AKYAUNG ARI NAGA

1.    Akyaung Ari Naga shares a 52% lexical similarity with the variety of Tangkhul Naga spoken in Myanmar; 23% with the Tangkhul Naga spoken in India; and 23% with Kokak Naga. In this book you will sometimes read of “lexical similarity” between different languages and dialects. This is to give the reader a sense of how close one language is to another. For context, according to linguists there is a 60% lexical similarity between English and German, but no one would dispute that they are distinct languages. When two varieties share a lexical similarity of 85% or higher, linguists are usually inclined to classify them as dialects of the same language.

ANU

1.        Jonathan Wright, “Khongso,” Journal of the International Phonetic Association (December 2023), pp. 521-40.

2.        Anu and Khongso reportedly share a 96% lexical similarity. Church leaders from each tribe agreed to have a combined Bible, although each group retained their vocabulary differences in their early translation efforts.

3.        Summer Institute of Linguistics, Ethnologue: Languages of the World (27^th edition, 2024), online version.

4.        See https://mmpeacemonitor.org/324529/junta-uses-chemical-bombs-in-paletwa-battle-aa-says/

5.        The seven denominations are the Evangelical Free Church of Myanmar, Anglican, Word of Life, Myanmar Baptist Christian Mission, Believer Church of Jesus Christ, Roman Catholic Mission, and Lutheran.

ASANG KHONGSA

1.        Summer Institute of Linguistics, Ethnologue: Languages of the World (27^th edition, 2024), online version.

2.        Betram S. Carey & H. N. Tuck, The Chin Hills: A History of the People; Our Dealings with them, Their Customs and Manners, and a Gazetteer of their Country (2 Vols) (Rangoon: Government Printing, 1896), p. 216.

3.        Chin Khua Khai, The Cross Among Pagodas: A History of the Assemblies of God in Myanmar (Baguio, Philippines: Asia Pacific Theological Seminary, 2003), p. 143.

4.        The translator approached several Bible ministries to help them print the Asang Khongsa Bible, but all rejected him because it had been translated from the King James version of the English Bible rather than from the original Greek and Hebrew. No linguist expressed a desire to help the project, so the translator pressed on, although he was discouraged by the lack of help. Despite their poverty, the Asang Khongsa Christians considered talking out a bank loan to pay for the printing. Instead, they cried out to God, with 500 Asang Khongsa Christians committing to pray until God provided His Word to them. Despite many more years of waiting, the project finally came together, and the believers received a shipment of their precious Bibles for free.

5.       “Before this time the Asang Khongsa people never had a Bible in their language. The Asang Khongsa asked every ministry in Myanmar to provide the Bible for them, but because they are so very poor and could not afford to pay, no one would help them, not even the Myanmar Bible Society. The people make about $15 per month and struggle to survive.” CFEM newsletter (April 2022).

ASEN TANGSHANG

1.       These areas fall within the Naga Self-Administered Zone. When the zone was established in 2010, a small part of Khamti Township was transferred to Leshi Township, while the rest remained in Khamti District.

2.       Incredibly, the total population of all these 90 or more tribes numbers only around 90,000 people in Myanmar and 30,000 in India, where they are known as the Tangsa.

3.       Headhunting among the Nagas was not merely a form of violent warfare but was conducted to appease the spirits and ensure a successful harvest. The act was thought to give spiritual power and status to the warrior, who was held in high regard by his community. Young men who had participated in a successful raid were considered the most attractive potential husbands by Naga girls.

ASHO CHIN

1.        The 1931 census seemed confused about how to classify the Asho Chin, with most being included in a category labelled "Chin unspecified." The largest specific Asho Chin group counted were 8,019 "Saingbaung" people, who are those living in Rakhine State. None were Christians. An additional 1,010 "Sho" people were listed, of whom 843 were Buddhists, 85 animists, and 82 Christians.

2.        The Asho Chin living in Bangladesh speak a dialect called Hyow or Khiang. It appears to be more similar to Laitu Chin than to the Asho Chin spoken in Myanmar and is probably a separate language. The 2022 Bangladesh census returned 4,826 “Khiang” people in that country.

3.        Vumson, Zo History: With an Introduction to Zo Culture, Economy, Religion, and their Status as an Ethnic Minority in India, Burma, and Bangladesh (Aizawl, India: self-published, 1988), p. 44.

4.        Vumson, Zo History, p. 45.

5.        “Christian Missions,” Christian Aid Mission (January-February 1992).

6.        Chin Khua Khai, The Cross Among Pagodas: A History of the Assemblies of God in Myanmar (Baguio, Philippines: Asia Pacific Theological Seminary, 2003), p. 57. Asho Chin children at the time were received into Karen Christian schools, especially at Hinthada, and were sent back to witness to their own people after they converted to Christ.

7.        Chin, The Cross Among Pagodas, p. 57.

8.        The Asho Baptist Conference was also established in 1954.

9.        Global Prayer Digest (August 1988).

BANLON GYI KAREN

1.        The moving of the national capital from Yangon to Naypyidaw provided glimpses into the spiritual forces controlling Myanmar today. Senior Buddhist monks and spirit guides were consulted to find the most auspicious day and time for the move, and sorcerers were charged with communicating with the spirits to find the perfect location for the new government seat to be built so as not to hinder the balance of the country’s spiritual forces. After huge tracts of jungle were levelled for the project, the move itself was fraught with problems, with infrastructure not ready for the massive shift of thousands of government workers and their families. Many government services were suspended for an extended period as computer systems went offline.

2.        The other new Karen groups are the Banlon Nge, Htee Day, and Tharmitaik. Each has been profiled separately in this book.

3.        Personal communication with a SIL linguist (May 2023).

4.        W. C. B. Purser, Christian Missions in Burma (London: Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, 1911), p. 40.

BANLON NGE KAREN

1.       Personal communication with an SIL linguist who wishes to remain anonymous, May 2023.

2.       Before 2010 the only way to access Pinlaung was by traversing the dangerous, winding roads of Elephant Mountain (Sin Taung) before crossing the Paung Laung River by boat. A partnership between Myanmar and an Indonesian company led to the construction of an expansive steel truss suspension bridge across the river, which is the highest of its kind in Myanmar. The Leinli Bridge was opened on November 5, 2010, transforming Pinlaung and providing access to wider markets for their goods.

3.       The article continued… “Punishment for marriage out of the clan was formerly very severe. A large hole was dug in the ground and a log placed across it, to which two ropes were attached. The ends of these were noosed around the necks of the offending pair. They were then made to jump into the pit, and so hang themselves.” Sir George Scott, “Among the Hill Tribes of Burma: An Ethnological Thicket,” National Geographic (March 1922), p. 320.

4.       W. C. B. Purser, Christian Missions in Burma (London: Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, 1911), p. 40.

BARUA

1.        Some websites run by Barua people very optimistically claim a global population of 1.2 million Barua people today, but even if all loosely connected people groups, such as the Marma and Magh of India are included, plus all possible groups that may share ancestry with the Barua, the total still comes nowhere near that figure.

2.        K. S. Singh (ed.), Tripura (People of India, Vol. XLI), (Calcutta: Seagull Books, 1996), p. 50.

3.        Dharmadhar Mahasthabir, Saddharmer Panarutthan (Calcutta: Das Brothers, reprinted from the original 1371 edition, no date), p. 17.

4.        See “Arakan Army claims control of Rakhine’s Buthidaung,” Mizzima News (May 19, 2024):  https://eng.mizzima.com/2024/05/19/10025

5.        Singh (ed.), Tripura (People of India, Vol. XLI), (Calcutta: Seagull Books, 1996), p. 52.

6.        K. S. Singh (ed.), India’s Communities: A–G. (People of India, Vol. IV) (Delhi: Oxford University Press and Anthropological Survey of India, 1998), p. 315.

BAWM

1.        In 2011 there were 2,500 Bawm in Myanmar according to Roy Kim & Sangma, The Kuki-Chin Communities of Bangladesh: A Sociolinguistic survey (SIL International, 2011). Other villages they inhabit are Pi Taung, Mawtalar, and Rakan.

2.        Vumson, Zo History: With an Introduction to Zo Culture, Economy, Religion, and their Status as an Ethnic Minority in India, Burma, and Bangladesh (Aizawl, India: self-published, 1988), p.71.

3.        Kim & Sangma, The Kuki-Chin Communities of Bangladesh.

4.        James C. Scott, The Art of Not Being Governed: An Anarchist History of Upland Southeast Asia (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2009), p. 223.

5.        Sachchidananda & R. R. Prasad, Encyclopaedic Profile of Indian Tribes, Vol. 1 (New Delhi: Discovery Publishing House, 1996), p. 81.

6.        Sachchidananda & Prasad, Encyclopaedic Profile of Indian Tribes, Vol. 1, p. 81.

7.        For more information on the Bawm of Bangladesh, see Nathan Loncheu & Lal Dena (eds.), Bawmzos: A Study of the Chin-Kuki-Zo Tribes of Chittagong (Chittagong: Akansha Publishing House, 2013); and Zir Kung Shahu & S. L. Pardo, The Bawms: Forest Wandering Tribe of Chittagong Hill Tracts (1998).

BLANG

1.        See Paul Hattaway, Operation China: Introducing all the Peoples of China (Carlisle, UK: Piquant, 2000), p. 90.

2.        Most Blang in Thailand live near Mae Sai in the Golden Triangle area where Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar meet. Others work as gardeners in Bangkok City.

3.        Summer Institute of Linguistics, Ethnologue: Languages of the World (27^th edition, 2024), online version.

4.        China Prayer Letter and Ministry Report (No. 119, December 1991–February 1992).

BOTE TANGSHANG

1.        In this book we have profiled 25 Tangshang tribes that live in Pangsau town and surrounding villages. Their names, with approximate populations in Myanmar, are: Cyamkok (2,400), Cyampang (400), Cyolim (900), Cyuyo (1,100), Gaqkat (500), Haqcyeng (400), Haqcyum (2,700), Haqkhu (600), Haqman (800), Haqpo (300), Haqsik (1,900), Henching (200), Kaishan (2,400), Kochung (500), Lama (400), Lochang (1,430), Lumnu (200), Maitai (1,400), Moshang (200), Mungre (1,900), Nahen (200), Ngaimong (1,200), Shangwan (600), Shokra (700) and Yangno (400). Of these 25 tribes, five are known to also have communities inside India today (Cyolim, Moshang, Mungre, Ngaimong, and Shangwan).

BWE KAREN

1.       Of this number, a staggering 6,230 (98.6%) identified as Christians, which was likely the result of counting some of the other Karen tribes that had turned to Christ in a mass people movement and not the Bwe Karen as presented here, who all early mission accounts said were resistant to the Gospel. “Bwe” was often used as an overarching term for all mountain-dwelling Central Karenic groups that were not S’gaw Karen or Pwo Karen.

2.       The first missionary to the Bwe Karen, Francis Mason, wrote: “The Bwe dialect is allied to the S’gaw in all its words ending in vowels. After I had made myself acquainted with the language, I prepared, with the help of natives, several books in it, and translated and printed Matthew, Gensis, the Psalms, and a few of the small Epistles…. As a written language, Bwe seems most unlikely, chopped up, unlawful attempt at language which ever came to my notice; but when spoken with earnestness, it has much of the flow and consistency of sound and cadence which the other Karen dialects have and is by no means an unpleasant language or unsuited to eloquence itself.” Francis Mason, The Story of a Working Man's Life, with Sketches of Travel in Europe, Asia, Africa and America (New York; Oakley, Mason & Co., 1870), pp. 393-94.

3.       Summer Institute of Linguistics, Ethnologue: Languages of the World (27^th edition, 2024), online version.

4.       Fredric Fryer, Tribes on the Frontier of Burma (London: Central Asian Society, 1907), p. 6.

5.       Mason, The Story of a Working Man's Life, p. 392.

6.       Mrs. MacLeod Wylie, The Gospel in Burmah: The Story of its Introduction and Marvelous Progress among the Burmese and Karens (New York: Sheldon & Co., 1860), pp. 291-92.

7.       Wylie, The Gospel in Burmah, p. 292. Again, these numbers did not differentiate between the various Bwe subgroups, and probably included other Karen tribes profiled separately in this book.

8.       E. F. Merriam, The Races of Burma (Boston: American Baptist Missionary Union, 1893), pp. 8-9.

9.       Raymond P. Currier, Our Unfinished Task in Burma (Boston: American Baptist Foreign Missionary Society, 1917), p. 5.

