{{Short description|Ethnic group in Southeast Asia}} {{For|the ethnic group from [[Borneo]]|Kayan people (Borneo)}} {{More citations needed|date=January 2025}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox ethnic group | group = Kayan | native_name = {{lang|my|ကယန်း}} | native_name_lang = my | flag = <!-- (image filename) --> | flag_caption = | image = Kayan woman with neck rings.jpg | image_caption = A Kayan Lahwi woman | population = 180,000 | genealogy = | regions = {{hlist|Myanmar|Thailand|Vietnam|U.S.}} | region1 = {{flagcountry|Myanmar}}: [[Shan State]] | pop1 = 90,000 | ref1 = | region2 = {{flagcountry|Myanmar}}: [[Kayah State]] | pop2 = 70,000 | ref2 = | region3 = {{flagcountry|Myanmar}}: [[Kayin State]] | pop3 = 12,000 | ref3 = | region4 = {{flagcountry|Thailand}} | pop4 = 600 | ref4 = | region5 = {{flagcountry|USA}} | pop5 = 600 | ref5 = | languages = [[Padaung language|Padaung Kayan]] | religions = ''Kan Khwan'' | related_groups = }} [[File:Karen Padaung Girl Portrait.jpg|thumb|200px|A Kayan Lahwi girl]]
The '''Kayan''' are a subgroup of the Red Karen ([[Karenni people]]), a [[Tibeto-Burman languages|Tibeto-Burman]] ethnic minority of [[Myanmar]] (Burma). The Kayan consists of the following groups: Kayan Lahwi (also called '''Padaung''', {{lang|my|ပဒေါင်<!--DO NOT CONVERT TO NON-UNICODE COMPLIANT FONTS (ZAWGYI)-->}} {{IPA|my|bədàʊɰ̃|}}), Kayan Ka Khaung (Gekho), Kayan Kadao, Kayan Lahta ([[Zayein people]]), Kayan Ka Ngan, Kayan Kakhi, and sometimes, [[Bwe people|Bwe people (Kayaw)]]. They are distinct from and not to be confused with the [[Kayan people (Borneo)|Kayan people of Borneo]].
Padaung (Yan Pa Doung) is a [[Shan language|Shan]] term for the Kayan Lahwi (the group in which women wear brass [[neck ring]]s). Kayan residents in [[Mae Hong Son province]] in northern Thailand refer to themselves as Kayan and object to being called Padaung, as corroborated by [[Khin Maung Nyunt]] in ''The Hardy Padaungs'' (1967).<ref>{{Citation| last=Rastorfer| first=Jean-Marc| title=On the Development of Kayah and Kayan National Identity| publisher=Southeast Asian Publishing House| place =Bangkok| year =1994}}</ref> On the other hand, [[Pascal Khoo Thwe]] calls his people Padaung in his 2002 memoir, ''From the Land of Green Ghosts: A Burmese Odyssey''.<ref>Pascal Khoo Thwe, ''From the Land of Green Ghosts: A Burmese Odyssey'' (2002), {{ISBN|0-00-711682-9}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=L4sXAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Pascal+Khoo+Thwe&dq=%22Pascal+Khoo+Thwe&lr=&cd=1 Google books]</ref>
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, due to conflict with the military regime in Myanmar, many Kayan tribespeople fled to Thai border areas.<ref>[http://www.tbbc.org/camps/history.htm Thai Burma Border Consortium / A brief history of the Thailand Burma border situation] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090105180649/http://tbbc.org/camps/history.htm |date=5 January 2009 }}</ref> Among the refugee camps set up, there was a "long neck" section, which became a tourist site.<ref>[http://www.tbbc.org/resources/2003-6-mth-rpt-jan-jun.pdf Burmese Border Consortium Relief programme: January to June 2003] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110073414/http://tbbc.org/resources/2003-6-mth-rpt-jan-jun.pdf |date=10 November 2012 }}</ref>
According to U Aung Roe (1999:21ss), the Kayan number about 90,000 in [[Shan State]] (around the [[Pekhon Township]] area), about 20,000 around [[Kayin State]], and 70,000 in [[Kayah State]] (around [[Demawso]] and [[Loikaw]]). A 2004 estimate put the total population at approximately 180,000.<ref name="autogenerated2004">{{Citation| last=Eden Phan| first=Khon| title=The Narratives, Beliefs and Customs of the Kayan People| publisher=Kayan Literacy and Culture Committee| place =Mae Hong Son| year =2004}}</ref> About 600 Kayan reside in three villages open to tourists in Mae Hong Son, including the [[Ban Mai Nai Soi refugee camp]].
