lonely-planet-myanmar-burma-11-edition

312PEOPLE OF MYANMAR (BURMA) MAIN ETHNIC GROUPSRakhaingCulturalRelics» Temple ruins,Mrauk U» MahamuniBuddha image,Mandalay» Rakhaing StateCulture Museum,SittweTo find out moreabout the Shanand issues inShan State readthe Shan HeraldAgency for News(www.shanland.org).including Yangon’s Shwedagon Paya were appropriated by the Bamar(though the Golden Rock is still in Mon State), and Mon tastes in artand architecture were borrowed as well.Today the Mon only make up just over 2% of the population of Myanmar,but Mon art and culture have influenced that of the Bamar quite thoroughly,as a trip to the Mon Cultural Museum in Mawlamyine will attest.RakhaingThe Rakhaing (also spelled Rakhine and formerly called Arakanese) areprincipally adherents of Buddhism; in fact, they claim to be among thefirst followers of Buddha in Southeast Asia. Their last ancient capitalwas centred at Mrauk U in Rakhaing State, which borders Bangladesh.The Rakhaing language is akin to Bamar but, due to their geographicallocation, they have also absorbed a fair amount of culture from theIndian subcontinent. In the eyes of most Bamar, the Rakhaing are a Creolerace – a mixture of Bamar and Indian – a perception that Rakhaingstrongly resent. It is true though that the local culture exhibits a stronglyIndian flavour particularly when it comes to food and music. The Rakhaingare skilled weavers and are known in Myanmar for their eye-catchingand intricately patterned longyi.Rakhaing State also has a minority population of Muslim Rakhaing, aswell as the Rohingya (see p 277 ), another Muslim people not recognisedas citizens of Myanmar by the government.ShanThe biggest ethnic group in Myanmar after the Bamar, the Shan, most ofwhom are Buddhists, call themselves Tai (‘Shan’ is actually a Bamar wordderived from the word ‘Siam’). This name is significant, as the Shan arerelated ethnically, culturally and linguistically to Tai peoples in neighbouringThailand, Laos and China’s Yunnan Province. In fact, if you’ve spentsome time in northern Thailand or Laos and learned some of the respectivelanguages, you’ll find you can have a basic conversation with the Shan.Traditionally, the Shan wore baggy trousers and floppy, wide-brimmedsun hats, and the men were known for their faith in talismanic tattoos.Nowadays Shan town-dwellers commonly dress in the Bamar longyi, excepton festival occasions, when they proudly sport their ethnic costumes.In former times the Shan were ruled by local lords or chieftains calledsao pha (sky lords), a word that was corrupted by the Bamar to sawbwa.Many Shan groups have fought the Bamar for control of Myanmar, andTHE MOKENAlso known as sea gypsies, or Salon in Burmese, the Moken live a nomadic life driftingon the ocean winds around the Myeik Archipelago, Tanintharyi (Tenasserim) Division.Numbering around 2000 to 3000 individuals, scientists believe they have been floatingaround these islands since at least 2000 BC.Totally at home on the water, Moken families spend almost all their time on woodenboats, called kabang. As the boys come of age they build their own boats, and as thegirls come of age and marry, they move away from their parents’ boat.Breathing through air hoses held above the water surface, the Moken dive to depthsof up to 200ft in search of shellfish. For all their skill, this can be a lethal activity withdivers dying in accidents each year, mainly from the bends caused by rising too quicklyto the surface.Like almost every ethnic minority in Myanmar, the Moken have suffered greatly undermilitary rule; reports from the late 1990s talk of how almost all Moken were subjectedto forced relocations to onshore sites. For more information see www.projectmaje.org/gypsies.htm.