The Karen People of Burma:

PREFACE
To many a visitor to Burma, who views the country from the deck of an
Irrawaddy River streamer or from the window of a railway carriage, there
appears to be little difference between the Karen and the Burman. This is
not strange, for many individuals of the non-Burman tribes wear the
Burmese costume and speak the Burmese language; and they present no
markedly different characteristics in feature or color of skin. I have
often heard the remark that "there is no difference between the Burman
and the Karen." It is doubtless because the Government of Burma
recognizes that there is a difference in the tribal characteristics,
customs, and religion that it has adopted the wise policy of publishing a
series of complete studies, of which this purports to be one, of these
various peoples. If the reader will have the patience to read these
pages, it is hoped that he will realize that, though the Karen have lived
for generations in the closest proximity to the Burmese, they preserve
their own racial traits, which are quite distinct from those of their
more volatile neighbors with whom they have had little in common.
This work deals more particularly with the Sgaw branch of the Karen
people. My own experience has been more intimate with this tribe, though
I have known many of the other groups. This circumstance, together with
the fact that the Bwe and Taungthu peoples have already been described in
the Upper Burma Gazetteer, as well as the limitations of space,
has led me to limit my discussion to brief references to the other
tribes. But I am convinced that in the main the Sgaw exhibit the general
characteristics that are truly Karen in the broadest sense of the term. I
have also omitted any detailed study of the large mass of Karen folklore,
which may possibly be incorporated in some future study.
The reader may notice that I have used the term "Karen," instead of
the more usual plural form "Karens," when referring to the tribal name.
This is more accurate, for to add the "s" is as misleading in this case
as in that of the Lao, who are often mistakenly spoken of as the "Laos."
In the transliteration of Karen words I have followed the continental
system of spelling, adopting "x" for the guttural which is pronounced
like the "ch" in the Scotch "loch," and the dipthong "eu" for the sound
which closely resembles the common pronunciation of "er" as in "her." I
have accepted the simplified spelling for the tribal names, Pwo and Bwe,
in place of the more cumbersome "Pgho" and "Bghai."
It is not without some misgivings that I allow these sheets to go to
the publisher. The notes were collected at such intervals as could be
taken from my labors as a district missionary, and that at a time when
increasing administrative duties precluded my giving such attention to
them as I could wish. The return to America on furlough necessitated the
completion of the work on the opposite side of the world from the sources
of my material, and where, though I enjoyed the privileges of a Graduate
Fellowship at the Ohio State University. I had to depend largely on my
personal collections, there being no department of Ethnology there.
I wish to acknowledge the assistance which I have had from my wife,
whose sympathetic interest and accurate knowledge have been of untold
value, and also the help I have received from my missionary colleagues,
among whom I should mention my father-in-law, Rev. D. A. W. Smith, D.D.;
Rev. C. A. Nichols, D.D., who was first to ask me to undertake the
preparation of this work, and Rev. E. N. Harris. Among the many Karen
members of the mission staff who have helped in the gathering of
materials, I can only mention Thras San Gyi San Kwe, Po Myaing, and Shwe
Thee, of Tharrawaddy; Thra Pan Ya Se, of Shwegyin; and Thra Aung Gaing,
of Insein, who gave me a full account of the Karen of Siam. The sketches
signed "D. P." are the work of a Karen schoolboy from Tavoy, Saw Day Po,
who, to his credit it should be said, drew them without having had any
instruction in drawing whatever. My thanks are also due to Drs. B. Laufer
and Fay Cooper-Cole, of the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, for
many valuable suggestions, and to Professors J. A. Leighton and W. H.
Siebert, of the Ohio State University, for many kindnesses. To Professor
Siebert I am especially indebted for a most painstaking review of my
entire manuscript, for its acceptance for publication, and for seeing it
through the press of the Ohio State University. Finally, I desire to
express my gratitude to the Government of Burma for the privilege of
undertaking this work. The necessity for careful observation and thorough
investigation has not been without its benefits to me. The undertaking
has been exacting and quite instructive, even if it had benefited no one
but myself.
This book is, after all, but another by-product of the great
missionary enterprise, which seeks to lift the less fortunate peoples of
the world to a higher plane of life and enjoyment, and to bring to them
the best of our Christian civilization. If this work should help to make
the Karen better known and understood and in any way assist them along
their upward path, the writer will feel that it has all been a part of
the great task to which he has dedicated his life. May the blessing of
God rest upon it.
COLUMBUS, OHIO
AUGUST 30, 1920