CHAK

1.        The 2022 Bangladesh census returned 3,077 Chak people, a marked increase from 909 in the 1981 census of that country. Much of that increase may be attributable to Chak families fleeing the ethnic violence in Myanmar.

2.        Paul Hattaway, Peoples of the Buddhist World: A Christian Prayer Guide (Carlisle, UK: Piquant, 2004), p. 28.

3.        C. C. Lowis, The Tribes of Burma (Ethnographical Survey of India, No. 4, Burma) (Rangoon: Government Printing, 1910), p. 36.

4.        See David Bradley, “Languages of Mainland South-East Asia,” in Osahito Miyaoka, Osamu Sakiyama & Michael E. Krauss (eds.), The Vanishing Languages of the Pacific Rim (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), pp. 301-36.

5.        Because of its concentration of Rohingya people, at 91 percent of the population, Maungdaw has the highest percentage of Muslims of any district in Myanmar.

6.        A Portuguese delegation to Mrauk-U in the 1630s described the splendor of the royal palaces as having “massive wooden columns of such extraordinary length and straightness that one wonders there are trees so tall and so straight…. In the same palace there is a hall gilt from top to bottom which they call the ‘Golden House’ because it has a vine of the purest gold which occupies the whole roof of the hall, with a hundred gourds of the same pure gold. There are also in that very rich house seven idols of gold, each of the size and proportions of an average man. These idols are adorned on the forehead, breast, arms and waist with many fine precious stones, rubies, emeralds and sapphires, and with some brilliant old rock diamonds of more than ordinary size.” From the now inactive website: www.mission.itu.ch

7.        Richard Diran, in his book The Vanishing Tribes of Burma, has a full-page photograph of an elderly Chak woman adorned this way. The description of the image says, “This woman from the Kaladan River region in Rakhine State broke down and cried after I photographed her, amazed that anyone would be interested in her people today.” See Richard K. Diran, The Vanishing Tribes of Burma (New York: Amphoto Art, 1997), p. 161.

CHAKMA

1.        The 2022 Bangladesh census returned 483,299 Chakma people in that country, but an additional 817 "Kora" and "1,898 "Kondo" were listed. These may be dialect subgroups of Chakma.

2.        See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daingnet_people

3.        The 2022 Bangladesh census returned 45,972 “Tongchonga” people.

4.        Cited in Richard S. Ehrlich, “Far from World’s Eyes, Religious War Rages in Bangladesh,” Washington Times (May 26, 1987). Further details of the carnage inflicted on the Chakma people says: “Thousands of Chakma have been killed, hundreds of women and girls raped, and Buddhist temples smashed and looted.” S. P. Talukdar, The Chakmas: Life and Struggle (Delhi: Gian Publishing House 1988).

5.        U Min Naing, National Ethnic Groups of Myanmar (Yangon: Thein Myint Win Press, 2000), p. 69.

CHEN-KAYU NAGA

1.       J. D. Saul, The Naga of Burma: Their Festivals, Customs and Way of Life (Bangkok: Orchid Press, 2005), p. 27.

2.       Olk Bon, Culture Change among the Naga Tribes of Myanmar: The Former Headhunters Seek to Modernize (Coppell, TX: Self-published, 2019). p. 5.

3.       Saul, The Naga of Burma, p. 38.

4.       Bon, Culture Change among the Naga Tribes of Myanmar, p. 4.

CHO CHIN

1.        Some sources list a much higher population for the Cho Chin of around 60,000 people, but those estimates likely include related groups, such as the Daai, Kaang, and Rawngtu Chin, all of which have been profiled separately in this book.

2.        Vumson, Zo History: With an Introduction to Zo Culture, Economy, Religion, and their Status as an Ethnic Minority in India, Burma, and Bangladesh (Aizawl, India: self-published, 1988), p. 47.

3.        Dave Stamboulis, “Myanmar’s tattooed Chin Women,” BBC Travel (February 25, 2022): www.bbc.com/travel/article/20161216-myanmars-tattooed-chin-women

4.        In addition to the BBC article referenced above, see: www.atlasofhumanity.com/muun and www.dylangoldby.com/tattoos-of-asia/mun-chin-state-myanmar/

5.        From the “Mun Chin” profile by Bethany World Prayer Center: http://kcm.co.kr/bethany_eng/p_code5/1879.html In 1995, Bethany World Prayer Center in Louisiana committed to write 4-page profiles of 1,632 unreached groups in the world, including maps, data, and prayer points. Collaborating with more than 40 ministries, the church invested $450,000 of their budget to get the job done, and after two years and more than 50,000-man-(and woman-) hours, they completed the task. Over two million prayer profiles were printed and distributed, giving a tremendous boost to the task of world evangelization. The author of this book has continued the general format established by Bethany profiles in his research.

6.        The Bible in Cho Chin is available in several translations, including a New Testament which was translated by the Catholics into the Ng’men dialect, to help serve their church members among that group.

CYAMCYANG TANGSHANG

1.       One linguistic study found that “85% of the Shecyü and Cyamcyang wordlist items were identical, while the next most similar variety was Lochang at just 27% of items that were identical with Shecyü. Thus, Shecyü and Cyamcyang are similar at a much higher level than with the other sub-tribes.” Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics, "Fifty-Five Dialects and Growing: Literacy and Comprehension of Vernacular Literature among the Tangshang Naga in Myanmar," (thesis, name withheld, June 2013), p. 44.

2.       Meenaxi Barkataki-Ruscheweyh, “Fractured Christianity amongst the Tangsa in Northeast India: Bible Language Politics and the Charm of Ecstatic Experiences,” Journal of South Asian Studies, 2018 (Vol. 41, No. 1), pp. 212-26.

3.       Their requests have been rejected because the Tangsa Baptist church leaders in India seem more interested in maintaining political unity and trying to force all Tangsa tribes to have a common language, than providing Scriptures to their people in a language they can understand.

CYAMKOK TANGSHANG

1.        A video showing Lahe Township and the surrounding area can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mV2Y72-W4gc

2.        Although many of the Tangshang tribes profiled in this book may have awkward English spelling, such as Cyamkok, Cyuyo and Gaqkat, these names are how the groups themselves wish to be identified and how they have appeared in the only linguistic studies known to have been conducted among them.

3.        Other dialects within the Ole group include Cyampang, Lumnu, Haqpo, and Nahen Tangshang, each of which has been profiled separately in this book. Two other dialect groups, Hokuq and Toke, have not been profiled due to a lack of specific information about their populations and locations.

4.        Personal communication with a linguist, July 2023.

5.        See J. D. Saul, The Naga of Burma: Their Festivals, Customs and Way of Life (Bangkok: Orchid Press, 2005), pp. 5-6.

CYAMPANG TANGSHANG

1.       Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics, "Fifty-Five Dialects and Growing: Literacy and Comprehension of Vernacular Literature among the Tangshang Naga in Myanmar," (thesis, name withheld, June 2013).

2.       Other dialects within the Ole group include Cyamkok, Lumnu, Haqpo, and Nahen Tangshang, each of which has been profiled separately in this book. Two other dialect groups, Hokuq and Toke, have not been profiled due to a lack of specific information about their populations and locations.

3.       Gillian Cribbs with Martin Smith, "Ethnographical History," in Richard K. Diran, The Vanishing Tribes of Burma (New York: Amphoto Art, 1997), p. 230.

4.       Cribbs with Smith, "Ethnographical History," in Diran, The Vanishing Tribes of Burma, p. 230.

5.       For an account of the great Naga revivals in India, see Paul Hattaway, From Head-hunters to Church Planters: Revival in Nagaland (Waynesboro, GA: Authentic, 2006).

CYOLIM TANGSHANG

1. It is extremely difficult for most people to picture what a “motorbike track” is like in this remote part of Myanmar, but one can be viewed in this video from the Naga Self-Administered Zone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRQm6SFi6AQ 

2. Two rare videos showing Cyolim Tangshang people can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmX4PnSqZQ8 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mi196Itpnk

3. The eight other Tangshang varieties that make up this group of related dialects are Cyamcyang, Dunghi, Lochang, Lungri, Maitai, Moshang, Mungre, and Shecyu: Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics, “Fifty-Five Dialects and Growing: Literacy and Comprehension of Vernacular Literature among the Tangshang Naga in Myanmar," (thesis, name withheld, June 2013).

4. K. S. Singh (ed.), Arunachal Pradesh (People of India, Vol. XIV), (Calcutta: Seagull Books, 1995), p. 386.

5. Herman Tegenfeldt, A Century of Growth: The Kachin Baptist Church of Burma (Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 1974), p.227.

CYUYO TANGSHANG

1.        Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics, "Fifty-Five Dialects and Growing: Literacy and Comprehension of Vernacular Literature among the Tangshang Naga in Myanmar," (thesis, name withheld, June 2013).

2.        Unfortunately, at the moment there is little prospect of a translation being commenced for groups like the Cyuyo or the dozens of other Tangshang varieties in Myanmar. The large U.S.-based Bible translation ministries tend to focus on larger projects, and little to no interest or funding is available to help provide God’s Word to smaller, less glamorous people groups like the Tangshang, even when capable translators have been identified.

3.        See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCGWlA4KUrQ

4.        See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fV0a2q7QR8U

5.        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangsa_Naga

6.        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangsa_Naga

7.        See Paul Hattaway, From Head-hunters to Church Planters: Revival in Nagaland (Waynesboro, GA: Authentic, 2006).

DAAI CHIN

1.        “There, the parents struggle for their daily bread as undocumented migrants, are vulnerable to arrest for immigration offences, and are often subject to detention, prosecution, whipping, and deportation for several months. Daai refugees are scattered throughout Malaysia in places such as Johor Bahru, Ipoh, the Cameron Highlands, Kalang, Kajang, Rawang, and others. There are no refugee camps in Malaysia. Instead, Daai refugees share living spaces in groups of up to 20 people, living in low-cost apartments, urban villages, or housing estates near Malaysian homes. Many also live in makeshift camps in jungles near construction sites where they seek employment.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daai_Chin

2.        Summer Institute of Linguistics, Ethnologue: Languages of the World (27^th edition, 2024), online version.

3.        See June N. S., “The First Chin Written Constitution: A New Template For Self-Determination?” The Irrawaddy (December 26, 2023).

4.        See Dave Stamboulis, “Myanmar’s tattooed Chin Women,” BBC Travel (February 25, 2022): www.bbc.com/travel/article/20161216-myanmars-tattooed-chin-women

DAA YINDU

1.       The Daa Yindu territory is bordered by the Cho Chin and Ng'ga Chin to the north, the Daai Chin to the west, and the Uppu Chin to the south.

2.       Only two Daa Yindu villages (Pinlong and Boungbin) have medical clinics, but there is no medicine available to dispense. When someone falls sick, family members must travel to a faraway Burmese city to buy medicine.

3.       Oddly, the Daa Yindu were listed in the 1931 census of Burma conducted by the British government, but they were given a population of just six people (three males and three females), all of whom were animists. British officials were often too scared to enter remote areas of Chin State due to headhunting, so it is likely the Daa Yindu territory was never surveyed.

4.       Some sources suggest Daa Yindu is a dialect of Songlai Chin, but the Songlai live a considerable distance away on the other side of Chin State and into adjacent parts of Rakhine State. It may be that a connection between the two tribes was presumed because they have more Buddhist influence than almost any of the other Chin tribes in Myanmar, and women in both tribes also maintain the custom of tattooing their faces.

5.       See https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20161216-myanmars-tattooed-chin-women for an excellent and illustrative article on face tattooing among various Chin tribes in Myanmar.

6.       They are the Baptists, Methodists, the Believers Church of Jesus Christ, the Evangelical Holiness Church, and the Gospel Baptist Church. The Gospel Baptist Church was the most successful church planting mission among the Daa Yindu, but a serious schism within the group paralyzed the movement and brought progress to a halt.

7.       As only a few Daa Yindu villages have primary and middle schools catering to children to the age of 14, those who wish to gain a tertiary education are almost always Christians who travel to attend Bible schools in the cities of Myanmar, India, or other parts of Asia.

DANAU

1.        This author is one who confused the Danu and Danau in my book from 20 years ago: Paul Hattaway, Peoples of the Buddhist World: A Christian Prayer Guide (Carlisle, UK: Piquant, 2004).

