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Ethnic Races of Myanmar
The Naga Festival
Of the more than a hundred national races of Myanmar , the Naga form a small but colorful national group. There are numerous tribes spread throughout the northwestern hills of Myanmar , along the Indian border. Out of the many different Naga tribes, the most prominent are (1) Sum mra, (2) Hta ngan (3) Sann and (4) He mye. While each tribe is unique and certain aspects of tribal culture differ, they share many common beliefs and practices. |
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These honest and hardy people inhabit the mountain regions that form the backbone of Myanmar .
The Naga earn their livelihood largely through agriculture and livestock breeding. There is cultivation of paddy, corn, soybean, and other pulses, as well as vegetables like garlic, onion, cauliflower and fruits such as orange, damson and bananas. |
They also grow tea and coffee on the hill slopes. The Naga also breed pigs, goats, chickens and cattle. Of the cattle bred, there is one special species known as "Nwa Nauk" which is larger and beefier than the Myanmar cow of the plains. It is a cross between the cow and the buffalo. There are also a few cottage industries like spinning and weaving, pottery and black smithy. |
The annual Naga New Year Festival is a cultural tradtion shared by all the Naga. The New Year Festival is held annually on January 15, and Leshi, Lahe, Khamti and Htamanthi take turns hosting the festival.
Naga from outlying villages come to take part in the festivities dressed in their colorful best. There are warrior-like youths with their shields, spears, and headdresses adorned with the curved horns of the wild boar and the lissome girls dressed in their best join in with joy and laughter in the communal dancing.
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At the New Year celebrations, endless cups of rice wine are drunk, bison and wild boar meat roasted and eaten, tribal, dances performed with loud beating of drums. Visitors are most welcome to join the celebrations. The Naga Festival also gives visitors an opportunity to see people who still lead a simple life and who adhere to their customs and traditions born of the soil.
These celebrations are part of their culture that the Naga will continue to preserve with all the pride of men living close to nature. |
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The Chin National
The Chin State is situated in the Western part of Myanmar .This mountainous region has very few flat lands. The average height of the hills is between 5000 and 9000 feet. The famous Mount Victoria (Nat Ma Taung) has a height of 10,400 feet. The Chin State has a population of 470,000 people and the Chin are famed as hunters. In any Chin village, you will see a wall hung with skulls of animals that the owner has shot. |
There will be skulls of mithans, bears, wild boars, sambhurs, muntjacs, monkeys and hornbill beaks adorning the wall.
Terraced farming is practiced and rice, rye, maize, cotton, coffee and apples are cultivated in the hills together with sericulture. The main cottage industry in this region is traditional weaving.
The capital of the Chin State is Haka. Other towns such as Falam, Tiddim, Tunzan, Htantalan, Matupi, Paletwa and Mindat are accessible.
The Chin believe in Christianity and animism. Ritual ancestor worship ceremonies and post-harvest festivals are held annually with much merriment.
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Salon or Moken,the Sea Gypsies
The Sea Gypsies, who live a nomadic life among the hundreds of islands of the Myeik Archipelago, are called the Salon or known by the name they call themselves: The Moken.
They are skilled on the sea and in the sea, with even toddlers paddling their baby-sized canoes hewn out of solid tree trunks, with as much ease as city kids pedal their tricycles.
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They dive without oxygen tanks to get real pearls; they hunt for stingrays and sharks; they gather sea cucumbers and abalone.
The sea is their backyard and for them, casting nets to catch fish to sell would be as easy as a farmer pulling up carrots. But the wealth gained from such an ambitious enterprise would create an inequality of standards among their small race, which they do not want, so they do not use nets.
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Some believe them to be descended from Malaysian fishermen and a few of their words are the same as some Malay words. But then they have an equal if not a greater number of identical words with the Mon. The Mon are descended from Mon-Khmer stock, and the word Moken could be a variation of the name of the racial root.
Very few anthropologists have managed to do research on the Moken, for they are shy of strangers. Indeed shy is not even the exact word, for they want no influences from the outside world on their culture, and thus have no desire for any interaction with strangers. |
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