areas: in the form of the four-string waji in northeast Afghanistan and the five-string bin-baja in a region in central India.

An important status symbol of the Karen were bronze drums (type Heger III), which they did not manufacture themselves but obtained from the Shan, at least until the 1970s . The Shan cast the bronze drums in their workshops exclusively for the Karen. They were beaten during cult rituals and could be sold or exchanged. The bronze drums were called kyi-zi ("bronze gong / drum", like the brass striking plates used in Buddhist temples) or pa-zi ("frog gong / drum") after the three-dimensional frog figures attached to the striking plate.

Political tension

Despite several attempts - even before the appearance of the British - the Burmese could not subdue the "Red Karen". When the economic importance of the Karenian teak forests became assessable and a punitive expedition against Karenian slave traders was imminent, the colonial government of British India reached an agreement with the Burmese King Mindon in 1875 , which guaranteed the Karen independence and which later - at least formally - also from the British colonial government was respected. With the outbreak of World War II, however , the tensions between the Karen and Burmese again resulted in armed conflict: While the Karen fought alongside the British, the Burmese supported the Japanese invaders.

Ethnic cleansing

Since Myanmar gained independence in 1948, the Karen and other ethnic minorities have been subjected to massive human rights violations by the Burmese military. The Karen National Union (KNU) was founded as early as 1947, advocating an independent Karen state called Kawthoolei . Another bloody military action on Karen territory under General Ne Win in January 1949 led to the formation of an armed wing, the so-called Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), which initially put a stop to the aggressor. As of 1976, the KNU alternatively sought its own federal state in a democratically governed Myanmar. Until then, the Karen and their neighbors, the Shan and Mon, who were also under arms, were largely able to control their ancestral areas on the border with Thailand themselves.

From the mid-1970s, however, the army's pressure increased: it attacked regularly at the beginning of the dry season ("dry season offensives"), which triggered the first - temporary - waves of refugees to Thailand: When the army withdrew at the beginning of the rainy season, they returned Fled back home. In 1984 the military broke through the Karen lines for the first time in a major offensive and maintained their positions permanently. Result: 10,000 people fled to Thailand - with no prospect of return. In the following ten years, attacks along the border from Mae Hong Son to Kanchanaburi intensified and new army bases and supply routes were established. The systematic murder and expulsion of the Karen resident there, forced labor, rape and other reprisals resulted in the start of a refugee drama (1994: 80,000).

Between 1995 and 1997, the military largely gained control of the border areas, destroyed thousands of villages and launched an extensive program of forced resettlement. Over a million people have been affected since then, around 300,000 (including Shan) fled to Thailand, and around 50% are currently in refugee camps. For many, living in overcrowded camps has long been the norm; others have hoped - so far in vain - for asylum offers from third countries. The number of internally displaced persons remaining in Myanmar is likely to be far higher than the number of refugees in Thailand . In January 2012, representatives of the Karen National Union and the government of Myanmar agreed on an immediate ceasefire.

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Karen  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ RD Renard: Kariang: History of Karen T'ai Relations from the Beginnings to 1923 . University of Hawaii, 1979, p. 37 f. and 46 f.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g Sir George Scott: Among the Hill Tribes of Burma - An Ethnological Thicket . In: National Geographic Magazine , March 1922, pp. 293 ff.
  3. ^ F. Lebar, GC Hickey, J. Musgrave: Ethnic Groups of Mainland Southeast Asia . New Haven (1964), 58.
  4. ↑ Doris Bertalan and Werner Raffetseder : In the zoo of the giraffe women . In: OÖN , March 9, 2002, pages 9-10.
  5. ↑ RD Renard: Kariang: History of Karen T'ai Relations from the Beginnings to 1923 . (Diss.), University of Hawaii, 1979, p. 36.
  6. ↑ CF Keyes: Ethnic Adaption and Identity - The Karen on the Thai Frontier with Burma . Philadelphia, 1979, p.10 f.
  7. ↑ z. B. Rev. Harry Ignatius Marshall: The Karen People of Burma - A Study in Anthropology and Ethnology. Columbus, Ohio, 1922, 10-9. and 210 ff.
  8. ^ Gordon Young: The Hill Tribes of Northern Thailand. Bangkok 1961, p. 75.
  9. ↑ The Karen people. Thailand online portal (Switzerland).
  10. ^ Rev. Harry Ignatius Marshall: The Karen People of Burma - A Study in Anthropology and Ethnology . Columbus, Ohio, 1922, 75-75. and 87 f.
  11. ^ A b John Holland Rose etc .: The Conquest of Upper Burma . In: The Cambridge History of the British Empire , Volume 5, page 434.
  12. ↑ James W. Hamilton: Ban Hong - Social Structure and Economy of a Pwo Karen Village in Northern Thailand . (Diss.), Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1965, p. 133
  13. ↑ James W. Hamilton: Pwo Karen - At the Edge of Mountain and Plain . St. Paul, 1976, pp. 100-103
  14. ^ Theodore Stern, Theodore A. Stern: "I Pluck My Harp": Musical Acculturation among the Karen of Western Thailand. In: Ethnomusicology, Vol. 15, No. 2, May 1971, pp. 186-219
  15. ^ AJ Bernet Kempers: The Kettledrums of Southeast Asia. A Bronze Age World and its Aftermath. In: Gert-Jan Bartstra, Willem Arnold Casparie (Ed.): Modern Quarternary Research in Southeast Asia, Vol. 10. AABalkema, Rotterdam 1988, pp. 33–36, 393–396, ISBN 978-90-6191-541- 6th
  16. ↑ A Brief History of the Thailand Burma Border Situation. Thailand Burma Border Consortium [2007] ( Memento January 5, 2009 in the Internet Archive ).
  17. ^ Karen Villagers forced to Hide in Jungle. The Irrawaddy , January 23, 2010.
  18. ↑ Burma's Civil War: Government and Karen rebels conclude historic armistice. Die Zeit , January 12, 2012, accessed on January 12, 2012.