2.        David Bradley, “Languages of Mainland South-East Asia,” in Osahito Miyaoka, Osamu Sakiyama & Michael E. Krauss (eds.), The Vanishing Languages of the Pacific Rim (Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2007), pp. 301-36.

3.        UNESCO, Atlas Of The World's Languages In Danger (UNESCO Publishing, 2010), online edition.

4.        U Min Naing, National Ethnic Groups of Myanmar (Yangon: Thein Myint Win Press, 2000), p. 102.

5.        U Min Naing, National Ethnic Groups of Myanmar, p. 102.

DANU

1.        The Wikipedia page for the Danu gives a population of 255,477 without offering any source for that high number. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danu_people

2.        Michael Clark & Joe Cummings, Myanmar (Burma): The Lowdown on the Unknown ‘Golden Land’ (Hawthorn, Australia: Lonely Planet Publications,2000), p. 354.

3.        C. C. Lowis, The Tribes of Burma (Ethnographical Survey of India, No. 4, Burma) (Rangoon: Government Printing, 1910), p. 45.

4.        All Danu at the time declared they were Buddhists except 32 "others."

5.        Danu shares an extremely high 93% lexical similarity with Burmese. 93% with Intha, 91% with Taungyo, and 85% with Rakhine.

6.        Paul Hattaway, Peoples of the Buddhist World: A Christian Prayer Guide (Carlisle, UK: Piquant, 2004), p. 44.

7.        Mission Outreach, Asia Prayer Focus (June 2000).

DIM CHIN

1.        People from the Dim Chin and other Tedim-speaking groups are also found across the border in northeast India, where the government has counted them under the collective name of Paite, causing them to lose their own ethnic identity in that country.

2.        Bertram S. Carey & H. N. Tuck, The Chin Hills: A History of the People; Our Dealings with them, Their Customs and Manners, and a Gazetteer of their Country, Vol. 1 (Rangoon: Government Printing, 1896), pp. 203-04.

3.        Vumson, Zo History: With an Introduction to Zo Culture, Economy, Religion, and their Status as an Ethnic Minority in India, Burma, and Bangladesh (Aizawl, India: self-published, 1988), p. 145.

DRANCYI TANGSHANG

1.        According to a research team in 2012 who studied 987 Drancyi Tangshang people in 141 households, at that time Ransi village contained 112 Drancyi families, with smaller numbers living in the villages of Paungku (10 households), Makawring (7), and Kotlum (5). These villages are within Lahe Township in the Naga Self-Administered Zone, near the Indian border. A small number of 7 Drancyi Tangshang families also lived in the mixed village of Makannaung in Khamti Township: Naga Survey Team, Sociolinguistic Survey of Makyam and Southern Tangshang Varieties in Lahe Township and Dunghi Sub-Township, Myanmar (unpublished report, 2012). Many of these villages were established centuries ago, but have decreased in population as people have moved to towns and to better land. The main village of Ransi had 130 households when they were visited by military surveyors in 1942, but only 112 homes remain there today.

2.        For example, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_Yet_Kone_massacre; and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tar_Taing_massacre

3.        “Sagaing Region: Lahe Township Report,” The 2014 Myanmar Population and Housing Census (Yangon: Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Population, October 2017), p. 16.

4.        “Sagaing Region: Lahe Township Report,” The 2014 Myanmar Population and Housing Census, p. 15.

5.        Gillian Cribbs with Martin Smith, "Ethnographical History," in Richard K. Diran, The Vanishing Tribes of Burma (New York: Amphoto Art, 1997), p. 231.

DUNGHI TANGSHANG

1.       Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics, "Fifty-Five Dialects and Growing: Literacy and Comprehension of Vernacular Literature among the Tangshang Naga in Myanmar," (thesis, name withheld, June 2013).

EKAI CHIN

1.        Summer Institute of Linguistics, Ethnologue: Languages of the World (27^th edition, 2024), online version.

2.        “A popular folk story of King Min Hti recounts when he ordered a new palace. His subjects were known for chewing betel nut, which would stain their fingers. The subjects would then use the palace door posts to clean their fingers, dirtying the door post. The king ordered that everyone entering the palace must wash their hands, and anyone who broke the rule was to have a finger cut off. After some time the king, forgetful of his own order, cleaned his finger on one of the palace door posts. One of the ministers made a careful note of it, writing down the date and hour when it occurred, but did not remove the dirt from the post. A few days later the king observed the spot on the palace door and angrily ordered his ministers to find the offender and see that he was punished. When the ministers produced the proof of the king's own guilt, the king, with his own sword, cut off his forefinger, saying that even a king should not issue orders for himself to break with impunity. To commemorate the event, he had Buddha sculptures erected and instructed the sculptors to give them only four fingers on their right hands.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Min_Hti_of_Arakan

ENN

1.        Summer Institute of Linguistics, Ethnologue: Languages of the World (27^th edition, 2024), online version.

2.        Harold Mason Young & Debbie Young Chase, Burma Headhunters: The History and Culture of the Ancient Wa, a Mountain Tribal People (Xlibris, 2014), p. 7.

3.        https://www.travelfish.org/beginners_detail/burma_myanmar/28

4.        https://www.travelfish.org/beginners_detail/burma_myanmar/28

FALAM CHIN

1.        The 11 Falam-related tribes located in Myanmar that are profiled separately in this book are: the Hualngo, Khualsim, Laizo, Lente, Ngawn, Phadei, Sim, Taisun, Tapong, Zahau, and Zanniat.

2.        The 11 Halam Scheduled Tribes in India are: Halam, Bongcher, Chorei, Kaipeng, Kaloi, Molsom, Ranglong, Ruankum, Khelma, and Marcephane. The last two are very small groups with dwindling populations and may no longer qualify as distinct people groups.

3.        See Chester U. Strait, The Chin People: A Selective History and Anthropology of the Chin People (Bloomington, IN: Xlibris, 2014), p. 677.

4.        See “Residents Say Christian Churches Attacked by Junta in Myanmar’s Chin State,” Radio Free Asia (August 15, 2023): https://www.rfa.org/english/news/myanmar/chin-churches-bombed-08152023160053.html

5.        Abhinoy Halam, History and Culture of the Halam Tribe (Kolkata: Government of Tripura Tribal Research & Cultural Institute, 2020), p. 465.

6.        Halam, History and Culture of the Halam Tribe, p. 465.

GANGTE

1.       Col. Ved Prakash, Encyclopaedia of North-East India, Vol. 4 (New Delhi: Atlantic, 2007), p. 1526.

2.       See www.genocidewatch.com/single-post/genocide-warning-ethnic-conflict-in-manipur

3.       Sachchidananda & R. R. Prasad, Encyclopaedic Profile of Indian Tribes, Vol. 2 (New Delhi: Discovery Publishing House, 1996), p. 273.

4.       Prakash, Encyclopaedia of North-East India, Vol. 4, p. 1528.

5.       The Kurki Rebellion has been described as “a rebellion by the Kuki tribes of Manipur, ostensibly to resist their forcible recruitment into labor corps for the First World War. From a wider historical perspective, it can also be read as a response to the colonial intrusion into Kuki livelihoods, with new forms of economic relations and land policies, as well as the declining authority of Kuki chiefs. The British suppressed the rebellion after two years of fighting, burning 126 villages, destruction of food-stocks, and killing and maiming many of the Kuki community.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuki_Rebellion_of_1917%E2%80%931919

6.       F. S. Downs, The Mighty Works of God: A Brief History of the Council of Baptist Churches in North East India: The Mission Period 1836-1950 (Gauhati: Christian Literature Center, 1971), p. 169. By the time of the 1931 Indian census, 252 Gangte people identified as Christians, which at the time represented 10 percent of their population of 2,532.

GAQCHAN TANGSHANG

1.       Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics, "Fifty-Five Dialects and Growing: Literacy and Comprehension of Vernacular Literature among the Tangshang Naga in Myanmar," (thesis, name withheld, June 2015), p.15.

2.       Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics, "Fifty-Five Dialects and Growing,” p. 100.

3.       https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ledo_Road

4.       Gillian Cribbs with Martin Smith, "Ethnographical History," in Richard K. Diran, The Vanishing Tribes of Burma (New York: Amphoto Art, 1997), p. 230.

5.       Personal communication with a linguist, July 2023.

GAQHA TANGSHANG

1.        Gillian Cribbs with Martin Smith, "Ethnographical History," in Richard K. Diran, The Vanishing Tribes of Burma (New York: Amphoto Art, 1997), p. 230.

2.        Naga Survey Team, Sociolinguistic Survey of Makyam and Southern Tangshang Varieties in Lahe Township and Dunghi Sub-Township, Myanmar (unpublished report, 2012).

3.        American Baptist Mission, Burma (Rangoon: American Baptist Mission Press, no date), p. 13.

GEBA KAREN

1.       Angelene Naw & Jerry B. Cain (ed.), The History of the Karen People of Burma (Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press, 2023), p. 69.

2.       James D. Knowles, Memoir of Mrs. Ann H. Hudson, Late Missionary to Burmah (London: Lincoln & Edmands, 1831), p. 83.

3.       Francis Mason, The Karen Apostle, or, Memoir of Ko Thah-Byu, the First Karen Convert, with Notices concerning his Nation (Boston: Gould, Kendall, and Lincoln, 1843), p. 74.

4.       Ko Thah Byu started preaching the Gospel in 1828 and was the first known Karen Christian. By the time he died from rheumatic fever in 1840 there were 1,270 Karen church members and the light of the Gospel was spreading across many Karen groups, bringing liberty and salvation.

GEKO KAREN

1.        Some academics have tried to explain away the Karen legends by saying they had been taught them by Nestorian or Catholic missionaries who came to them long before the first Protestants, but there is no mention of Jesus Christ any New Testament story in their accounts. Others have said the best explanation for how the Karen (and many other groups) retained clear accounts of creation and other events detailed in the Book of Genesis may simply be found in these verses from the New Testament: “In the past, he let all nations go their own way. Yet he has not left himself without testimony” (Acts 14:16). Significantly, however, the missionary who first shared many of these Karem creation accounts wrote: “They are all Old Testament traditions, so we are shut up to the conclusion that they came from the Jews.” Francis Mason, The Story of a Working Man's Life, with Sketches of Travel in Europe, Asia, Africa and America (New York; Oakley, Mason & Co., 1870), p. 277.

2.        See Francis Mason, The Karen Apostle, or, Memoir of Ko Thah-Byu, the First Karen Convert, with Notices concerning his Nation (Boston: Gould, Kendall, and Lincoln, 1843), pp. 112-13.

3.        Mason, The Story of a Working Man's Life, p. 393.

4.        E. F. Merriam, The Races of Burma (Boston: American Baptist Missionary Union, 1893). p. 9.

5.        Josiah Nelson Cushing, The Shan Mission (Boston: American Baptist Missionary Union, 1886), pp. 11-12.

HIATUII

1.        Villages inhabited by the Hiatuii people include Khoke Chuang Wa, Khway Gaung, Pa Leing, Pha Khin, Than Taung, and Auk Than Taung in the western area and Gar Ma and Mauk Chaing Wa in the eastern area.

2.        Vumson, Zo History: With an Introduction to Zo Culture, Economy, Religion, and their Status as an Ethnic Minority in India, Burma, and Bangladesh (Aizawl, India: self-published, 1988), p. 15.

3.        See www.dylangoldby.com/tattoos-of-asia/the-hiatuii-people-chin-state-myanmar/

4.        Ibid.

5.        Ibid.

HNISE

1.        Sir James George Scott, Burma: A Handbook of Practical Information (London: Daniel O’Connor, 1921), pp. 105-06.

2.        Chester U. Strait, The Chin People: A Selective History and Anthropology of the Chin People (Bloomington, IN: Xlibris, 2014), pp. 20-21.

HTEE DAY KAREN

1.        Personal communication with an SIL linguist, July 2023.

2.        F. G. Lebar; Gerald C. Hickey & John K. Musgrave (eds.), Ethnic Groups of Mainland South-East Asia (New Haven, CT: Human Relations Area Files, 1964), p. 61.

3.        E. F. Merriam, The Races of Burma (Boston: American Baptist Missionary Union, 1893), p. 7.

HUALNGO

1.        J. Shakespear, The Lushei Kuki Clans (London: Macmillan & Co., 1912), p.126.

2.        Chester U. Strait, The Chin People: A Selective History and Anthropology of the Chin People (Bloomington, IN: Xlibris, 2014), pp. 49-50.

