Some Padaung men have responded by joining the Karenni rebel army. A Padaung legend explains that the rings were protection against tiger bites, a constant hazard in their homeland in the north of China. It is usually only removed to be replaced by a new or longer coil. It is also an opportunity for Kayan from different villages to come together to maintain the solidarity of the tribe. The article on the Kayan people states that this is "nonsense", and gives examples of accounts of when the rings are removed. A Padaung woman is known to wear thirty seven brass rings around her neck! The Padaung is the tribal group of the "long-necked women," and two of them had become, through a series of coercions, a lucrative tourist draw at Thailand's Mae Hong Son Resort. [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. Any content older than 10 years is archival and Cultural Survival does not necessarily agree with the content and word choice today. 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. The Karenni National People's Liberation Front (KNPLF), an armed cease-fire group, have made attempts to invite the Kayan to return to Kayah State to set up their own tourist villages. Permanent Mission of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations, Geneva, Switzerland Usually the daughter-in-law will move in with her husband upon marriage and in that case, the price is higher than if the man moves in with his wife. A bedinsayah (spirit doctor) puts the coils into place on a day determined by divination to be auspicious. 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. Cultural Survival, Inc. is a non-profit organization with federal 501(c)(3) status. "But I cannot." Omissions? Most have come to Thailand to make money displaying themselves to gawking tourists. The material on this site can not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with prior written permission of Solid Ventures, Inc. We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). As of September 1989, the Burmese Army on the Pai River has been getting its supplies from Thailand - trading for rice with Thai merchants and upgrading their arms with purchases from Thai black market weapons dealers. One Padaung woman told AP, It is not comfortable wearing these coils even while sleeping. Padaung women has always been punished by the removal of the rings, a fate almost literally, worse than death. Even elders dont know. [1], Padaung (Kayan Lahwi) women of the Kayan people begin to wear neck coils from as young as age two. At the moment they appear to welcome the odd visitor, smiling shyly at the cameras, patiently answering the questions that are put to them through the tour guides. "If the chief orders us, we will do it." In the village I visited they were tall and fulsome indicating a certain passage of time. 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. Our website houses close to five decades of content and publishing. "I don't care about tourists," Naheng said. This practice was quite limited, however, and for all intents and purposes by the 1980s Padaung women in neck spirals had vanished from the world's sight. Thai threats went unheeded. Anthropologists have hypothesized that the rings protected women from becoming slaves, making them less attractive to other tribes. ", In February 1989, following heavy fighting between Karenni rebels and the Burmese Army, which sent Karenni civilians over the border to Thailand in large numbers, Mae Hong Son's assistant governor, Somprath Saowapaiboon, announced that the Karenni refugees would be repatriated - by force if necessary - in March, along with student dissident refugees who had joined them on the border. Copyright 2023 Solid Ventures, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Political constraints generally prohibited the tours from entering neighboring Laos or Burma, but the Pai River was an exception. Embarrassed, Thaijun put on her costume and immediately tried to sell me some trinkets and handicrafts. If they move to a refugee camp, they get an education, but opportunities to earn money or leave the country are limited. 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]. "If you are Palaung, you have to wear the costume of the Palaung," he said while chopping pork for dinner. 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 Padaung women and their children could stay, however. Some people call them "Karen long neck village Chiang Mai". Most of them are animists, with belief systems similar to Karen animists. said Mamombee, 52, whose neck seemed particularly elongated. The upscale Mae Hong Sin Resort began to advertise "Padawn Hilltribe now available. Padaung women with the full leg spirals often must sit with their legs thrust straight out in front of them, and because of the neck spirals, they must drink with long straws. 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 result was generally a disquieting encounter between embarrassed tourists and sullen Padaungs. Because long necked women can't lean their head's back, they drink from straws. It appears to lengthen the neck by deforming the clavicle. It has also 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. The other two are her grandmother and grand aunt. The vertebrae do not elongate, though the space between them may increase as the intervertebral discs absorb liquid. Removing the coils does not cause a woman's neck to collapse, although the muscles weaken. |Fax: +41 22 732-8919 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. When Burmese military forces took control of Burma(now Myanmar) in 1962, they hoped to help modernize society there. 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. Have you tried having indoor plants before, but can't seem to keep anything alive? The Kayan residents in Mae Hong Son Province in Northern Thailand refer to themselves as Kayan and object to being called Padaung. In Thailand, the practice has gained popularity in recent years, because it draws tourists who bring revenue to the tribe and to the local businessmen who run the villages and collect an entry fee of 500 to 600 baht per person. 