Organizer: Cornelia Ann Kammerer, Hampshire College
Chair: Nicola Tannenbaum, Lehigh University
Discussant: F. K. Lehman, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
In past and present continental Southeast Asia, rituals, myths, and histories of the founding of upland villages or lowland capitals figure prominently in the construction and reconstruction of the political order and of group identity. The founding of settlements in the region has traditionally involved the establishment of a relationship with the local spirits of the land. In many parts of mainland Southeast Asia, yearly offerings are still made to these local lords, who are thought to control the fertility of the land. Ritual relationships with local lords frequently involve the mediation of other ethnic groups, typically considered the first settlers or autochthonous people.
Through ethnographic, historical, and comparative analysis, panelists explore the ways that founding person, place of settlement, and polity have been and continue to be intertwined. Four ethnographic case studies (Akha, Haka-Chin, Karen, and Shan) consider both upland and lowland contexts in Burma and Thailand. Panelists also examine the ways that founder's cults, which have historically been implicated in interethnic relations, are now being used to define and claim ethnic and regional identity in contemporary nation-states. Our discussant provides a typological framework within which to consider founder's cults and nation-states, egalitarianism and hierarchy, as well as cosmology and polity in mainland Southeast Asia. Panelists draw their analytical approaches from anthropology, women's studies, linguistics, and religious studies. The panel's comparative project is enriched by bringing together two Asian scholars, including one who studies his own society (Haka-Chin), and three North American scholars.
"Thigh-Eating Chiefs" in an Egalitarian Upland Society
Cornelia Ann Kammerer, Hampshire College
In his famous monograph on highland Burma, Leach argues that "thigh-eating chiefs" are characteristic of the autocratic rather than the democratic form of the Kachin political order. Yet in highland Thailand as well as Burma, thigh-eating chiefs are found among Akha, whose political system is egalitarian. This paper examines the coexistence of non-hierarchic political organization and chiefly prerogatives, including performing geomantic founding ceremonies and receiving a foreleg of game slain by villagers. It is argued that this coexistence cannot be understood apart from the indigenous gender system, in which the fertility of rice is associated with women. In addition, the invisibility of traditional Akha village chiefs to Thailand's political authorities and the state's consequent challenge to indigenous models of political order, gender, and ethnic identity are discussed.
The Sacrificial System in Lai (Haka-Chin) Society
Kenneth Van Bik, Graduate Theological Union
Based on the author's indigenous knowledge as well as on the published literature, this paper describes the Lai (Haka-Chin) pantheon of spirits and analyzes the way that hierarchy is structured through the sacrificial system, including the founder's cult. It examines the relationship between cosmological and social hierarchy in Lai society. In particular, it focuses on how worship of the world spirit (khua hrum) is essential to the formation of identity in the Haka area of Burma. How Lai identity is changing is also considered.
Authenticity and Variation: Ritual Leaders Among Sgaw Karen
Yoko Hayami, Kyoto University
Among ritual-performing Karen, the community is represented by its ritual leader (hi kho), who is the village founder, and by his direct descendants through the male line. While common strictures concerning his office have been reported across time and space, from Burma earlier this century to Thailand today, the extent of his obligations, privileges, and power vary from village to village. There are instances where the "traditional ritual leader" enhances his legitimacy by associating with Buddhism or with administrative concerns of the wider nation encompassing Karen society. Furthermore, in many cases in contemporary Thailand, the office has been abandoned completely. Using case studies of three communities in Northern Thailand, two in which ritual leaders are active and one in which the office has been discontinued, this paper analyzes how the Karen, a minority ethnic group on the periphery of the Thai nation, define their position vis-à-vis the state.
Phraya Sihanatraja and the Founding of Maehongson
Nicola Tannenbaum, Lehigh University
According to Thai school books and to both Thai and Western tourist literature, Phraya Sihanatraja is the founder of Maehongson. A statue commemorating him was erected in Maehongson Town in 1988 and now receives regular offerings. This paper explores the ways Phraya Sihanatraja and his founding of Maehongson are used in constructing the province's history, its place in the modern Thai state, and the associated political ritual. In conclusion, I contrast this lowland founder's cult with similar cults in the uplands.