3.        Vumson, Zo History: With an Introduction to Zo Culture, Economy, Religion, and their Status as an Ethnic Minority in India, Burma, and Bangladesh (Aizawl, India: self-published, 1988), p.64.

4.        Shakespear, The Lushei Kuki Clans, p.126.

5.        Shakespear, The Lushei Kuki Clans, p.126.

INTHA

1.        Most sources estimate the Intha population at around 100,000, but one has placed their population as high as 200,000: "Ethnic Intha Party Seeks Self-administration for Inle Lake," The Myanmar Times (December 12, 2017). This high figure is not possible, however, as the 2014 census returned a total of 189,407 people in the whole of Nyaungshwe Township, which includes several ethnic groups besides the Intha.

2.        Michael Clark & Joe Cummings, Myanmar (Burma): The Lowdown on the Unknown ‘Golden Land’ (Hawthorn, Australia: Lonely Planet Publications,2000), p. 432.

3.        Summer Institute of Linguistics, Ethnologue: Languages of the World (27^th edition, 2024), online version.

4.        Richard K. Diran, The Vanishing Tribes of Burma (New York: Amphoto Art, 1997), p. 112.

5.        Clark & Cummings, Myanmar (Burma), p. 432.

6.        Diran, The Vanishing Tribes of Burma, p. 112.

KAANG CHIN

1.        SIL, The Kaang Chin of Myanmar,” Unpublished report, 2011.

2.        See https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20161216-myanmars-tattooed-chin-women

3.        https://www.dylangoldby.com/tattoos-of-asia/kaang-chin-state-myanmar/

4.        Ibid.

5.        M. A. Robinette, Myanmar Gold (Harrisburg, OH: Foundations of Grace Publishing, 2020), p. 161.

6.        Robinette, Myanmar Gold, p. 168.

KAMAN

1.        One 2018 source estimated 28,000 of 45,000 Kaman people in Myanmar lived in Rakhine State with most of the other 17,000 in Yangon City: Su Myat Mon, “The Kaman: Citizens who Suffer,” Frontier Myanmar (May 28, 2018). Many of the Kaman in Yangon live in Mingaladon Township north of the city, where 32 families live and work on a single poultry farm.

2.        The 1931 census returned 2,686 Kaman people. Of them, 16 Kaman people identified as Buddhists and the rest as Muslims. The figures from that year (the last time detailed ethnic figures were released from a Myanmar census) are complicated by the inclusion of generic and obscure ethnic names from Rakhine State. For example, 51,615 “Arakan Mahomedans” (Rakhine Muslims) and an additional 5,160 "Myedu" people (all Muslims except 470 Buddhists) were included. It is unclear who the Myedu people were and how they relate to known ethnic groups in Myanmar today.

3.        The authoritative Ethnologue does not mention the Kaman at all, not even as a dialect of Rakhine.

4.        Before their final defeat to the Burmese in 1785, on many occasions when the people of this area faced trouble, thousands would pack up and flee north into the Chittagong area in today’s Bangladesh. This pattern has continued to the present time, with hundreds of thousands of Rohingya and other people currently living in refugee camps in Chittagong.

5.        William J. Topich & Keith A. Leitich, The History of Myanmar (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2013), pp. 17-22; summarized on the Wikipedia page: “Kingdom of Mrauk U.”

6.        See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ramree_Island 

7.        The 1968 edition of The Guinness Book of World Records listed this incident in a category of “Most Human Fatalities by Wildlife.” Decades after the event, some scholars disputed the initial accounts and doubt has arisen that so many Japanese were eaten by crocodiles. Other historians say that most of the dead were shot by British and Indian soldiers and their bodies were left strewn around the area, many of which were then eaten by the crocodiles. A short video of the claims can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbPu6uI89X0

8.        A Kaman community leader complained: “Our land in Ramree was bestowed by the King of Rakhine. It cannot be transferred to anyone. We possess it forever and we will never give it up.” Some Burmese politicians have pushed back against the Kaman relocating to Yangon, with one minister saying, “It is more appropriate if we treat the cancer that is occurring in Rakhine State within Rakhine State itself…. Allowing Kaman families to resettle in Yangon would be like allowing the cancer to spread across the country.” https://www.frontiermyanmar.net/en/the-kaman-citizens-who-suffer/

9.        Jessy Wolf, "Kaman IDPs in Rakhine State told to Form Pro-junta Militia," Myanmar Now (February 21, 2024). 

10. “NGO Cries Foul over Myanmar Junta Abducting 125 Kaman Muslims for Military Service,” Mizzima News (March 3, 2024).

KANISE

1.        Vumson, Zo History: With an Introduction to Zo Culture, Economy, Religion, and their Status as an Ethnic Minority in India, Burma, and Bangladesh (Aizawl, India: self-published, 1988), p. 221.

2.        Vumson, Zo History, p. 134.

3.        Chin Khua Khai, The Cross Among Pagodas: A History of the Assemblies of God in Myanmar (Baguio, Philippines: Asia Pacific Theological Seminary, 2003), p. 143.

KAWYAW

1.        Tom Kramer, Oliver Russell, & Martin Smith, From War to Peace in Kayah (Karenni) State: A Land at the Crossroads in Myanmar (Amsterdam: Transnational Institute, 2018), p. 107.

2.       Kramer, Russell, & Smith, From War to Peace in Kayah (Karenni) State, p. 101.

3.       Kramer, Russell, & Smith, From War to Peace in Kayah (Karenni) State, p. 10.

4.        Chin Khua Khai, The Cross Among Pagodas: A History of the Assemblies of God in Myanmar (Baguio, Philippines: Asia Pacific Theological Seminary, 2003), pp. 51-52.

KAYAH, EASTERN

1.        Angelene Naw & Jerry B. Cain (ed.), The History of the Karen People of Burma (Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press, 2023), p. 317. Eastern Kayah refugees have also been resettled in several other countries, but no details have been published.

2.        Francis Mason, The Story of a Working Man's Life, with Sketches of Travel in Europe, Asia, Africa and America (New York; Oakley, Mason & Co., 1870), pp. 395-96. The British Deputy Commissioner, O’Riley, said of the Kayah in 1864: “About 1,200 souls are annually captured by them.”

3.        E. F. Merriam, The Races of Burma (Boston: American Baptist Missionary Union, 1893), p. 9.

4.        “The children do not get off to a good start. They are fed with liquor from their earliest years. If a mother is too zealous at hoeing the fields to find time to suckle her infant, she takes a mouthful of liquor and feeds it from her own lips…. They brew a great deal of very fiery stuff and sell it to most of their neighbors, carrying it in flagons made of woven strips of bamboo lacquered over with wood-oil, and dispensed in goblets of the same manufacture.” Sir George Scott, “Among the Hill Tribes of Burma: An Ethnological Thicket,” National Geographic (March 1922), pp. 315-17.

5.        Alonzo Bunker, Sketches from the Karen Hills (London: Fleming H. Revell, 1910), p. 21.

KAYAH, WESTERN

1.        See Barbara Lopes Cardozo et al., “Karenni Refugees Living in Thai–Burmese border Camps: Traumatic Experiences, Mental Health Outcomes, and Social Functioning,” Social Science & Medicine (June 2004), pp. 2637-44: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277953603005070

2.        Some sources suggest the special liberties granted to the Kayah were based on economic reasons. Sir George Scott wrote, “The Burmese were never able to overpower the Red Karens [Kayah], though they made several definite attempts. When the value of their teak timber became known, the Indian government interfered…and the independence of the Karenni was guaranteed.” Sir George Scott, “Among the Hill Tribes of Burma: An Ethnological Thicket,” National Geographic (March 1922), p. 313.

3.        “In the days before the British occupation of the country, the Red Karens [Kayah] were highly organized slave traders, making raids into the Shan States to the north to carry off men, women, and children, whom they sold over the eastern border in Siam [now Thailand].” Scott, “Among the Hill Tribes of Burma,” p. 304.

4.        Gillian Cribbs with Martin Smith, "Ethnographical History," in Richard K. Diran, The Vanishing Tribes of Burma (New York: Amphoto Art, 1997), p. 127.

5.        At the time of this writing, the Kayah control about 80 percent of the state, and an interim Kayah government was poised to take control of the state capital, Loikaw.

6.        From https://karennirefugees.com/

7.        “Chicken bones are the Red Karen’s dictionary. He consults them to know where he should build his village or his house; whether he should start a journey, and if so, in what direction, on what day, and at what hour; whether he should marry a certain girl, and, if the omens approve, on what day he should do it; where he should make his hill-clearing and when he should prepare, sow, and reap it. In fact, he knows nothing without authority from the fowl’s bones.” Scott, “Among the Hill Tribes of Burma,” p. 313.

8.        See Alonzo Bunker, Sketches from the Karen Hills (London: Fleming H. Revell, 1910), pp. 23-33.

9.        A 1917 missionary book unflatteringly described the Kayah as “spirit-worshipers who live crudely, stupidly, continuously drunken, at the starvation point…. They are reached by white missionaries only a few times in a year and by Karen preachers only intermittently. To both they have proved peculiarly resistant.” Raymond P. Currier, Our Unfinished Task in Burma (Boston: American Baptist Foreign Missionary Society, 1917), p. 5.

KAYAW

1.        Sir George Scott, “Among the Hill Tribes of Burma: An Ethnological Thicket,” National Geographic (March 1922), p. 317.

2.        Summer Institute of Linguistics, Ethnologue: Languages of the World (27^th edition, 2024), online version.

3.        Richard K. Diran, The Vanishing Tribes of Burma (New York: Amphoto Art, 1997), p.132.

4.        Gillian Cribbs & Martin Smith, "Ethnographical History," in Diran, The Vanishing Tribes of Burma, p. 218.

5.        Alonzo Bunker, Sketches from the Karen Hills (London: Fleming H. Revell, 1910), p. 187.

6.        Bunker, Sketches from the Karen Hills, p. 187.

KHONGSO

1.       Jonathan Wright, “Khongso,” Journal of the International Phonetic Association (December 2023), pp. 521-40.

2.       Summer Institute of Linguistics, Ethnologue: Languages of the World (27^th edition, 2024), online version.

KHONGTU

1.        Fredric Fryer, Tribes on the Frontier of Burma (London: Central Asian Society, 1907), pp. 18-19.

2.        SIL linguists included Khongtu on their “Main Languages of Chin State” map which is included in Operation Myanmar, but having Khongtu acknowledged is a distinct language s a tall order at a time when discovering and documenting new languages is not welcomed, even by some Bible translation ministries, including SIL.

3.        James C. Scott, The Art of Not Being Governed: An Anarchist History of Upland Southeast Asia (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2009), p. 88.

KHUALSIM

1.        From a 1983 study by the Summer Institute of Linguistics, which listed the number of users of each Falam “dialect group” in subsequent editions of the Ethnologue.

2.        Vumson, Zo History: With an Introduction to Zo Culture, Economy, Religion, and their Status as an Ethnic Minority in India, Burma, and Bangladesh (Aizawl, India: self-published, 1988), p. 87.

3.        Chester U. Strait, The Chin People: A Selective History and Anthropology of the Chin People (Bloomington, IN: Xlibris, 2014), p. 214.

4.        Vumson, Zo History, p. 16.

KHUANO

1.        SIL linguists included Khuano on their “Main Languages of Chin State” map, which is included in Operation Myanmar, but having the Khuano language acknowledged is a tall order at a time when discovering and documenting new languages is not welcomed, even by some Bible translation ministries, including SIL.

2.        Chester U. Strait, The Chin People: A Selective History and Anthropology of the Chin People (Bloomington, IN: Xlibris, 2014), p.72.

3.        See Vumson, Zo History: With an Introduction to Zo Culture, Economy, Religion, and their Status as an Ethnic Minority in India, Burma, and Bangladesh (Aizawl, India: self-published, 1988), p. 79.

4.        Vumson, Zo History, p. 13. 

5.        A later Baptist missionary couple, E. O. Nelson and his wife, are fondly remembered for bringing apple seeds to Tedim in 1939. Over time, apple trees flourished throughout the area and became one of the main horticulture crops.

KHUMI CHIN

1.       Vumson, Zo History: With an Introduction to Zo Culture, Economy, Religion, and their Status as an Ethnic Minority in India, Burma, and Bangladesh (Aizawl, India: self-published, 1988), p. 42.

