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Karen
ကရင်လူမျိုး

Karen women at Kyaikkami Yele Pagoda
Total population
4,000,000
Regions with significant populations
Burma 3,500,000  Thailand 400,000[citation needed]
Languages
Karen languages, including S'gaw Karen, Pwo Karen, Karenni and Pa'O
Religion
Theravada Buddhism, Christianity, Animism

Kayin state in Burma.

The Karen or Kayin people (Karen: Pwa Ka Nyaw Poe or Kanyaw in Sgaw Karen and Ploan in Poe Karen; Burmese: ကရင်လူမျိုး; MLCTS: ka. rang lu myui:, pronounced: [kəjɪ̀ɴ lù mjó]; Thai: กะเหรี่ยง, Kariang or Yang), refer to a number of Sino-Tibetan language speaking ethnic groups which reside primarily in southern and southeastern Burma (Myanmar). The Karen make up approximately 7 percent of the total Burmese population of approximately 50 million people.^[1] A large number of Karen also reside in Thailand, mostly on the Thai–Burmese border.

The Karen are often confused with the Red Karen (or Karenni). The subgroup of the Karenni, the Padaung tribe from the border region of Burma and Thailand, are best known for the neck rings worn by the women of this group of people.

Some of the Karen, led primarily by the Karen National Union (KNU), have waged a war against the central government since early 1949. The aim of the KNU at first was independence. Since 1976 the armed group has called for a federal system rather than an independent Karen State.

Origins[link]

Karen legends refer to a 'river of running sand' which ancestors reputedly crossed. Many Karen think this refers to the Gobi Desert, although they have lived in Burma for centuries. The Karen constitute the third biggest ethnic population in Burma, after the Bamars and Shans.^[2]

The term "Karen" is an umbrella term that refers to a heterogeneous lot of ethnic groups that do not share a common language, culture, religion or material characteristics.^[3] A pan-Karen ethnic identity is a relatively modern creation, established in the 1800s with the conversion of some Karens to Christianity and shaped by various British colonial policies and practices and the introduction of Christianity.^[4][5] After Christianity was introduced by missionaries during this period, some Karen-speaking Christians began asserting a distinct identity from their non-Christian counterparts, and garnered special privileges from the British, including military recruitment.^[5] Many of these Christians became leaders of Karen ethnonationalist organizations, including the Karen National Union.^[5]

"Karen" is a Anglicisation of the Burmese word "Kayin" (ကရင်), whose etymology is unclear.^[3] The word, which was originally a derogatory term referring to non-Buddhist ethnic groups, may have come from the Mon language, or is a corruption of Kanyan, the name of a vanished civilization.^[3]

In pre-colonial times, the low-lying Burmese and Mon-speaking kingdoms recognized 2 general categories of Karen, the Talaing Kayin (တလိုင်းကရင်), generally lowlanders who were recognized as the "original settlers" and essential to Mon court life, and the Bama Kayin (ဗမာကရင်), highlanders who were subordinated or assimilated by the Bamar.^[6]

Distribution[link]

The Karen people live mostly in the hills bordering eastern region and Irrawaddy delta of Burma,^[7] primarily in Kayin State, with some in Kayah State, southern Shan State, Ayeyarwady Region, Tanintharyi Region, Bago Division and in western Thailand.

The total number of Karen is difficult to estimate. The last reliable census of Burma was conducted in 1931. A 2006 VOA article cites an estimate of seven million in Burma. There are another 400,000^[8] Karen in Thailand, where they are by far the largest of the hill tribes.

Divisions[link]

Zayein Karen women in the 1920s.

Loiling Karen women in the 1920s.

The Karens have been divided by ethnologists into Red Karen and White Karen.^[9]

Red Karen (Kayah)[link]

According to a 1983 census, the Red Karens (Karenni) consist of the following groups: Kayah, Geko (Kayan Ka Khaung, Gekho, Gaykho), Geba (Kayan Gebar, Gaybar), Padaung (Kayan Lahwi), Bres, Manu-Manaus (Manumanao), Yintale, Yinbaw, Bwé, Paku, Shan and Pao.^[10] Several of the groups (Geko, Gebar, Padaung) belong to Kayan, a subgroup of Red Karen.

