Kachin State Research Articles

Cultural Landscape and Migration

This paper focus on the way Nepalese migrants in Myanmar use features of the natural environment in their homeland in metaphoric constructions of a cultural landscape expressing ethnic identity. It is through such "symbolic work" that perceptions of "ethnoscapes" are shaped and indoctrinated. Although the appeal is to symbols that can serve to foster the importance of Nepaliness as a basis for belonging to an imagined community, this does not mean that the caste/ethnicity interaction boundaries are broken down. It does mean however that sectors of activities where such boundaries are made relevant have been changed and so has the cultural content organized through such interaction boundaries. Ethnoscapes do not exist by themselves from a 'primordial' past; they require ongoing expression and confirmation. Features of a natural environment most migrants have never seen is used as sources for spinning compelling webs of significance extolling the values of belonging to a group that shares a common past in that environment. I shall here present material of an ethnoscape very different from what is experienced in Nepal, namely Nepalese multi-caste/ethnic communities among Kachins, Shans, Burmese, Indian and Chinese traders in the Kachin state of Northern Myanmar. Keywords: Nepali migrants; Myanmar; ethnic identity; cultural landscape DOI: 10.3126/dsaj.v4i0.4515 Dhaulagiri Journal of Sociology and Anthropology Vol.4 2010 pp.99-110

Burma's Northeast Borderland Problems

A FRONTIER, to readers accustomed to think in European terms, is a L sharply defined line, generally evolved in centuries past according to some ancient cleavage between nations or cultures. American readers might hesitate to endorse such a static definition, thinking instead, perhaps, of a dynamic society stretching out to meet the challenge of physical barriers and limitations. The which is the subject of this article cannot be comprehended in either of the above sets of terms. It is true that it constitutes a formidable physical barrier (albeit one that has been, and is being, penetrated in the course of widespread folk migrations) but its special character lies in the interposition between the societies of Burma and China of a complex of minority communities, none of them wholeheartedly committed, politically and culturally, to either Burma or China. Over a period of almost a thousand years, attempts have been made to integrate the frontier peoples (usually by force) into the social systems of Burma and China, and international conflicts have arisen during this process as rival claims have been pressed forward. This age-old struggle continues today, and its outcome is still uncertain. The physical frontier takes its shape from a vast geological thrust which raised a complex mountain chain stretching from eastern Tibet down to Malaya and Java, gradually losing height until it sinks into the ocean. To the north of Burma there are peaks rising to over i5,000 feet. The range which makes up the eastern borderland of the present Kachin State is topped by mountains of io,ooo or I2,000 feet. Southwards, the Shan hills are nowhere higher than 7,5oo feet, and as the Siamese border is approached, the hilltops do not go above 5,000 feet. To the west of these ranges are the plains and low hills of Burma proper; to the east, a rugged tangle of mountains and valleys spreading over the greater part of Yunnan province. Three mighty rivers flow through the borderland: the Irrawaddy, the Salween and the Mekong (known to the Chinese as Kin-Cha Chiang, Lu Chiang and Lan Tsa Chiang). The Irrawaddy bores its way through the northern hills via