2.       Summer Institute of Linguistics, Ethnologue: Languages of the World (27^th edition, 2024), online version. For context, according to linguists there is a 60% lexical similarity between English and German.

3.       Vumson, Zo History, p. 42.

KHUMI CHIN (EASTERN)

1.        See Summer Institute of Linguistics, Ethnologue: Languages of the World (27^th edition, 2024), online version.

2.        The 1931 census also returned 516 "Ta-oo" people, all of whom were animists. They are now considered a dialect group of Eastern Khumi.

3.        SIL, “The Eastern Khumi Chin of Myanmar,” Unpublished report, 2011.

4.        Summer Institute of Linguistics, Ethnologue: Languages of the World (27^th edition, 2024), online version.

5.        Vumson, Zo History: With an Introduction to Zo Culture, Economy, Religion, and their Status as an Ethnic Minority in India, Burma, and Bangladesh (Aizawl, India: self-published, 1988), p. 42.

6.        Vumson, Zo History, pp. 106-07.

7.        Vumson, Zo History, p. 10.

8.        W. S. Hooton & J. Stafford Wright, The First Twenty-five Years of the Bible Churchmen's Missionary Society, 1922-47 (London: Bible Churchmen's Missionary Society, 1947), p. 88.

9.        Types of churches among the Eastern Khumi Chin include Baptist, Anglican, Evangelical Free Church of Myanmar, Evangelical Reformed Church, Presbyterian, Methodist, Church of Christ, Church of Jesus Christ, Roman Catholic, Missionary Baptist Church of Myanmar, Believers Church of Jesus Christ, Evangelical Revival Church, Gospel Baptist, and Church on the Rock.

10. A long and contentious road to developing an Eastern Khumi Bible resulted because of efforts to try to lump together various languages and dialects under one heading, which was then found to be unsuitable for the people. SIL summarized the complicated situation in 2011: “Around 1973, an orthography under the name Ta-aw was started that was intended to cover the groups Khenlak, Khongtu, Nisay, and Rengca. The orthography was based on the Khenlak language. They published primers and songbooks with this orthography. Around 1980, a disagreement over the orthography created a split into two groups: Khenlak versus Khongtu and Rengca. The Ta-aw New Testament is currently available and is being used in some Rengca churches…. Some Nisay church leaders have developed a basic orthography in which they made simple booklets of worship songs for their group. Nideun subjects reported that their orthography was developed around 1990, using a Roman-based alphabet. However, there are no books available currently in this orthography. The Lemi orthography was developed in 2000. Currently, some Bible portions are available. Likhy subjects reported that their orthography was developed around 1998.” (SIL, “The Eastern Khumi Chin of Myanmar,” Unpublished report, 2011).

LAHTA

1.         Francis Mason, The Story of a Working Man's Life, with Sketches of Travel in Europe, Asia, Africa and America (New York; Oakley, Mason & Co., 1870), p. 400.

2.         E. F. Merriam, The Races of Burma (Boston: American Baptist Missionary Union, 1893), pp. 9-10.

3.         Richard K. Diran, The Vanishing Tribes of Burma (New York: Amphoto Art, 1997), p.144.

4.         Mason, The Story of a Working Man's Life, pp. 400-01.

5.         Merriam, The Races of Burma, p. 7.

6.    The Lahta live in strong Buddhist areas. Dekkhina Township contains the largest marble Buddha statue in the world, standing 81 feet (25 meters) high.

LAI CHIN

1.       Pawi is the name given to them by other groups in India, but they also refer to themselves as “Lai.”

2.       The groups profiled separately in this book are the Lautu Chin, Matu, Senthang Chin, Tawr Chin, Thaiphum Chin, and Zophei.

3.       Bertram S. Carey & H. N. Tuck, The Chin Hills: A History of the People; Our Dealings with them, Their Customs and Manners, and a Gazetteer of their Country (2 Vols.), Rangoon: Government Printing, 1896). p. 152.

4.       Chester U. Strait, The Chin People: A Selective History and Anthropology of the Chin People (Bloomington, IN: Xlibris, 2014), p. 68.

5.       Of them, 623 (2.6%) were Christians and the rest were animists (92.0%) and Buddhists (5.4%). That percentage has since almost totally flipped with the Lai Chin now 90% Christian.

6.       For a summary of some of the battles waged by the Lai in the 18^th and 19^th centuries see Carey & Tuck, The Chin Hills, pp. 153-56.

7.       The Lai Chin discovered that when three men laid down in a row to sleep during a journey, the middle person was often targeted by a tiger. They subsequently developed a custom of placing their baggage and a large rock beneath blankets in the middle position to try to deceive the beasts.

8.       Growth of the Lai Chin church has not occurred in a straight line. A sharp falling away from the faith occurred between 1918 to 1925 due to societal hardships, with many believers falling into drunkenness. The decline was stabilized, and growth resumed after this period.

9.       Strait, The Chin People, p. 720.

10. Strait, The Chin People, p. 722.

11. Asia Harvest has provided more than 50,000 Hakha Chin Bibles to the Lai Chin believers in Myanmar through the Asia Bible Fund. See www.asiaharvest.org for details about this project, which has printed and distributed over 20 million Bibles to Christians in more than 160 Asian languages.

LHAOVO

1.       Paul Hattaway, Operation China: Introducing All the Peoples of China (Carlisle, UK: Piquant, 2000), p. 325.

2.       Hattaway, Operation China, p. 325.

3.       In 1995 a Lhaovo scholar wrote a newspaper article claiming his tribe are the original inhabitants of Myanmar. His house was subsequently burned to the ground.

4.       Richard K. Diran, The Vanishing Tribes of Burma (Amphoto Books, 1997), p. 28.

5.       Tribes & Nations Outreach, Pray for Myanmar, No.3 (Bangkok, 1996).

6.       Chin Khua Khai, The Cross Among Pagodas: A History of the Assemblies of God in Myanmar (Baguio, Philippines: Asia Pacific Theological Seminary, 2003), p. 91.

7.       The Lhaovo churches set up their own Bible translation committee to counter the confusion caused by competing translations at the time. A 2000 report said: “One translation is being done by the Baptists, another by a missionary couple based on the Thailand-Myanmar border, and a third effort by a former Catholic priest. Tragically, the three ministries are not working together on the project. In January 1996, the former priest’s home burned to the ground. The books he used to aid his translation work, and the special typewriter he owned which was designed to type Lhaovo characters, were destroyed. The whole book of Genesis and several chapters of the book of Exodus, which he had already completed, were destroyed.” Hattaway, Operation China, p. 640.

8.       Personal communication with the Lhaovo Bible translator, June 2012.

MOBWA KAREN

1.        Cited in Angelene Naw & Jerry B. Cain (ed.), The History of the Karen People of Burma (Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press, 2023), p. 69.

2.         A short news report from Myanmar about the Karen New Year celebrations at Thandaunggyi can be seen at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3w5wa6JVsaM 

3.         Naw & Cain, The History of the Karen People of Burma, p. 69.

4.       A short video of the prayer mountain can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FfgXiz7eT8

PADAUNG

1.         The ministry Global Recordings likely misspelled the name “Kayam” rather than Kayan in their extensive list of languages in which recordings have been produced. No other source has spelled the language “Kayam.”

2.         Padaung is so widely used as the name to describe this group that we have decided to avoid confusion by also calling them Padaung in this book.

3.        Kayan is related to Lahta, with which it shares a 71 percent lexical similarity. Kayan is used as a second language by the Lahta and Zayein tribes in Myanmar.

4.         In Thailand, many Padaung women have continued the practice out of economic necessity. After settling in Thailand, they were prohibited from cultivating land because they were not Thai citizens. Tourist agencies seized the opportunity to make money from the unique appearance of Padaung women. Hordes of camera-clicking tourists book pre-arranged visits to photograph the “long neck” women, as they have come to be known. In recent years, Padaung women have been seen as far afield as Bangkok and Singapore, where they use their appearance to make money from tourists.

5.        Joachim Schliesinger, Ethnic Groups of Thailand: Non-Tai-Speaking Peoples (Bangkok: White Lotus Press, 2000), pp. 223-24.

6.        Gillian Cribbs & Martin Smith, "Ethnographical History," in Richard K. Diran, The Vanishing Tribes of Burma (New York: Amphoto Art, 1997), p. 218.

7.        Sir George Scott, “Among the Hill Tribes of Burma: An Ethnological Thicket,” National Geographic (March 1922), p. 317.

8.        “The opposition of the British political officer to our settlement, beginning with our arrival, increased in violence from week to week. He used all resources at his command to defeat our plans and to prejudice the natives against us, forbidding them to receive us and to grant lands for necessary buildings. His opposition culminated by inflicting fines upon those chiefs who had helped us, and ultimately by issuing a government paper, over his own official signature, ordering us to cease building and to withdraw from the land.” Alonzo Bunker, Sketches from the Karen Hills (London: Fleming H. Revell, 1910), pp. 46-47.

PAKU KAREN

1.        The first missionary to the Paku Karen, Francis Mason, described the terrain with these words: “My habitation is the wide, wide forest, and the cloud-capped mountain’s summit. Mountains are piled on mountains, like masses of gigantic crystals. On the edges of these crystals, turned up to the horizon, are situated most of our Christian villages…. The Karens soon growing weary of seeing me move so slowly, made a kind of bamboo palankeen, in which they placed me, on top of my bedding, bearing me on their shoulders from village to village, through the Monnepwa hamlets, to the Paku settlements.” Francis Mason, The Story of a Working Man's Life, with Sketches of Travel in Europe, Asia, Africa and America (New York; Oakley, Mason & Co., 1870), p. 390.

2.        Of the two groups, 86.8 percent of the Paku were Christians, while 55.6 percent of Monnepwa people identified as followers of Christ.

3.       The Paku Karen dialects may also represent distinct subgroups, some with their own clothing style and customs. The dialects are based on village names, with Kyauk Gyi and Shwe Kyin spoken in Taungoo District. Mawchi is spoken in Kayah State and Bawgali in northern Kayin State. See Summer Institute of Linguistics, Ethnologue: Languages of the World (27^th edition, 2024), online version.

4.        Angelene Naw & Jerry B. Cain (ed.), The History of the Karen People of Burma (Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press, 2023), p. 69.

5.       Ellen Huntley Mason’s contribution to the spread of the Gospel among the Paku and other Karen tribes was massive. In one book it is noted: “The Taungoo mission field would not have developed successfully without the unusual leadership of Ellen Huntley Mason. She started a school for the training of village teachers…. Many of the students later became workers in all parts of the hills.” Naw & Cain, The History of the Karen People of Burma, p. 69.

6.       See Mrs. MacLeod Wylie, The Gospel in Burmah: The Story of its Introduction and Marvellous Progress among the Burmese and Karens (New York: Sheldon & Co., 1860), pp. 291-92.

7.       Mrs. J. E. Harris, History of the Shwegyin Karen Mission (Chicago: Englewood Press, 1907), no page numbers.

PWO KAREN (EASTERN)

1.        A 2008 figure of 58,000 Pwo Karen in Thailand has been used, but the true number may be at least three times higher, with large numbers fleeing across the border in recent years to escape the Myanmar civil war. Many are trapped in refugee camps on the Thai side of the border, while others have manged to form communities in Thailand. Pwo Karen communities are now found in many countries around the world, but references to Karen refugee numbers are scarce and tend to combine all Karen without differentiating subgroups.

2.        The entire Tanintharyi coastline became part of King Anawrahta's Pagan Empire after 1057. In 1287 the area fell to the Siamese kingdom of Sukhothai. This means that at various times in history, this part of the Pwo Karen territory has been within the current borders of both Myanmar and Thailand.

3.        Harry Ignatius Marshall, The Karen People of Burma: A Study in Anthropology and Ethnology (Columbus, OH: University of Columbus, 1922), p. 300.

4.        This belief applied not only to the Pwo but to many Karen tribes. Francis Mason wrote: “Regarding the existence of an original paradise, the Karen tradition says: ‘Father God said, “My son and daughter, father will make and give you a garden. In the garden are seven different kinds of trees, bearing seven different kinds of fruit. Among the seven, one tree is not good to eat. Eat not of its fruit. If you eat it, you will become old and will die. All I have created I give to you. Eat and drink with care. Once in seven days I will visit you. All I have commanded you, observe and do. Forget me not. Pray to me every morning and night.’” Francis Mason, The Karen Apostle, or, Memoir of Ko Thah-Byu, the First Karen Convert, with Notices concerning His Nation (Boston: Gould, Kendall, and Lincoln, 1843), p. 113.