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. The bride price consists of several parts: Following the pwai dance the women sprinkle the men with water using eugenia leaves. Im glad when the tourist come because then we can make money.. It depends whether these women are coerced, says National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Wade Davis. Statistics published in 2005 list 306 Kayan villages, out of which 209 are Roman Catholic, 19 Kan Khwan, 32 Baptist, and 44 Buddhist, of which 2 belong to the Byamaso civil society organization. The Padaung are an ethnic group related to the Karen and Karenni, indigenous only to the Kayah State of Burma. I couldn't tell if she was joking. These days you often women not wearing their coils and looks as if their neck is no danger of suddenly collapsing. None of the Padaung I spoke to knew of any story or reason for wearing the rings. All the women and girls tried to raise extra money by selling trinkets or charging money to be photographed. Many women have removed the rings for medical examinations. The less pristine the trekking experience became, the more its popularity grew, and in 1988 alone, more than 100,000 tourists signed up for "jungle tours.". But after pausing, she added: "I would much rather be here than in Burma." As we walked across the village, Asung began broadcasting over loudspeakers: "This is a reminder that all women should wear traditional dress. Women are never supposed to remove the rings. This annoyed my guide, who said that if the villagers stop wearing traditional costumes, tourists will stop coming to visit them. The Padaung, commonly known as the long-necked women, are refugees from Myanmar (formerly Burma) who are famous for their giraffelike appearance, which is produced by brass rings coiled around their necks. In Huay Puu Kaeng the women are paid by operators ti live in a village on the Pai River that can only be reached by boat. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Additionally, the collar feels like an integral part of the body after ten or more years of continuous wear. See Separate Article KALAW, TAUNGGYI AND SOUTHWESTERN SHAN STATE AND KAYAH STATE factsanddetails.com, National Geographic reported: Some women are rejecting the rings because the tradition has trapped them in what critics call human zoos mock villages where tourists buy tickets for a glimpse of these exotic women. 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. Actually stretching the neck would result in paralysis and death. +++, Rebellion is brewing in the so-called human zoos where the long-necked women live as virtual prisoners. [1] The neck stretching is mostly illusory: the weight of the rings twists the collarbone and eventually the upper ribs at an angle 45 degrees lower than what is natural, causing the illusion of an elongated neck. 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. However, many women both young and old are more frequently making the decision to remove their rings, despite social repercussions. Most agree it is a form of adornment and may have been a way of saving and showing off family wealth. A major offensive was launched against the Karenni rebels, including an incursion into Thailand by troops that took up positions to attack them from the rear. In southeast Asia, historians have been able to date the practice of using neck rings all the way back to the 11th century. "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. In the 1930s, Sir George Scott wrote, "It is the get-up of the women that makes the Padaung the best-known of all the tribes. "He is very worried that visitors will stop coming," my guide, who served as my interpreter, told me as we left and headed to our own hut. 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. 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. Girls first start to wear rings when they are around 5 years old. 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 8-year-old who refused to wear the coils told AP, I prefer to be normal. Attacks by the Burmese Army on valley dwellers suspected of aiding the rebels forced many into the mountains, and raids on mountain villages pushed fleeing tribespeople across the Salween River, closer and closer to the Thai border. Some foreigners just came to complain that some women were not wearing their costumes." Due to the duration of their wear, the neck must be propped up with a brace until the muscles can recover their strength. 1979 Burma's Long-Necked Women. 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. According to Kayan tradition the Kayan settled in the Demawso area of Karenni State (Kayah State) in 739 AD. In a few African and Asian cultures, neck rings are worn usually to create the appearance that the neck has been stretched. 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. Each home had a spacious, open terrace where the Padaung sat in the shade in front to their looms, spinning and weaving cotton textiles, blankets and tunics. Kayan's tribe neck rings are actually called "Padaung". Sometimes the coils are placed on girls as young as two. The neck rings however, may very well become extinct within a generation or two as younger Padaung women are beginning to refuse to fit the rings around their childrens necks. The contract ceremony may be ended by the families eating chicken provided by the grooms family together. 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. [Sources: peoplesoftheworld.org; Sydney Morning Herald], No one is really sure how the custom evolved. Some Padaung women have removed their rings after converting to Christianity, and others have simply rejected the practice as antiquated and cumbersome. 