S'gaw Karen[link]

The largest and most widely scattered Karen group. Many live in Yangon Division, Bago Division(Taungoo District, Bago District and Tharyarwaddy District), Mandalay Division(Pyin Oo Lwin and Kalaw), Tanintharyi Division(Myeik and Dawei), Ayeyarwaddy Division(Hintharda District), East Karen State (Thanton), Kayah State (Mawchi) and Thailand (Chiang Mai Province). S'gaw Karen language is a common language for most of the Karen People. In Karen, S'gaw Karen are called Bar Htee(Father Side).

Pwo Karen[link]

East Pwo Karen live in western Thailand and Kayin State, Burma; West Pwo Karen live in Irrawaddy Division, Burma. In Karen, Pwo Karen are called Mo Htee(Mother Side).

White Karen[link]

Most of the White Karen live near Pyinmana, Mandalay Division. S'gaw and Pwo Karen are not White Karen. In Karen, White Karen are called Ka Nyaw Wah.Anyway,it just means that they are another sibling in karen ancestry family.

Paku Karen[link]

Paku Karen live in Taungoo, Bago Division, Kayah State, Mawchi and east Kayin State, Thandong. Paku Karen Baptist Association is headquartered in Taungoo.The association operates Paku Divinity School. The Paku Karen speak S'gaw .

Political history[link]

A Karen village in Thailand.

British period[link]

In 1881 the Karen National Associations (KNA) was founded by western-educated Christian Karens to represent Karen interests to the British. They argued at the 1917 Montagu-Chelmsford hearings in India that Burma was not "yet in a fit state for self-government", but 3 years later, after submitting a criticism of the 1920 Craddock Reforms, won 5 (later 12) seats in the Legislative Council of 130 (later 132) members. The majority Buddhist Karens were not organised until 1939 with the formation of a Buddhist KNA.^[11]

In 1938 the British colonial administration recognised Karen New Year as a public holiday.^[11][12]

World War II[link]

During World War II, when the Japanese occupied the region, long-term tensions between the Karen and Burma turned into open fighting. As a consequence, many villages were destroyed and massacres committed by both the Japanese and the Burma Independence Army (BIA) troops who helped the Japanese invade the country. Among the victims were a pre-war Cabinet minister, Saw Pe Tha, and his family. A government report later claimed the 'excesses of the BIA' and 'the loyalty of the Karens towards the British' as the reasons for these attacks. The intervention by Colonel Suzuki Keiji, the Japanese commander of the BIA, after meeting a Karen delegation led by Saw Tha Din, appeared to have prevented further atrocities.^[11]

Post-war[link]

The Karen people aspired to have the areas where they were the majority formed into a subdivision or "state" within Burma similar to what the Shan, Kachin and Chin peoples had been given. A goodwill mission led by Saw Tha Din and Saw Ba U Gyi to London in August 1946 failed to receive any encouragement from the British government for any separatist demands. When a delegation of representatives of the Governor's Executive Council headed by Aung San was invited to London to negotiate for the Aung San-Attlee Treaty in January 1947, none of the ethnic minority members was included by the British government. The following month at the Panglong Conference, when an agreement was signed between Aung San as head of the interim Burmese government and the Shan, Kachin and Chin leaders, the Karen were present only as observers; the Mon and Arakanese were also absent.

British inattention[link]

The British promised to consider the case of the Karen after the war. While the situation of the Karen was discussed, nothing practical was done before the British left Burma. The 1947 Constitution, drawn without Karen participation due to their boycott of the elections to the Constituent Assembly, also failed to address the Karen question specifically and clearly, leaving it to be discussed only after independence. The Shan and Karenni states were given the right to secession after 10 years, the Kachin their own state, and the Chin a special division. The Mon and Arakanese of Ministerial Burma were not given any consideration.^[11]

Karen National Union[link]