Another source explained how an evil being, known to the Karen as Naukplau, deceived the first man and woman: “Y’wah in the beginning commanded, but Naukplau came to destroy, maliciously deceiving unto death the woman E-u, and the man Tha-nai…. The great Serpent took the white fruit of the tree and gave it to Y’wah’s son and daughter to eat. They kept not each word of Y’wah, and Naukplau deceived and beguiled them unto death.” C. J. F. S. Forbes, British Burma and Its People: Being Sketches of Native Manners, Customs, and Religion (London: John Murray, 1878), pp. 116-17.

Missiologist Don Richardson added: “[Naukplau] laughed exceedingly, and said, ‘Now, O conquered man and woman, you have listened to my voice and obeyed me.’ The next morning Y’wa came to visit them, but they did not follow Him with the singing of praises as usual. He drew near to them and said, ‘Why have you eaten the fruit of the tree that I commanded you not to eat? Therefore, you shall grow old, you shall become sick, and you shall die.” Don Richardson, Eternity in their Hearts: Startling Evidence of Belief in the One True God in Hundreds of Cultures Throughout the World (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1984), p.80.

5.        See Mason, The Karen Apostle, pp. 83-84.

6.        Francis Mason wrote in 1843: “The Karen Christians are coming in almost daily, often seven or eight together, and they would come by twenties if we had not sent them word that it would be imprudent, and exposing themselves unnecessarily to fines and imprisonment, perhaps to long servitude, and possibly to death. Some who had been bound with cords and cruelly beaten till nearly senseless for preaching Christ and the resurrection came to see us.” Mason, The Karen Apostle, pp. 96-97.  

7.        See F. D. Phinney, The American Baptist Mission Press, Rangoon, Burma, 1816-1908 (Rangoon: American Baptist Mission Press, 1908).

8.        Marshall, The Karen People of Burma, p. 300.

9.        For many years the 1883 Pwo Karen Bible was said to be in the Western Pwo language, but the early missionaries did a combined Pwo translation, which linguists have found is more suitable to the Eastern Pwo. The reason the translation became known as the Western Pwo Bible is because the Western Pwo initially turned to Christ in greater numbers, thus using the Bible more. For generations the Eastern Pwo Christians used the Bible and considered it to be in their language. Phinney reported: “By the hearty cooperation of the Pwo Karens a copy was placed in the home of every Pwo Karen Christian family, even of those who were not able to pay for the copy.” Phinney, The American Baptist Mission Press, pp. 28-29.

PWO KAREN (WESTERN)

1.        Richard K. Diran, The Vanishing Tribes of Burma (New York: Amphoto Art, 1997), p. 120.

2.        ”Revival in Myanmar: A Strategic Opportunity to Impact a Whole Country,” Asia Harvest (newsletter 187, April 2023) at www.asiaharvest.org

3.       W. C. B. Purser, Christian Missions in Burma (London: Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, 1911), p. 103. Catholic work among the Western Pwo Karen began in the 1840s, and about 2,000 were baptized within the first few years. One source noted, “It was not until the arrival of Bishop Biganget that the work of converting the Karen was undertaken in earnest, and it has continued ever since. In 1919 there were 17 stations under the charge of resident priests and approximately 25,350 converts.” Harry Ignatius Marshall, The Karen People of Burma: A Study in Anthropology and Ethnology (Columbus, OH: University of Columbus, 1922), p.301.

RIANG LAI

1.       Prior to 2012, Namsan and Mantong Townships were part of Kyaukme District, but the government moved them into the new Palaung Self-Administered Zone, which is a special area with limited autonomy granted to the Palaung people, at least on a superficial level.

2.       Summer Institute of Linguistics, Ethnologue: Languages of the World (27^th edition, 2024), online version.

3.       Richard K. Diran, The Vanishing Tribes of Burma (New York: Amphoto Art, 1997), p. 87.

RIANG LANG

1.       See Paul Hattaway, Operation China: Introducing all the Peoples of China (Carlisle, UK: Piquant, 2000), p. 462.

2.       Elizabeth Hall, “A Phonological Analysis of Riang Lang,” in Hiram Ring & Felix Rau (eds.), Papers from the Seventh International Conference on Austroasiatic Linguistics (JSEALS Special Publication No. 3) (Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2018), p. 77.

3.       Of this number, all identified as Buddhists except 47 "others."

4.       The many Karen languages are part of the Tibeto-Burman language family, while Riang comes from the totally different Mon-Khmer branch of the Austro-Asiatic family.

5.       See Nan Lwin Hnin Pwint, “Ethnic Riang Consider Dropping Traditional Dress After Video,” The Irrawaddy (September 11, 2018). The article contains useful information and photos of the Riang Lang people and can be accessed at: https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/ethnic-riang-consider-dropping-traditional-dress-video.html

6.       Global Prayer Digest (September 1989).

7.       Global Prayer Digest (September 1989).

8.       Hattaway, Operation China, p. 462.

9.       See W. S. Hooton & J. Stafford Wright, The First Twenty-five Years of the Bible Churchmen's Missionary Society, 1922-47 (London: Bible Churchmen's Missionary Society, 1947).

S’GAW KAREN

1.        By July 2015, 64,759 Karen refugees had resettled in the United States. Most of them are S’gaw Karen, with some of their main communities found in San Francisco; Denver, Colorado; and St. Paul, Minnesota: Angelene Naw & Jerry B. Cain (ed.), The History of the Karen People of Burma (Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press, 2023), p. 317.

2.        A partial list of the locations of Karen communities around the world was cited in Heather MacLachlan, “Singing, Dancing and Identity in the Karen Diaspora,” Asian Music (Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, Summer-Fall 2014), pp. 58-83.

3.        The tribes profiled in this book that use S’gaw Karen as a second language include the Bwe Karen, Eastern Kayah, Geba Karen, Geko Karen, Kawyaw, Kayan, Kayaw, Mobwa Karen, Paku Karen, Western Kayah, and Yintale.

4.        Joseph Chandler Robbins, Boardman of Burma, A Biography (Philadelphia: Judson Press, 1940), pp. 163-64.

5.        In the 1830s, a Karen named Sauquala gave a stunning address before the British Governor General of Burma, in which he said, “The white foreigners were originally younger brothers of the Karen people. The Karen, as older brothers (rascals that they were), negligently lost their copy of Y’wa’s book. The white brothers, on the other hand, carefully preserved their copy. As a result, white people became righteous and are known as ‘guides to God.’ They also learned to sail in ships with white wings, crossing oceans. The Karen nation was thus poised like an 800,000-member welcoming party, ready for the first unsuspecting missionary who approached them with a Bible and a message of deliverance from God. Whoever he proved to be, he was destined to enjoy one of history’s great privileges!” Don Richardson, Eternity in their Hearts: Startling Evidence of Belief in the One True God in Hundreds of Cultures Throughout the World (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1984), pp. 84-85.

6.        The intense struggles that Mason experienced in completing the project are worth retelling here. His dramatic summary said: “I have just put up and sent to press the last copy of the entire Bible in Karen, a work which, to say nothing of earlier labor upon it, has for the last six years absorbed my whole time and strength, both of body and mind. It has been the first thing in the morning, my constant companion through the day, the last thing at night; and often I have risen during the night watches and sat at my table to translate, revise, or read proof-sheets a couple of hours, when all the world around me was lost in sleep. Sickness has repeatedly brought me to the borders of the grave, when I have carried on the work every moment of rest on my couch so that every five minutes, sick or well, that could be pressed into the work, has been seized upon. While in Maulmain [now Mawlamyine], it was my rule to refuse all invitations to go out to dinner or tea, to use my precious time for my translation, and I visited with my friends so little that I was spoken of as unsociable. My rule was not every day a line, but a line in season and out of season, whenever it was possible to write one. Through the blessing of God, the work is done, and into His hands I commit it.” Francis Mason, The Story of a Working Man's Life, with Sketches of Travel in Europe, Asia, Africa and America (New York; Oakley, Mason & Co., 1870), pp. 298-99.

7.        “About the same time that the printing of the Mon language was begun, the missionaries to the S’gaw Karen, having reduced that language to writing by means of a modified Burmese character, were ready to begin to print, and the Sermon on the Mount was printed in 1837, quickly followed by the whole New Testament in portions, and in 1843, 2,000 copies of the whole New Testament were printed. By 1861 three other editions had been published, making a total at the time of 13,000 copies…. The Old Testament was completed in 1853 and reprinted in a complete Bible in 1861.” F. D. Phinney, The American Baptist Mission Press, Rangoon, Burma, 1816-1908 (Rangoon: American Baptist Mission Press, 1908), p. 27.

8.        See “The Sqaw Karen: A Tribe Desperate for God’s Word,” Asia Harvest (newsletter 166, June 2020), at: www.asiaharvest.org

9.        Other countries the S’gaw Karen are known to now have communities in include Canada, Malaysia, Netherlands, Norway, South Korea, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

SOUTH ASIAN, BENGALI

1.        Bengali-speaking communities are found in dozens of countries throughout the world today. Apart from those listed in the Overview section of the profile, Bengali people in other countries where population numbers have been published (in descending order with the year the estimate was made) include: 680,242 in Oman (2018), 427,000 in USA (2022), 400,000 in Qatar (2019), 400,000 in Italy (2018), 350,000 in Kuwait (2021), 339,000 in Pakistan (2020), 300,000 in South Africa (2019), 160,000 in Lebanon (2020), 150,000 in Bahrain (2020), 150,000 in Jordan (2020), 150,000 in Singapore (2021), 121,000 in Canada (2021), 80,000 in Greece (2018), 70,100 in Australia (2021), 50,000 in Spain (2017), 40,000 in Japan (2018), 40,000 in Maldives (2024), 36,000 in Thailand (2016), 30,000 in Brunei (2016), 29,250 in Nepal (2021), 26,636 in South Korea (2023), 25,000 in Portugal (2022), 25,000 in Mauritius (2021), 21,990 in Germany (2023), 20,700 in Sri Lanka (2019), 20,100 in Bhutan (2021), 20,000 in Libya (2019), 18,000 in Poland (2023), 15,000 in Egypt (2013), 14,400 in France (2021), 13,987 in Sweden (2023), 7,000 in Finland (2016), 6,245 in Ireland (2022), 6,000 in Brazil (2021), 6,000 in Netherlands (2018), 5,000 in Belgium (2018), 3,470 in New Zealand (2018), 3,300 in Austria (2020), 3,290 in Denmark (2023), 2,000 in Switzerland (2018), 2,000 in Russia (1995), and 1,600 in Kenya (2023). This list is compiled from figures published in Summer Institute of Linguistics, Ethnologue: Languages of the World (27^th edition, 2024), online version; and from various websites including https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladeshi_diaspora. 

2.        See https://joshuaproject.net/languages/ben

3.        This 1931 census number was significantly lower than three decades earlier in 1901, when 204,963 Bengali people were counted in Burma (The Imperial Gazeteer 1901).

4.        For an excellent history of the Bengali people in Myanmar, see Parthasarathi Bhaumik, Bengalis in Burma: A Colonial Encounter (1886–1948) (Delhi: Routledge, 2023).

5.        For example, in August 2017, Hindu villages in Maungdaw District of Rakhine State were attacked and 99 Bengalis massacred by Muslim insurgents. A month later, a mass grave was discovered containing the corpses of a further 45 Bengali women and children. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kha_Maung_Seik_massacre

6.        Medha Chaturvedi, “Indian Migrants in Myanmar: Emerging Trends and Challenges,” (New Delhi: India Center for Migration, Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, 2015), p. 8.

7.        From the Bengali profile by Bethany World Prayer Center: http://kcm.co.kr/bethany_eng/clusters/8004.html 

SOUTH ASIAN, GUJARATI

1.        In the United States, the states with the highest number of Gujarati people according to the 2022 census are New Jersey (81,993), California (56,993), Texas (50,654), Georgia (27,766), and New York (17,995).