==Settlement== {{More citations needed|section|date=January 2025}} [[File:PADAUNG COLD-WEATHER COSTUMEcut.jpg|right|thumb|155px|Woman and child, 1905]]
According to their oral history, the Kayan settled around [[Demawso]] in [[Kayah State]] in 739 AD.<ref>{{Citation| last=Eden Phan| first=Khon| title=The Narratives, Beliefs and Customs of the Kayan People| publisher=Kayan Literacy and Culture Committee| place=Mae Hong Son| year=2004}}</ref> Today, they still reside there, in [[Loikaw]], and [[Thandaung]], as well as in the southern region of [[Shan State]] and in [[Pyinmana Township]].
There are three Kayan villages in [[Mae Hong Son province]] of Thailand. The largest is [[Huay Pu Keng]], close to the Thai–Myanmar border; [[Huai Seau Tao]] is a commercial village opened in 1995; and [[Nai Soi]], many of whose residents moved into a [[Ban Mai Nai Soi refugee camp|refugee camp]] in September 2008.
==Culture== ===Brass coils=== {{More citations needed|section|date=November 2015}}
Women of the Kayan tribes identify themselves by their forms of dress. In the Kayan Lahwi tribe, females are known for wearing [[permanent jewellery]] in the form of [[neck ring]]s, brass coils that are placed around the neck, causing it to lengthen.
Girls first start to wear rings when they are around five years old.<ref>{{Citation| last=Mirante| first=Edith T.| title=Burmese Looking Glass: A Human Rights Adventure and a Jungle Revolution| publisher=Atlantic Monthly Press| publication-date =1994| publication-place =New York}}</ref> Over the years, the coil is replaced by a longer one, and more turns are added. The weight of the brass pushes the [[collar bone]] down and compresses the [[Human rib cage|rib cage]]. The rings can stretch necks to 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.<ref>{{Citation |last= |first= |title=Britannica: The limbs and extremities – The torso |url=https://www.britannica.com/science/body-modifications-and-mutilations/The-limbs-and-extremities}}</ref> Many theories regarding this practice have been suggested. [[Anthropologists]] have hypothesized that the rings protected women from becoming slaves, making them less attractive to other tribes. 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. Another idea is that the coils give women the appearance of a dragon, an important figure in Kayan folklore.<ref>{{Citation|last = Mirante|first = Edith T.|date = September 2006|title = The Dragon Mothers Polish their Metal Coils|url = http://www.guernicamag.com/features/229/the_dragon_mothers/|access-date = 1 January 2009|publisher = [[Guernica Magazine]]|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081212153427/http://www.guernicamag.com/features/229/the_dragon_mothers/|archive-date = 12 December 2008}}</ref> The coils might be meant to protect from [[tiger]] bites, perhaps literally, but probably symbolically.<ref>{{Citation| last=Mirante| first=Edith T.| date=January 1990| title=Hostages to Tourism| periodical=Cultural Survival Quarterly| volume=14| issue=1}}</ref>
The coil, once on, is seldom removed, as the coiling and uncoiling is a lengthy procedure. It is usually only removed to be replaced by a new or longer coil. The muscles covered by the coil become weakened, and most Kayan women prefer to keep the rings once their clavicle has been lowered, as the area of the neck and collarbone often becomes bruised and discolored.
In 2006, some of the younger women in Mae Hong Son began removing their rings, either to give them the opportunity to continue their education or in protest against the exploitation of their culture and the restrictions that came with it.
The government of Myanmar began discouraging neck rings as it struggled to appear more modern to the developed world. Consequently, many women in Myanmar began breaking the tradition, though a few older women and some younger girls in remote villages continued to wear rings. In Thailand, the practice has gained popularity in recent years, because it draws tourists who bring revenue to the tribe and to local businesspeople who run the villages and collect entry fees.