In early February 1947, the Karen National Union (KNU) was formed at a Karen Congress attended by 700 delegates from the Karen National Associations, both Baptist and Buddhist (KNA - founded 1881), the Karen Central Organisation (KCO) and its youth wing, the Karen Youth Organisation (KYO), at Vinton Memorial Hall in Yangon. The meeting called for a Karen state with a seaboard, an increased number of seats (25%) in the Constituent Assembly, a new ethnic census, and a continuance of Karen units in the armed forces. The deadline of March 3 passed without a reply from the British government, and Saw Ba U Gyi, the president of the KNU, resigned from the Governor's Executive Council the next day.^[11]

After the war ended, Burma was granted independence in January 1948, and the Karen, led by the KNU, attempted to co-exist peacefully with the Burman ethnic majority. Karen people held leading positions in both the government and the army. In the fall of 1948, the Burmese government, led by U Nu, began raising and arming irregular political militias known as Sitwundan. These militias were under the command of Major Gen. Ne Win and outside the control of the regular army. In January 1949, some of these militias went on a rampage through Karen communities.

Insurgency[link]

In late January 1949, the Army Chief of Staff, Gen. Smith Dun, a Karen, was removed from office and imprisoned. He was replaced by the Burmese nationalist Ne Win.^[11] These events happened at exactly the same time a commission looking into the Karen problem was due to make its report to the government. The events effectively killed the report. The Karen National Defence Organisation (KNDO), formed in July 1947, then rose up in an insurgency against the government.^[11] They were helped by the defections of the Karen Rifles and the Union Military Police (UMP) units which had been successfully deployed in suppressing the earlier Burmese Communist rebellions, and came close to capturing Yangon itself. The most notable was the Battle of Insein, nine miles from Yangon, where they held out in a 112-day siege till late May 1949.^[11]

Years later, the Karen had become the largest of 20 minority groups participating in an insurgency against the military dictatorship in Yangon. During the 1980s, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) fighting force numbered approximately 20,000. After an uprising of the people of Burma in 1988, known as the 8888 Uprising, the KNLA had accepted those demonstrators in their bases along the border. The dictatorship expanded the army and launched a series of major offensives against the KNLA. By 2006, the KNLA's strength had shrunk to less than 4,000, opposing what is now a 400,000-man Burmese army. However, the political arm of the KNLA - the KNU - continued efforts to resolve the conflict through political means.

Democratic Karen Buddhist Army[link]

During 1994 and 1995, dissenters from the Buddhist minority in the KNLA formed a splinter group called the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), and went over to the side of the military junta.Note,DKBA split themselves due to the weak of central power and religions conflict,mainly between sabbathday advantist(SDA)and buddhist clashes and The split is believed to have led to the fall of the KNU headquarters at Manerplaw in January 1995.^[13]

The conflict continues as of 2006^[update], with a new KNU headquarters in Mu Aye Pu, on the Burmese–Thai border. In 2004, the BBC, citing aid agencies, estimates that up to 200,000 Karen have been driven from their homes during decades of war, with 160,000 more refugees from Burma, mostly Karen, living in refugee camps on the Thai side of the border. The largest camp is the one in Mae La, Tak province, Thailand, where about 50,000 Karen refugees are hosted.^[14]

Reports as recently as February, 2010, state that the Burmese army continues to burn Karen villages, displacing thousands of people.^[15] Many Karen, including people such as former KNU secretary Padoh Mahn Sha Lah Phan and his daughter, Zoya Phan, have accused the military government of Burma of ethnic cleansing.^{[16][17][18][19][20]} The U.S. State Department has also cited the Burmese government for suppression of religious freedom.^[21] This is a source of particular trouble to the Karen, as a estimated 15% of them are Christians.^[22][23]

Language[link]

The Karen languages, members of the Tibeto-Burman group of the Sino-Tibetan language family, consist of three mutually unintelligible branches: Sgaw, Pwo, and Pa'o.^[24][25] Karenni (Red Karen) and Kayan belong to the Sgaw branch. The Karen languages are almost unique among the Tibeto-Burman languages in having a subject–verb–object word order; other than Karen and Bai, Tibeto-Burman languages feature a subject–object–verb order. This anomaly is likely due to the influence of neighboring Mon and Tai languages.^[26]

Religion[link]

The majority of Karens are Theravada Buddhists who also praactice animism, while approximately 15% are Christian.^[27][28] Lowland Pwo-speaking Karens tend to be more orthodox Buddhists, whereas highland Sgaw-speaking Karens tend to be heterodox Buddhists who profess strong animist beliefs. A minority of Karens are Christian. However, the religious demographics of the Karen are typically misconstrued by news agencies and by Christian groups to present the Karen as a mainly Christian ethnic minority, mainly to appeal to Western and Evangelical audiences for political and economic support.