2.        Gujarati-speaking communities are found in most countries of the world today. Apart from those listed in the Overview section of the profile, Gujarati people in other countries where population numbers have been published (in descending order with the year the estimate was made, if available) include: 208,000 in Kenya (2020), 108,341 in Australia (2021), 98,000 in Madagascar (2023), 62,000 in Bangladesh (2009), 59,000 in Malawi (2023), 49,000 in Mozambique (2023), 45,000 in Oman (2020), 44,000 in Zambia (2020), 40,000 in South Africa (2020), 37,400 in Bahrain (2019), 36,800 in Iran (2023), 30,000 in Malaysia, 30,000 in Zimbabwe (2020), 28,000 in New Zealand (2021), 25,000 in Somalia (2023), 24,600 in Fiji (2019), 21,600 in Reunion, 20,000 in Portugal (2023), 5,600 in Pakistan (2023), 4,120 in Singapore (2010), 3,800 in Sri Lanka (2023), 3,700 in Ethiopia (2024), 2,800 in Burundi (2021), 2,000 in Mauritius (2018), 1,300 in Rwanda (2022), and 1,100 in France (2023). Unspecified numbers of Gujarati people are also known to live in Yemen, Kuwait, Belgium, Hong Kong, and in most Caribbean nations. This list is compiled from figures published in Summer Institute of Linguistics, Ethnologue: Languages of the World (27^th edition, 2024), online version; and from various websites, including https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gujarati_people

3.        Chidanand Rajghatta, “Global Gujaratis: Now in 129 Nations,” The Economic Times (January 4, 2015).

4.        See https://joshuaproject.net/languages/guj

5.        Christopher Miller, “A Gujarati Origin for Scripts of Sumatra, Sulawesi and the Philippines,” Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society (Vol. 36, No. 1, 2010), p. 276.

SOUTH ASIAN, HINDI

1.        Zeyawaddy, a nondescript rural area within Pyu Township in the Taungoo District of Bago Region, about halfway between Yangon and Mandalay, is home to the largest Hindi-speaking community in Myanmar. The 40 villages inhabited by Hindi speakers in the Zeyawaddy area are divided into the four village tracts of Jaipur, Ramnagar, Sadhugaon, and Gopalganj. One recent source says: “The local Burmese and Indians are living together in harmony and the world and other parts of Myanmar should learn how they live together.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeyawaddy

2.        Hindi-speaking communities are found in most countries throughout the world today. Apart from those listed in the Overview section of the profile, Hindi people in other countries where population numbers have been published (in descending order with the year the estimate was made, if available) include: 700,000 in Kuwait (2017), 463,000 in South Africa (2020), 380,000 in Fiji (2017), 321,400 in Nepal (2021), 316,000 in Yemen (2020), 202,000 in DR Congo (2022), 197,000 in Australia (2021), 150,000 in Suriname (2003), 105,000 in Germany (2022), 100,000 in Oman (2020), 94,000 in Indonesia (2022), 93,000 in Jamaica (2023), 80,000 in Portugal (2023), 75,000 in Tanzania (2023), 72,500 in Singapore (2020), 69,500 in New Zealand (2018), 60,000 in Malaysia (2021), 57,200 in United Kingdom (2021), 48,000 in Mozambique (2023), 47,000 in Bhutan (2024), 41,300 in Sri Lanka (2019), 36,000 in Mauritius (2018), 36,000 in Japan (2024), 34,000 in Bangladesh (2024), 26,000 in Trinidad and Tobago (2003), 22,900 in Thailand (2010), 19,000 in Hong Kong (2024), 18,200 in Sweden (2022), 18,000 in Israel (2024), 15,700 in Sierra Leone (2021), 15,000 in Panama (2021), 15,000 in Maldives (2024), 14,000 in Ghana (2023), 13,902 in Ireland (2022), 13,600 in Belgium (2020), 8,200 in Eswatini (2019), 7,380 in Netherlands (2022), 7,000 in China (2024), 6,700 in Kenya (2020), 6,000 in Jordan (2024), 6,000 in South Korea (2024), 6,000 in Zambia (2024), 5,600 in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (2023), 5,300 in Saint Lucia (2022), 5,300 in Russia (2020), 5,300 in Uganda (2016), 4,540 in Cyprus (2020), 4,400 in Philippines (2020), 4,000 in Austria (2021), 3,670 in Puerto Rico (2020), 3,650 in Brunei (2021), 3,250 in Finland (2021), 2,800 in Cote d’Ivoire (2023), 2,500 in Sint Maarten (2020), 2,200 in Lesotho (2017), 2,000 in Sudan (2024), 2,000 in Malawi (2024), 2,000 in Djibouti (2024), 1,700 in Cambodia (2019), 1,400 in Equatorial Guinea (2020), 1,400 in Saint Kitts and Nevis (2022), and 1,300 in Luxembourg. Unspecified numbers are also found in Afghanistan, Belize, Botswana, and Guyana. This list is compiled from figures published in Summer Institute of Linguistics, Ethnologue: Languages of the World (27^th edition, 2024), online version; and from various websites, including https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindi#Geographical_distribution

3.        See https://joshuaproject.net/languages/hin

4.        Mikael Parkvall, “Världens 100 Största Språk 2007” [The World's 100 Largest Languages in 2007] in Nationalencyklopedin.

5.        See “Myanmar's Little India: A Cultural and Historical Surrounding,” India TV News Desk (June 27, 2020): www.indiatvnews.com/news/india/myanmar-little-india-zeyawaddy-culture-history-know-india-programme-629736

6.        Medha Chaturvedi, “Indian Migrants in Myanmar: Emerging Trends and Challenges,” (New Delhi: India Center for Migration, Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, 2015), pp. 30-31.

7.        Chaturvedi, “Indian Migrants in Myanmar,” p. 30.

SOUTH ASIAN, MALAYALI

1.        Xavier S. Thaninayagam, “Tamil Studies Abroad: A Symposium,” The International Association of Tamil Research, 1968.

2.        Malayali communities are found in dozens of countries around the world today. Note that statistics for countries often appear different depending on whether people in the Malayali ethnic group or speakers of the Malayalam language are being counted. Many Malayali people around the world cannot speak their native language but use English or another language. Apart from the countries listed in the Overview section of the profile, Malayali people in other countries where population numbers have been published (in descending order with the year the estimate was made, if available) include: 445,000 in Qatar (2011), 373,000 in Malaysia (2024), 228,000 in Oman (2020), 194,000 in USA (2022), 101,556 in Bahrain (2011), 78,700 in Australia (2021), 77,910 in Canada (2021), 69,900 in United Kingdom (2021), 46,600 in Israel, 26,300 in Singapore (2010), 24,674 in Ireland (2016), 6,800 in New Zealand (2024), 5,867 in Germany (2005), 4,000 in Indonesia, 3,784 in Austria, 500 in Japan, and 474 in Finland (2021). This list is compiled from figures published in Summer Institute of Linguistics, Ethnologue: Languages of the World (27^th edition, 2024), online version; Thomas T., Malayali Diaspora: From Kerala to The Ends of The World (Serials Publications, 2012); and from various websites, including https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malayali_diaspora

3.        See https://joshuaproject.net/languages/mal

4.        Medha Chaturvedi, “Indian Migrants in Myanmar: Emerging Trends and Challenges,” (New Delhi: India Center for Migration, Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, 2015), p. 18.

5.        Chaturvedi, “Indian Migrants in Myanmar,” p. 7.

6.        Chaturvedi, “Indian Migrants in Myanmar,” p. 25.

SOUTH ASIAN, ODIA

1.        J. Leclerc, Birmanie (Myanmar): L’aménagement Linguistique dans le Monde (Quebec City: CEFAN, Université Laval, 2017).

2.        See “Odias in Myanmar and Lord Jagannath,” Sambad (June 18, 2021): https://sambadenglish.com/odias-in-myanmar-and-lord-jagannath/

3.        Odia-speaking communities are found in dozens of countries throughout the world today, but compared to other major Indian language groups, little research has been published that tracks their locations and populations. Apart from those listed in the Overview section of the profile, Odia people in other countries where population numbers have been published include 32,500 in Bangladesh (2000) and 5,390 in USA (2015). Odia communities are also known to exist in Canada, Fiji, Ireland, Kuwait, Qatar, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United Arab Emirates. This list is compiled from figures published in Summer Institute of Linguistics, Ethnologue: Languages of the World (27^th edition, 2024), online version; and from various websites, including https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odia_people.

4.        See https://joshuaproject.net/languages/ory

5.        “Odias in Myanmar and Lord Jagannath,” Sambad (June 18, 2021): https://sambadenglish.com/odias-in-myanmar-and-lord-jagannath/

SOUTH ASIAN, PUNJABI

1.        Punjabi-speaking communities are found in dozens of countries throughout the world today, speaking both Eastern Punjabi and Western Punjabi (predominantly in Pakistan). Apart from those listed in the Overview section of the profile, Punjabi people in other countries where population numbers have been published (in descending order with the year the estimate was made) include: 234,000 in United Arab Emirates (2020), 77,000 in Tanzania (2023), 72,000 in Malaysia (2023), 70,000 in Japan (2020), 65,000 in Kenya (2020), 62,000 in Thailand (2019), 60,000 in Indonesia (2021), 50,000 in Philippines (2016), 36,800 in Iran (2021), 34,227 in New Zealand (2018), 25,000 in Mauritius (2018), 25,000 in Singapore (2018), 24,000 in Sweden (2013), 24,000 in Norway (2013), 23,700 in Bangladesh (2019), 20,000 in Hong Kong (2006), 18,000 in Oman (2020), 18,000 in Germany (2020), 10,000 in Nepal (2019), 9,000 in Fiji (2019), 6,600 in Afghanistan (2024), 3,500 in Reunion (2022), and 2,000 in Georgia (2012). This list is compiled from figures published in Summer Institute of Linguistics, Ethnologue: Languages of the World (27^th edition, 2024), online version; and from various websites, including https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punjabi_diaspora and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punjabis.

2.        See https://joshuaproject.net/languages/pan (Eastern Punjabi) and https://joshuaproject.net/languages/pnb (Western Punjabi)

3.        Lorcan Lovett, “The Turban Stays On: How Myanmar's young Sikhs are Confronting Discrimination,” Myanmar Mix (September 2, 2020): https://myanmarmix.com/en/articles/the-turban-stays-on-how-myanmars-young-sikhs-are-confronting-discrimination

4.        Medha Chaturvedi, “Indian Migrants in Myanmar: Emerging Trends and Challenges,” (New Delhi: India Center for Migration, Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, 2015), p. 1.

5.        From the Bengali profile by Bethany World Prayer Center: http://kcm.co.kr/bethany_eng/clusters/8044.html

6.        From an excellent article on Sikhs in Myanmar today: Emily Fishbein, “Meet the Sikhs of Myitkyina,” Frontier Myanmar (July 28, 2018): https://www.frontiermyanmar.net/en/meet-the-sikhs-of-myitkyina/ Also see “An Insight into the Sikhs of Burma,” SikhNet (April 27, 2013): https://www.sikhnet.com/news/insight-sikhs-burma and Tridivesh Singh Maini, “Sikhs in Myanmar,” Asia Samachar (June 17, 2015): https://asiasamachar.com/2015/06/17/sikhs-in-myanmar/

7.        See Ashish Alexander, “Celebrate the Word: 200 Years of the Punjabi Bible,” Christian Trends (November 7, 2014): https://ctrendsmag.com/sections/spotlight/celebrate-the-word-200-years-of-the-punjabi-bible/

SOUTH ASIAN, TAMIL

1.        Tamil-speaking communities are found in dozens of countries throughout the world today. Apart from those listed in the Overview section of the profile, Tamil people in other countries where population numbers have been published (in descending order with the year the estimate was made) include: 400,000 in United Arab Emirates (2019), 335,000 in USA (2022), 237,599 in Canada (2021), 198,449 in Singapore (2022), 128,000 in United Kingdom (2021), 126,000 in Reunion (2013), 125,000 in France (2013), 95,400 in Australia (2021), 77,000 in Fiji (2019), 75,000 in Indonesia (2008), 72,089 in Mauritius (2011), 60,000 in Germany (2008), 38,000 in Thailand (2019), 36,000 in Guadeloupe (2013), 35,000 in Switzerland (2008), 28,700 in Qatar (2021), 25,000 in Italy (2005), 23,700 in Oman (2020), 18,700 in Bahrain (2019), 15,000 in Martinique (2013), 10,100 in New Zealand (2018), 10,000 in Norway (2000), 9,700 in Vietnam (2023), 9,000 in Denmark (2003), 5,502 in Ireland (2022), 5,000 in Pakistan (2023), 2,700 in Sweden (2022), 2,410 in Finland (2021), 1,000 in Netherlands (2022). This list is compiled from figures published in Summer Institute of Linguistics, Ethnologue: Languages of the World (27^th edition, 2024), online version; and from various websites including https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamil_diaspora.

