by mjmedina

January 18, 2011

Salone: Sea Gypsies of Myanmar

By: Harry Hpone Thant

The blue waters off the Tanintharyi coast of Southern Myanmar are home to a race of people called Salone in the Myanmar language. Also known as Moken, they are a nomadic people. They roam the seas in their fragile canoes looking for sea cucumbers, pearls and otherwise searching the sea bed for their livelihood. Even the deadly sea urchins with their prickly and poisonous spikes are handled with ease by them. The Salone families hop from island to island, making their canoes their home, never touching land except when the seas get rough during monsoon time. All their worldly possessions are piled in their small boats, not excluding the household dogs even, as they wander from one deserted island to another as their forefathers had done thousands of times in as much years. And this had earned them an epitaph as Sea Gypsies.

by mjmedina

December 7, 2010

DANCING ON THE MOUNTAIN TOP

By: Harry Hpone Thant

Since the emergence of civilizations the Earth has been the provider of both food and shelter for the humans. In return festivals are celebrated annually to thank and return the favors of Mother Earth for the bountiful harvests. These festivals and celebrations are held in many forms by various communities and clans on earth mostly after harvest times.

One of these is the New Year Festival held annually in January by our Naga cousins who live on the high mountain peaks of northwestern Myanmar. Many Naga clans live on these high mountains, scattered in small villages and hamlets but they always come together at New Year time to celebrate their New Year at a designated town in what is known as the Naga Hills.

by mjmedina

November 19, 2010

THE COLORFUL DRESSES OF THE PALAUNG MAIDENS

By: Harry Hpone Thant

There are more than 130 different ethnic groups making Myanmar their home. And each and every group has its distinctive traditional dresses. The dresses also reflect their beliefs in their origin, which they lovingly tell and re-tell at every occasion.

Palaungs are scattered all over the Shan States. Mostly they engage in the planting and curing of tea leaves. According to some accounts they are distinguished into Ngwe (Silver) and Shwe (Gold) Palaungs. Gold Palaungs live around Kyaukme, Namsan in the Northern Shan State and the majority of the Silver Palaungs make their homes in the Southern and Eastern Shan States. No one can say why they are differentiated as such but one story is that a Shansawbwa (hereditary prince) from the Northern Shan State, married a Palaung girl and showered her with so much gold that they became known as Gold Palaungs. Also most of the Silver Palaungs women wear broad silver bands around their waits as ornamental belts.