Animism[link]

Karen animism is defined by a belief in klar(soul), 37 spirits that embody every individual.^[27] Misfortune and sickness are believed to be caused by klar that wander away, and death occurs when all 37 klar leave the body.^[27]

Buddhism[link]

Karen Buddhists are the most numerous of the Karens and account for around 65-75% of the total Karen population.^[29] The Buddhist influence came from the Mon who were dominant in Lower Burma until the middle of the 18th century. Buddhist Karen are found mainly in Kayin and Mon States and in Yangon, Bago and Tannintharyi Regions. There are Buddhist monasteries in most Karen villages, and the monastery is the centre of community life. Merit-making activities, such as almsgiving, are most central to Karen Buddhist life.^[30]

Buddhism was brought to Pwo-speaking Karens in the late 1700s, and the Yedagon Monastery atop Mount Zwegabin became the foremost center of Karen language Buddhist literature.^[29] Many millennial sects were founded throughout the 1800s, led by Karen Buddhist minlaung rebels.^[31] Two sects, Telakhon (or Telaku) and Leke, were founded in the 1860s.^[29] The Tekalu sect, considered a Buddhist sect, is a mixture of spirit worship, Karen customs and worship of the future Buddha, Metteyya, was founded in Kyaing.^[29] The Leke sect was founded on the western banks of the Thanlwin River, and is no longer associated to Buddhism (as followers do not venerate Buddhist monks).^[29] Followers believe that the future Buddha will return to Earth if they maintain their moral practices (following the Dhamma and precepts), and they practice vegetarianism, hold Saturday services and construct distinct pagodas.^[29] Several Buddhist socioreligious movements, both orthodox and heterodox, have arisen in the past century.^[29] Duwae, a type of pagoda worship, with animistic origins, is also practiced.^[29]

There are several prominent Karen Buddhist monks, including Thuzana (S'gaw) and Zagara, who was conferred the "Agga Maha Saddammajotika" title by the Burmese government in 2004.^[29]

Christianity[link]

Tha Byu, the first convert to Christianity in 1828, was baptised by Rev George Boardman, an associate of Adoniram Judson, founder of the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society. Today, the Christians belong to the Catholic Church or to the different Protestant denominations. Some of the largest Protestant denominations are Baptist and Seventh-day Adventists.^[32][33] Alongside 'orthodox' Christianity, some of those who identify themselves as Christian also have syncretised elements of animism with Christianity. It is more likely to find Karen Christians in the Irrawaddy delta than Buddhists, who tend to be found mainly in Kayin state and surrounding regions. 15 % of Karen identify themselves as Christian. ^[34]Persecution of Christians by the Burmese authorities has continued to this day, fueled by previous attempts by Western imperialists to divide the country not only on ethnic but on religious grounds.^[28]

The Karen Baptist Convention is established in 1913 and the HQ is located in Yangon with 20 member associations in Burma. The KBC operate K.B.C charity Clinic in Insein Yangon. The KBC also operates Karen Baptist Theological Seminary, [1] in Insein, Yangon. The seminary is not only run theology program but also run secular degree programs to fulfill young Karen intellectual and vocational needs. The Pwo Karen Baptist Convention located in Ahlone Township, Yangon and also operates Pwo Karen Theological Seminary [2]. There are other schools for Karen people in Myanmar, such as Paku Divinity School in Taungoo, Kothabyu Bible School in Pathein, Yangon Home Mission School. The Thailand Karen Baptist Convention is located in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

The Seventh-day Adventists have built several schools in the Karen refugee camps in Thailand to Christianize the Karen people. Eden Valley Academy in Tak and Karen Adventist Academy in Mae Hong Son are the two largest Seventh-day Adventist Karen schools.