2.        Vijaya Ramaswamy, Historical Dictionary of the Tamils (Historical Dictionaries of Peoples and Cultures) (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2007), p. 258.

3.        See https://joshuaproject.net/languages/tam

4.        Medha Chaturvedi, “Indian Migrants in Myanmar: Emerging Trends and Challenges,” (New Delhi: India Center for Migration, Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, 2015), p. 28.

5.        See Swaminathan Natarajan, “Myanmar's Tamils Seek to Protect their Identity,” BBC News (March 6, 2014): www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-25438275

6.        See Shalini Perumal, “Myanmar’s Tamils Maintain Legacy in the Face of Upheaval,” Migration (February 23, 2023): https://southeastasiaglobe.com/myanmar-tamil-community/ and Rabi Banerjee, “Burmese Tamils: No Man’s People,” The Week (December 24, 2017): www.theweek.in/theweek/more/no-mans-people.html.

7.        Chaturvedi, “Indian Migrants in Myanmar,” p. 28.

Another source detailed the events of December 23, 1941, which uprooted the existence of thousands of Tamils and other Indians in Yangon: “Around 10 a.m., a number of Japanese aircraft suddenly came out of the blue and there was a burst of bombs, bullets, and shells all over the crowded downtown business center and port area, mostly inhabited by Indians. Several hundred Indians were killed and a few thousand were wounded, but the effect of the bombing was more far-reaching than the immediate killing or maiming. The people realized for the first time that they were completely exposed to bombing. There was no protection of any kind.” (N. R. Chakravarti, The Indian Minority in Burma: The Rise and Decline of an Immigrant Community (London: Oxford University Press, 1971), p. 169.

8.        See Anbarasan Ethirajan, “The Burmese Indians who Never Went Home,” BBC News (September 4, 2015): www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-33973982

9.        Chaturvedi, “Indian Migrants in Myanmar,” p. 28.

10. W. C. B. Purser, Christian Missions in Burma (London: Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, 1911), p. 190.

11. Purser, Christian Missions in Burma, p. 190. A short historical overview of the Tamil Church in Myanmar to that time is found on pp. 191-93.

SOUTH ASIAN, TELUGU

1.        Telugu-speaking communities are found in dozens of countries of the world today. Apart from those listed in the Overview section of the profile, Telugu people in other countries where population numbers have been published (in descending order with the year the estimate was made) include: 59,400 in Australia (2021), 54,700 in Canada (2021), 40,000 in Singapore (2018), 40,000 in Bangladesh (2018), 35,000 in Fiji (2023), 33,000 in United Kingdom (2021), 20,000 in Mauritius (2023), 18,700 in Bahrain (2019), 13,300 in Oman (2020), 5,754 in New Zealand (2018), 5,000 in South Africa (2023), 4,100 in Sri Lanka (2023), 3,125 in Ireland (2022), and 1,240 Finland (2021). Telugu communities are also found in Italy, Trinidad and Tobago, and undoubtedly many other countries around the world. This list is compiled from figures published in Summer Institute of Linguistics, Ethnologue: Languages of the World (27^th edition, 2024), online version; and from various websites, including https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telugu_diaspora; and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telugu_people.

2.        See Girish Kumar Anshul, “Telugu Population in US Grows 4-fold in 8 Years, Language among Most-spoken,” India Today (June 27,2024): https://www.indiatoday.in/world/us-news/story/telugu-language-speaking-population-us-india-hindi-gujarati-us-census-bureau-data-report-2558952-2024-06-27. According to the 2022 US census, the state with the most Telugu people is California, followed by Texas and New Jersey.

3.        See “Do you speak Telugu? Welcome to America,” BBC News (October 21, 2018): https://www.bbc.com/news/world-45902204

4.        See https://joshuaproject.net/languages/tel

5.        Medha Chaturvedi, “Indian Migrants in Myanmar: Emerging Trends and Challenges,” (New Delhi: India Center for Migration, Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, 2015), p. 12.

6.        Xavier S. Thaninayagam, “Tamil Studies Abroad: A Symposium,” The International Association of Tamil Research, 1968.

7.        W. C. B. Purser, Christian Missions in Burma (London: Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, 1911), p. 192.

TAI LAING

1.        The 1931 census listed 23,296 “Shan-Bama” people, of which 23,284 were Buddhists and just 12 “others”.

2.        See Lorcan Lovett, “Once-Taboo Language Lives Again in Rural Myanmar,” Nikkei Asia (July 30, 2018): https://asia.nikkei.com/Life-Arts/Life/Once-taboo-language-lives-again-in-rural-Myanmar

3.        E. F. Merriam, The Races of Burma (Boston: American Baptist Missionary Union, 1893), p. 10.

4.        Merriam, The Races of Burma, p. 10.

5.        One of several videos inviting people to visit the Tai Laing homeland can be viewed at: https://youtu.be/to9ckUBhIp0

6.        See “A Political Game: Shanni and Kachin Armed Groups at Loggerheads,” Frontier Myanmar (February 20, 2023):  https://www.frontiermyanmar.net/en/a-political-game-shanni-and-kachin-armed-groups-at-loggerheads/

TARON

1.       4,000 Mishmi and 1,500 Digaru people live in the northeast Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, but no known research has been done to determine how closely related those groups are to the Taron in Myanmar.

2.       Although portions of the Bible and the Jesus film have been produced in the Digaro-Mishmi language of north India, the Taron in Myanmar have never learned to read and are probably unable to understand more than a few words of Digaro-Mishmi.

3.       “In 2002, around 42 to 50 villagers claimed to be of mixed Tarong-Htalu parentage, while only seven or eight were regarded as the last pureblooded Taron,” Wolfgang H. Trost, “Almost Gone: The Taron of Myanmar’s Far North,” The Irrawaddy (February 17, 2024).

4.       Drung girls in China often had face tattoos in the past, which may have been done to make them appear unattractive, thus dissuading Tibetan men from carrying them off. Face tattooing was banned by the Communist authorities in 1966.

5.       After researching and profiling approximately 2,000 people groups throughout Asia, the author considers the plight of the Taron people to be the most heart-wrenching ethnographic situation he has ever encountered.

6.       Kingdon-Ward calls them the “Duru” people in his book: Frank Kingdon-Ward, Burma’s Icy Mountains (London: Jonathan Cape, 1949).

7.       Burma Medical Research Society, The Tarons in Burma (Special Report Series No. 1) (Rangoon: Central Press, 1966), p. 3.

8.       The terrain is so rugged in the northernmost tip of Myanmar that communities in each valley usually speak their own dialect. People residing along rivers often use the name of that river for their group and dialect. Subsequently, the Rawang language is said to contain as many as 25 different dialects in a relatively small area of northern Myanmar and adjacent parts of China. Most Taron people today have mixed blood after marrying with Htalu people, who are a subgroup of the Rawang. The classification of Taron is uncertain, with some sources suggesting it is part of the Digaro-Mishmi language affiliation. Others believe it is merely a variety of Drung, which is part of the Nungish branch of Tibeto-Burman. Opportunities to study Taron in depth may have already been lost.

9.       As more people learned of the plight of the Taron, they became something of a cause célèbre in Burmese society. In 1964 a group of Taron were invited to travel to Mandalay to attend the Union Day celebrations. They didn’t enjoy the experience, however, with one book noting: “As the Taron mainly live on the icy mountains of northern Myanmar, they were unaccustomed to the hot and humid regions of the plains. Tarons were never seen at Union Day celebrations after 1964.” U Min Naing & Hpone Thant, National Ethnic Groups of Myanmar (Yangon: Thein Myint Win Press, 2000), p. 16.

10. See the Taman profile in this book for more information on that group. A list of 61 Taron words and 22 phrases was published in Burma Medical Research Society, The Tarons in Burma, pp. 34-42.

11. Drung and Rawang people claim they migrated to the area in the 1880s. Whether the Taron were already established in their village or if they migrated at the same time as the Drung and Rawang remains unclear and likely will not be solved due to the absence of written records among these tribes.

12. Alan Rabinowitz, Beyond the Last Village: A Journey Of Discovery In Asia's Forbidden Wilderness (Washington DC: Island Press, 2003), pp. 144-46.

13. See Rabinowitz, Beyond the Last Village.

14. After being unable to barter for goods with outside groups, the Taron survived by relying on hunting musk deer and mountain goats with their crossbows and by gathering herbs and roots from the forest floor. The lack of salt in their diet inflicted many people with large goiters. No evidence of animal husbandry was found among the Taron until recently, when some families followed the example of neighboring tribes and now raise chickens, ducks, and pigs.

15. Nyunt Nyunt Win, "The Taron: One of the Hidden Groups of Hill Ethnic Groups in Myanmar," Mandalay University Research Journal (Vol. 6, 2015), p. 7.

16. Nyunt Nyunt Win, "The Taron," p. 7.

THARMITAIK KAREN

1.       “It seems that there have been efforts to expand who is part of the ‘White Karen.’ Tharmitaik respondents in Mandat Taung said that they used to only use the name Tharmitaik. However, when the census was taken in 2014, they were encouraged to identify as White Karen.” (Personal communication with an SIL linguist, July 2023). 

2.       See the “Karen, Geba” full listing at Summer Institute of Linguistics, Ethnologue: Languages of the World (27^th edition, 2024), online version.

3.       Sir George Scott, “Among the Hill Tribes of Burma: An Ethnological Thicket,” National Geographic (March 1922), p. 297.

4.       Mrs. J. E Harris., History of the Shwegyin Karen Mission (Chicago: Englewood Press, 1907), no page numbers.

YINBAW

1.        Richard K. Diran, The Vanishing Tribes of Burma (New York: Amphoto Art, 1997), p.150.

2.        Summer Institute of Linguistics, Ethnologue: Languages of the World (27^th edition, 2024), online version.

3.        Diran, The Vanishing Tribes of Burma, p.150.

4.        Some academics have tried to explain away the Karen legends by saying they must have learned them from Nestorian or Catholic missionaries long before the first Protestants, but there is no mention of Jesus Christ or any New Testament story in their accounts. Others have said the best explanation for how the Karen (and many other groups) had clear accounts of creation and other events detailed in the Book of Genesis may simply be found in these verses from the New Testament: “In the past, he let all nations go their own way. Yet he has not left himself without testimony” (Acts 14:16). Significantly, however, the missionary who first shared many of these Karen creation accounts wrote: “They are all Old Testament traditions, so we are shut up to the conclusion that they came from the Jews.” Francis Mason, The Story of a Working Man's Life, with Sketches of Travel in Europe, Asia, Africa and America (New York; Oakley, Mason & Co., 1870), p. 277.

5.        Mrs. J. E. Harris, History of the Shwegyin Karen Mission (Chicago: Englewood Press, 1907), no page numbers.

YINTALE

1.        Summer Institute of Linguistics, Ethnologue: Languages of the World (27^th edition, 2024), online version.

2.        See David Bradley, “Languages of Mainland South-East Asia,” in Osahito Miyaoka, Osamu Sakiyama & Michael E. Krauss (eds.), The Vanishing Languages of the Pacific Rim (Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2007), pp. 301-36.

3.        See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mese

4.        See https://www.rfa.org/english/news/myanmar/loikaw-12112023170425.html 

5.        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kay_Htoe_Boe

6.        From a rare and excellent article on the Yintale that includes photos of the people and their surroundings. See Mratt Kyaw Thu, “The Disappearing tribe of Kayah,” Frontier Myanmar (June 10, 2016): https://www.frontiermyanmar.net/en/the-disappearing-tribe-of-kayah/

7.        Mratt Kyaw Thu, “The Disappearing tribe of Kayah.”

ZAYEIN

1.        Summer Institute of Linguistics, Ethnologue: Languages of the World (27^th edition, 2024), online version.

2.       Francis Mason, The Karen Apostle, or, Memoir of Ko Thah-Byu, the First Karen Convert, with Notices concerning His Nation (Boston: Gould, Kendall, and Lincoln, 1843), p. 15.

3.       Fredric Fryer, Tribes on the Frontier of Burma (London: Central Asian Society, 1907), p. 6.

4.       Gillian Cribbs with Martin Smith, "Ethnographical History," in Richard K. Diran, The Vanishing Tribes of Burma (New York: Amphoto Art, 1997), pp. 219-20.