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. Neck rings, or neck-rings, are any form of stiff jewellery worn as an ornament around the neck of an individual, as opposed to a loose necklace. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission. This special identity, paid for in some initial pain and considerable discomfort, has not been found to create health problems. The Padaung women would be offered temporary border passes so that they could stay near the Mae Hong Son Resort "to promote tourism." The discoloration is more persistent. There are three Kayan villages in Mae Hong Son province in Thailand. They don't speak any English so come prepared with some game or activity to keep them amused. "Disgraceful stuff!" Many women have removed the rings for medical examinations. None of the Padaung I spoke with wished to return to Burma, but several expressed a desire for more freedom of movement. There have even been reports that some of the Padaung are prisoners held captive in the villages by businessmen. 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. One of the treasures of any country is its people. 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. However, the exact opposite is true today, as the tradition is alive and well in Myanmar where the look is considered to be beautiful and elegant. In some cases, the coils they wear are replaced entirely so that thicker coils can be added in their place. At the age of 5, girls in the Karen (or Kayan) and Padaung tribes of Myanmar are fitted with their first rings. All products featured on Urbo.com are independently selected by our editors. One woman who had worn the rings for over 40 years removed them. In middle school, they called me giraffe girl, she said in an interview with HuffPost. [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. The boat tour became extremely fashionable with foreign and Thai tourists during 1985 and 1986. Some say the custom have been dreamed up and perpetuated by tour guides. They woman come out when visitors call on them. All tourism-related businesses such as hotels, restaurants, and transportation services would be badly hit if they went away. A Bad Last Impression: Looking Into The 5 Worst Series Finales Of All Time, Giant Clocks And Pickled Sharks (And Charity, Too): Heres What Billionaires Spend Their Money On. 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. These heavy coils can weigh as much as 11 pounds (5kg). Girls start wearing their rings early. Kayan are a subgroup of the Red Karen (Karenni) people, a Tibeto-Burman ethnic minority of Burma (Myanmar). Since World War II, as the Padaung have become less isolated from neighboring Karen and Karenni, the neck spiraling process has been on the wane. The muscles covered by the coil become weakened. If we want to be even more accurate, the Kayan tribe is actually part of the Kayan Lahwi tribe. 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 chairman of the Mae Hong Son chamber of commerce told the New York Times, Long-necked Paduang are the star attraction to draw tourist to our province. The custom of wearing neck rings is related to an ideal of beauty: an elongated neck. A study conducted in 2018 by researchers from Otsuma Womens University found that these rings had increased the distance from the suprasternal notch to the lower jaw (i.e., just above the collarbone to the chin) to as much as 19.7 cm (7.75 in). Many tribal villages transformed themselves into virtual souvenir stands pandering to tourist dollars. The Padaung women were returned to the Karenni base and the boat tours continued. In this way, the couple will love each other forever. There are now about 50 families there, including some from a tribe known as "the long ears" because they stretch their lower earlobes by wearing enormous rings. 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. 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. Trekkers intruded on and disrupted tribal life, encouraged opium abuse, and harassed tribal women. In their most distinctive custom, beginning at about five years of age, many Padaung girls have their necks wound with spirals of brass. "Why do we wear the rings?" So is it unethical to visit the long-necked women? 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. Groceries and other supplies are brought in by motorcycle every day. But her mother, Mateu, who wears a 10-pound coil of 24 rings around her own neck, told her to endure; girls like her represent the economic future of the Padaung tribe of long-necked women, known . At the height of the tourist season (winter and spring, before the monsoon rains) several boatloads arrived at the Karenni base each day. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Additionally, the collar feels like an integral part of the body after ten or more years of continuous wear. Mae Hong Son officials were not unaware of the Padaung women's worth as a tourist attraction. Many ideas regarding why the coils are worn have been suggested. 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. Padaung (Yan Pa Doung) is a Shan term for the Kayan Lahwi (the group in which women wear the brass neck rings). Billboards showing the womens necks are on roadsides all over the north. 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. They are distinct from, and not to be confused with, the Kayan people of Borneo. They advertise exotic sightseeing for Thai and foreign tourists alike in hill-country villagesin reality refugee camps that the women are forbidden from leavingalong the Burma border. 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. A few journalists ventured there to cover the frontier war, including a French photographer who published photographs of "les femmes girafes" in European magazines. Local businesses profit from the tourist traffic, and some Padaung women welcome the modest income. |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. Neck rings push the clavicle and ribs down. "I have no choice. [9] The coils might be meant to protect from tiger bites, perhaps literally, but probably symbolically.