Kawthoolei[link]

Kawthoolei is the Karen name for the state that the Karen people of Burma have been trying to establish since the late 1940s. The precise meaning of the name is disputed even by the Karen themselves; possible interpretations include Flowerland and Land without evil, although, according to Martin Smith in Burma: Insurgency and the Politics of Ethnicity, it has a double meaning, and can also be rendered as the Land Burnt Black; hence the land that must be fought for. Kawthoolei roughly approximates to present-day Kayin State, some parts of Pegu and Tanintharyi Division, although parts of the Burmese Ayeyarwady River delta with Karen populations have sometimes also been claimed. Kawthoolei as a name is a relatively recent invention, penned during the time of former Karen leader Ba U Gyi, who was assassinated around the time of Burma's independence from Britain.

See also[link]

• Kayin State
• Karenni
• Karen Baptist Convention
• Karen Baptist Theological Seminary
• Paku Divinity School

Footnotes[link]

References[link]

Print[link]

• Anderson, Jon Lee (2004) [1992]. Guerrillas: Journies in the Insurgent World. Penguin Books. 
• Evans, W.H. (1932). The Identification of Indian Butterflies (2nd ed). Mumbai, India: Bombay Natural History Society. 
• Delang, Claudio O. (Ed.) (2003). Living at the Edge of Thai Society: The Karen in the Highlands of Northern Thailand. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-32331-4. 
• Lewis, Paul; Elaine Lewis (1984). Peoples of the Golden Triangle. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd. ISBN 978-0-500-97472-8. 
• Matisoff, James A. (1991). "Sino-Tibetan Linguistics: Present State and Future Prospects". Annual Review of Anthropology (Annual Reviews Inc.) 20 (1): 469–504. DOI:10.1146/annurev.an.20.100191.002345. 
• Falla, Jonathan (1991). True Love and Bartholomew: Rebels of the Burmese Border. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-39019-4. 
• Smith, Martin (1991). Burma - Insurgency and the Politics of Ethnicity. London and New Jersey: Zed Books. ISBN 0-86232-868-3/ISBN 0-86232-869-1 pbk. 
• Phan, Zoya (2009). Little Daughter: a Memoir of Survival in Burma and the West. Simon & Schuster. 

Online[link]

• Karen Baptist Convention in Thailand
• San C. Po, Burma and the Karens (London 1928)
• Adventist World Radio Karen
• "Burma:International Religious Freedom Report 2005". U.S. State Department. 2005-11-08. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2005/51506.htm. Retrieved 2006-07-18. 
• "Karen Weblinks". http://www.stolaf.edu/people/leming/karenlinks.htm. Retrieved 2006-07-18. 
• Kendal, Elizabeth (2006-03-09). "Day of Prayer for Burma". Christian Monitor. http://www.christianmonitor.org/documents.php?type=Prayers&item_ID=233&action=display&lang=English&&PHPSESSID=db74c41. Retrieved 2006-07-18. 
• "Description of the Sino-Tibetan Language Family". http://stedt.berkeley.edu/html/STfamily.html. Retrieved 2006-07-18. 
• "Recent humanitarian efforts serving the Karen people". http://burmamission.org. Retrieved 2010-12-10. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Karen people

• the Karen people of Burma
• S'gaw Karen Grammar
• S'gaw Karen Dictionary
• S'gaw Karen Bible
• Karenvoice.net, shares the information of Karen interacting in the world from the past, struggling in Burma in the present and transiting in the world again in the future
• Karens Around the World Unite.
• Karen Human Rights Group, a new website documenting the human rights situation of Karen villagers in rural Burma
• Kawthoolei meaning "a land without evil", is the Karen name of the land of Karen people. An independent and impartial media outlet aimed to provide contemporary information of all kinds — social, cultural, educational and political
• Free Burma Rangers, website of NGO that provides humanitarian assistance to Internally Displaced People
• Index of IRF reports on Burma 2001-5
• Kwekalu literally "Karen Traditional Horn", the only online Karen language news outlet based in Mergui/Tavoy District of Kawthoolei
• Karen Women's Organization
• Karen Audio Bible