Housing

Traditional Karen housing normally consisted of a number of families, about 20 -30, living in a communal bamboo house or "th'waw". The house was raised on stilts and was usually rebuilt each year as the Karens moved from one hill side to another to harvest the paddy.

In the hot season the village chief would choose, after first consulting chicken bones to see if the site was appropriate, the best site which was normally adjacent to the area to be cultivated, and near a stream.

Bamboo poles from four to six inches in diameter and approximately 20 feet long where then cut and used to construct the basic house with flattened pieces of bamboo interlaced to form the walls while bamboo beams provided a springy floor.

A ladder would lead up to the first room where you would find the fireplace (hpa K'pu) and the kitchen (hti pu law). The fire place consisted of a small rectangle filled with ash and stones on which pots are heated by the lit bamboo fueled fire underneath.

Initially, apart from the fireplace, light was provided by a small lamp made from hollow bamboo filled with pieces of wood wrapped in palm and pineapple leaves. These were later replace by small tin lamps.

Before moving the village from one location to another the women gathered together food and liquor for the journey.

Before they left, offerings of four balls of rice, one white, one blackened by charcoal, and the others red and yellow, were carried to the centre of the house and before leaving spat on by every villager.

During the Burman Era the village would be surrounded by a large stockade to prevent bandits and wild animals from attacking the village.

Karen traditional housing can still be seen in the hills, however due to the continual turmoil of civil war the Karens find their traditions being lost or adapted to best suit the current political climate.

Illustrations from 'The Karen people of Burma', H.I. Marshall, White Lotus (see resources for more details)