In January 2008, the [[UNHCR]] expressed reservations about tourists visiting Kayan villages in northern Thailand due to the provincial government's refusal to allow registered Kayan refugees to take up offers of resettlement in developed countries.<ref>{{cite web|title=Burmese women in Thai 'human zoo' |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7215182.stm |website=bbc.co.uk |date=30 January 2008 |access-date=10 January 2025}}</ref> It is believed this policy was linked to their economic importance to the area. The policy was relaxed in late 2008, and a small group of Kayan left for New Zealand in August 2008.<ref>{{cite web|title=Huay Pu Keng |url=http://www.huaypukeng.com/ |website=huaypukeng.com |access-date=10 January 2025}}</ref>
===Religion=== '''Traditional''' <gallery widths=180> Kay_htoe_bo_poles.jpg|[[Kay Htoe Boe]] poles Kay_htoe_bo_dance.jpg|''Pwai'' dance Kay_htoe_bo_procession.jpg|Following the ''pwai'' dance, the women sprinkle the men with water using ''Eugenia'' leaves. Chicken_bone_reading1.jpg|Chicken bone prognostication </gallery>
The Kayans' traditional religion is called ''Kan Khwan'' and has been practiced since the people migrated from Mongolia during the [[Bronze Age]].<ref name="huaypukeng1">{{cite web|url=http://www.huaypukeng.com/info_religion.htm |title=Religion |publisher=Huay Pu Keng |access-date=4 August 2013}}</ref> It includes the belief that the Kayan people are the result of a union between a female dragon and a male human/angel [[Hybrid (mythology)|hybrid]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Virtua Design |url=http://www.guernicamag.com/features/229/the_dragon_mothers/ |title=The Dragon Mothers Polish their Metal Coils by Edith Mirante – Guernica / A Magazine of Art & Politics |publisher=Guernicamag.com |access-date=4 August 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081212153427/http://www.guernicamag.com/features/229/the_dragon_mothers/ |archive-date=12 December 2008 }}</ref>
The major Kayan religious festival is the three-day [[Kay Htoe Boe]], which commemorates the belief that the [[Creator deity|creator god]] gave form to the world by planting a small post in the ground. During this festival, held in late March or early April, a Kay Htoe Boe pole is erected, and participants dance around it.<ref name="huaypukeng1"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.blogg.org/blog-66141.html |title=Les peuples oubliés |publisher=Blogg.org |date=26 August 2007 |access-date=4 August 2013 |archive-date=4 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004004726/http://www.blogg.org/blog-66141.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
The Kayan have a strong belief in [[augury]], and nothing is done without reference to some form of divination, including breaking thatch grass{{Clarify|date=January 2025|reason=clarification is needed as to the meaning of "breaking thatch grass".}}, but most importantly consulting chicken bones.<ref>{{Citation| last=Manna| first=Padre Paolo| year=1902| title=The Ghekhu-Karen Tribe of Eastern Burma| publisher=S. Giuseppe Pontificial Printing}}</ref>
'''Cleansing ceremony rituals''' <gallery widths=180> Cleansing1.jpg| Cleansing2.jpg| Cleansing3.jpg| Cleansing4.jpg| </gallery>
'''Contemporary'''
As hilltribes, the Kayan can be categorised into different ethnicities and races, with various languages and religious beliefs. Traditional [[Bwe people|Kayaws]] believe in tree spirits, but younger generations are showing acceptance towards Buddhism and Christianity.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.atlasofhumanity.com/thailandkayan |title=Thailand, Kayan People |website=atlasofhumanity.com |access-date=21 April 2024}}</ref>
<gallery widths=180> GroupMusicians.jpg| GroupGirls.jpg| GroupChurch.jpg| GroupGirls3.jpg| </gallery>
==See also== * [[Ndebele people (South Africa)|Ndebele people of South Africa]] – an African tribe with a similar neck ring practice * [[Pole worship#Pole dances and festivals (tribal cultures and ethnicities)|Pole worship]]
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category|Kayan (Burma)}} * [http://www.peoplesoftheworld.org/text?people=Karen Padaung, a subgroup of Karen] * [http://www.culturalsurvival.org/ourpublications/csq/article/hostages-tourism "Hostage to Tourism"] Article by Edith T. Mirante in ''Cultural Survival'' * [https://web.archive.org/web/20101225093200/http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs/JMR-kayah1.htm French-language page with introduction, notes, and bibliography about the Kayah, Kayan, Karenni, and Yang Daeng, by Jean-Marc Rastorfer] {{Ethnic groups in Burma}}
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[[Category:Ethnic groups in Myanmar]] [[Category:Karens]] [[Category:Ethnic groups in Vietnam]] [[Category:Ethnic groups in Minnesota]]