Chin hill and its people

Chin Culture and Traditions

The Chin are a Sino-Tibetan race, descended from central China. Within Burma, they predominantly inhabit Chin State, which is located in the north-west of the country, bordering Bangladesh (to the west) and India (to the north). It is estimated that approximately 500,000 Chin live within Chin State, with an additional one million living inside Bangladesh and India1. The total area within which these 1.5 million Chin are concentrated, extending 36,000 km2 along the Indo-Burman border, is known as Chinland. The Chin are composed of many individual tribes, including the Asho tribe, Cho Tribe, Khumi Tribe, Kuki Tribe, Laimi Tribe, Lushai Tribe and Zomi Tribe. It is the only state in Burma where the majority of the inhabitants are Christian.

Chin culture is rich in folk tales, dance and music. Until the introduction of a writing system by the Christian missionaries in the early 1900s, Chin traditions were preserved and kept alive by using storytelling as a means to pass history on from one generation to the next. However, the transition to Christianity led to the abandonment of previously important cultural traditions. In particular, the traditional feasts and ritual sacrifices that were such an important part of Animalism were abandoned by the newly converted Chin Christians. In addition, new converts had to stage a "cleansing of the house," 4 to remove all altars and "skulls of animals that they had sacrificed as Animalists to appease evil spirits" 5.

Traditional Chin dress includes the longyi, htamein or jacket worn by Chin males, and the 'Chin' tie worn around the neck. Older Chin males may have their ear-lobes pierced or perforated to wear earrings. However, this tradition is dyeing out amongst the younger Chin males. Today, Chin state it is one of the states in Burma where western, as opposed to Burmese dress, is most widely worn.

Source:

http://www.burmaissues.org (by: Karen Pillar)