[10]. Among the other refugees in the makeshift camp are the two padaung women with the brass-spiraled necks. Her chin juts over the top ring of a thick coil which spirals around her throat and reaches down to her collarbones. Over the years, the coil is replaced by a longer one and more turns are added. That's why the number of turns are slowly increased and not put on all at once. The first set of coils have a break at about the seventh rung above the clavicle to permit head mobility. "Padaung" is another name for their neck rings. The Padaung have said that this practice originated to protect women from tigers, which often attack a victim by biting the neck. Having an elongated neck has been a standard of beauty for centuries, and its a goal some of todays women still strive for. 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. If the girl accepts then the couple are now engaged. With the takeover of Burma by General Ne Win's military dictatorship in 1962, however, insurgency flared in Kayah State, and raids by mountain-based Karenni rebels caused Loikaw and its environs to be closed to tourism. If you are the copyright owner and would like this content removed from factsanddetails.com, please contact me. Their oral history holds that they had been a matrilineal society until tribal warfare killed so many men that polygamy had to be instituted. +++, "I am part of a new generation, and I do not like it. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit. In this respect Myanmar, particularly the east with its rich and diverse ethnic minorities, is well endowed. They will also cause the shoulders to slope forward and weaken the muscles in the neck. Scott there voices sound "as if they were speaking from the bottom of a well.. They also face a plan to move their villages to a remote location on the border with Burma, where they believe they will be at risk from bandits. +++, After a dinner of chicken curry, raw pork and a jungle delicacy identified as minced mole, I asked our hostess if she felt forced to wear the costume because of visiting foreigners. [Source: Amit R. Paley, Washington Post, August 23, 2009 +++], Eventually we arrived at our main destination, the village of the long-necked women. One woman even discovered that mold had been growing on the area of her neck hidden under the rings, and she developed permanent scars from wearing them. When I asked how they had arrived at this village, they said a man named U Dee, whom they referred to as "the middleman," first began bringing Padaung to the spot about three years ago. Download this stock image: Thailand: A Padaung (Long Neck Karen) woman after removing her neck rings for cleaning, village near Mae Hong Son. [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 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. Some inhabit the plains in the basin of the Paunglaung River which are also part of the Kayah State east of Pyinmana. Some families said they were paid about $45 a month, while others were given a sack of rice. ", The Padaung women remained in Thailand under the sponsorship of the Mae Hong Son Resort. Though strange to some, its one of the oldest types of body modification in world, and one that many women still follow in a few different parts of the worldsome even here in the United States. 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. The neck itself is not lengthened; the appearance of a stretched neck is created by the deformation of the clavicle. The women, Mu Louma, Mu Thoo, and Mon Nee, were said to have traveled so far from their original villages under pressure from Moli. Padaung means long neck., The coils are made from brass and gold alloy. Such material is made available in an effort to advance understanding of country or topic discussed in the article. Even after death the coils won't be removed and in a lot of cases the woman will be buried with them. This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. "We do it to put on a show for the foreigners and tourists!" Tourism is often considered to encourage the use of neck rings in Myanmar, as they are a popular attraction for tourists. They also use dreams to make predictions. But with them we can live in Thailand because they want us to stay this way.Our lives are better here. I had never seen a Westerner before. Then she said she got used it. The alternative, an accelerated process at around the age of twelve, when girls first begin to compete for the attention of boys, is painful. The visit to Sompron is a little strange and awkward. Padaung women might appear to have long necks but this is an optical illusion. Concerns have been raised about the continued usage of neck coils and the considerable health hazards they offer by causing vertebrae in the spine to collapse. The Padaung women live in special villages in reasonably nice huts. 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. 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. A must!" Women of the Kayan tribes identify themselves by their forms of dress. "[Source: Amit R. Paley, Washington Post, August 23, 2009 +++], Joy Thaijun, 28, was wearing shorts and a T-shirt when I saw her. A Paduang woman told National Geographic, "Wearing brass ring around your neck makes you beautiful.". Another says the rings protected children from being killed by tigers, which tend to attack at the neck. Their homes and villages are found scattered in the area between the Kayah State, east of Taungoo and Southern Shan State. These women however do not choke and die when they remove their neck rings. It has also been suggested that the coils give the women resemblance to a dragon, an important figure in Kayan folklore.
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