Photo: The great Padang Manau at Sinlum Kaba March 1945 (CC Naw Ja) Clan oral history has it that Duwa Zau Bawm was the Gauri Lahpai chief who founded Sinlum Kaba, one of the many villages that dotted the Sinlum hills overlooking Yunan, China. The Sinlum hills were part of the domain of the Lahpai Gauri […]
Category: Archives
Kachin Sports Greats of Yesteryear
Photo: Shingbwi Gam (center left) & Myitung Naw (extreme right) Myitung Naw, Shingbwi Gam and Ah Hpu were three outstanding Kachin athletes who represented Burma in international marathon and long distance events in the early years of the country’s independence. They were all discovered while serving in the army, in the now defunct all-Kachin infantry […]
First Kachin Woman Collegian Lahpai Htu Raw
Lahpai Htu Raw, like her pioneer educator mother Nangzing Hka Jan, was a trailblazer. The 9th child, and 4th daughter of the Pangmu Duwa Rev. Lahpai Lahpai Zau Tu and Nangzing Hka Jan, she was the first Kachin woman to receive a college education. A bright child, Htu Raw learned to read even before she started school. […]
Kachin Women Warriors of WWII
Hkachyang Raw: First Kachin Female Soldier At a time when women fighters were not allowed to join the army, one Kachin woman beat the odds to become an enlisted soldier, fighting in the front lines with her male counterparts. Posing as a man, Hkachyang Raw enlisted with the Northern Kachin Levies, a British special force […]
Life and Times of Capt. Dau Hkawng: Champion Marksman
Capt. Dau Hkawng is one who clearly deserves to be in the Burma Army competitive shooting hall of fame. He dominated the sport, winning championship after championship title atinter-regimental competitions at home and abroad, spanning a period of over 2 decades from British colonial times to the early days of independence. Dau Hkawng left home […]
The Manau: Its Origin, Meaning and Function
According to Kachin mythology, the original dancing of the manau was first performed by nats, or spirits, and birds were afterwards invited to participate in the dance. But legend also has it that it was the birds that developed the artistic expression of dance which man later emulated and gave the name manau, literally meaning […]