lonely-planet-myanmar-burma-11-edition

307People ofMyanmar (Burma)Ethnically speaking, multicultural Myanmar is more salad bowl thanmelting pot. The government recognises 135 distinct ethnic groups thatmake up eight official ‘major national ethnic races’: Bamar, Shan, Mon,Kayin (Karen), Kayah, Chin, Kachin and Rakhaing. The DPS touristmaps of the country depict cute cartoon characters of each of these racesdressed in their traditional attire, and the incredible thing is that as youtravel through Myanmar, you’re quite likely to see people wearing similar,if not identical, attire.Variations in dress are just a hint of the differences between Myanmar’sdiverse ethnic populations. This chapter provides background onthe major ethnic groups that visitors are most likely to encounter or readabout.Main Ethnic GroupsHistorically, Myanmar’s diverse ethnic make-up has been delineatedby its topography. The broad central plain, with the Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy)River and Myanmar’s most fertile soil, has been populated byThe 1983 censusrecords 69% ofthe populationas Bamar, 8.5%Shan, 6.2% Kayin,4.5% Rakhaing,2.4% Mon,2.2% Chin, 1.4%Kachin, 1% Waand 0.4% Kayah.MYANMAR’S CYCLE OF LIFEIn From the Land of Green Ghosts: A Burmese Odyssey, Pascal Khoo Thwe writes that,growing up in the Shan hills, traditional family life meant that the ‘earth is round atschool and flat at home’, meaning some aspects of modern life are left, along with yourshoes, outside the door.Families in Myanmar tend to be large, and the birth of a child is a big occasion. Whileboys are coddled more, girls are equally welcomed, as they’re expected to look afterparents later in life. You might find three or four generations of one family living in a twoorthree-room house. Some thatched huts in the countryside have generators, poweringelectric bulbs and pumping life into the TV a couple of hours a night; many don’t. Runningwater outside the cities and bigger towns is rare.About three-quarters of the population farm, so much of local life revolves aroundvillages and the countryside. Here, national politics or dreams of wealth can pale in comparisonto the season, the crop or the level of the river (used for bathing, washing anddrinking water). Everywhere, people are known for helping each other when in need, andcall each other ‘brother’ and ‘sister’ affectionately.In Finding George Orwell in Burma, Emma Larkin recounts how a Mandalay cemeteryworker saved dirt from a moved gravesite so that just in case the family ever returnedthey could have ‘some soil from around the grave’. Death, of course, is a big deal, thoughmourned for less time than in much of the West. To miss a funeral is an unimaginablefaux pas. If a heated argument goes too far, the ultimate capper is to yell: ‘Oh yeah?Don’t come to my funeral when I die!’