Living in the mountains bordering Burma and Thailand are the Kayan people, also known as Padaung. With a population of around 40,000 souls, this tribe boasts of an aberrant culture. What makes the tribe unique is the characteristic neck rings worn by the women of the tribe. Essentially these rings feature single brass coil encircling the neck. Initially, the coil is placed when the girl is five years old; as she grows, it is replaced by a longer coil. Gradually the length of the coil and weight associated with it presses the clavicle and the rib cage, which results in appearance of a long neck. However, in actuality the neck doesn’t extend.
It is quite interesting to look into the reason behind the change. The cause of “giraffe” women is that the ribs and the clavicle descend 45 degrees down from their normal point. Optimal weight of the coil is nearly 5kg. However, the roots of the tradition are still to be discovered. Different myths surround the fact. Some sources predict it as a protection from tiger-bite. There are others, who believe that the coils made Kayan women unattractive for slave traders. However, for women in the tribe it is their tribal identity and an assurance that they would marry within their tribe.
Update Sep 16th, 2008:
A Few important facts we learned by courtesy of Peter Ole Kvint:
- Kayan is a religion for woman, and Kayan is not a people.
- Both Padaung and Karen have some follower of Kayan. They are daughters of a she dragon. The relationship is visible in the neck! Because they have the same mother, they are all sisters and sisters support each other, and repress the men.
- The lengthening of the neck take about two years (for instance at age of 10½-12½), and had two element: 1. Intensive massage as the musculature been swollen and soft. 2. Long time stretch out. It is the musculature which been changed, stretch out, and not the bone in the neck. The lengthening of necks is a great work which strength the solidarity between the daughters.
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17 Comments, Comment or Ping
By Coral Snake posted on May 26th, 2008
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I heard a myth that if they remove those rings, they will likely die, because it would be a sudden change
By Porch Lifts posted on May 28th, 2008
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It is amazing how differently some people live. I had always assumed that the neck was slowly stretching though until I read your post. Thats interesting to learn that this is not the case.
By Free photos posted on Jun 1st, 2008
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Yea … that’s their religion and tradition .
By FutureBoy posted on Jun 24th, 2008
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I heard that the same tradition is widespread among native population of Africa
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By juka14 posted on Jul 5th, 2008
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We might think it’s weird to do that, but for them it’s just a normal thing. Who knows what they think about the stuff we do…
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By Hifi Guy posted on Jul 14th, 2008
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I don’t know how it’s called, but some women in china have tiny foot, because they wear very tighten shoes.
By jana posted on Jul 23rd, 2008
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I am totally unaware of the culture of Kayan people. It is unusual wearing 5kg ring in the neck.
By CAPPS posted on Aug 19th, 2008
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Wut ahpens if theys choke.? they gots noo space fo aier in ther nek!!
By Gossip posted on Aug 26th, 2008
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It is heard that “Giraffe” Women always have a longer life.
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By Peter Ole Kvint posted on Sep 16th, 2008
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list of misunderstandings
Kayan is a religion for woman, and Kayan is not a people.
Both Padaung and Karen have some follower of Kayan. They are daughters of a she dragon. The relationship is visible in the neck! Because they have the same mother, they are all sisters and sisters support each other, and repress the men.
The lengthening of the neck take about two years (for instance at age of 10½-12½), and had two element: 1. Intensive massage as the musculature been swollen and soft. 2. Long time stretch out. It is the musculature which been changed, stretch out, and not the bone in the neck. The lengthening of necks is a great work which strength the solidarity between the daughters.
By Pasat posted on Sep 16th, 2008
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[quote comment=""]list of misunderstandings
Kayan is a religion for woman, and Kayan is not a people.
Both Padaung and Karen have some follower of Kayan. They are daughters of a she dragon. The relationship is visible in the neck! Because they have the same mother, they are all sisters and sisters support each other, and repress the men.
The lengthening of the neck take about two years (for instance at age of 10½-12½), and had two element: 1. Intensive massage as the musculature been swollen and soft. 2. Long time stretch out. It is the musculature which been changed, stretch out, and not the bone in the neck. The lengthening of necks is a great work which strength the solidarity between the daughters.[/quote]
Thank you for this rectification Peter and we sorry for our ignorance. We will be more careful next time.
Best regards,
Greg
By PYT posted on May 17th, 2009
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That is called footbinding. Ideally a woman should have feet that r 3-inch long. If the foot is any longer than that, it would b hard for the woman to marry s no man would want them. Google "footbiinding" n u'd find a lot of information.
By Candice posted on Jul 3rd, 2009
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In Africa it is individual rings not a coil. And they don't do it to "elongate" their necks.
By Bakerboi posted on Jul 3rd, 2009
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They do do it to "elongate" their necks. Because that in fact, is what happens. It's the same tradition and is where the "Origin" is from.
Doesn't matter if there are individual rings or one complete coil. As they get older more rings are added, point?
There are four sub-groups of Kayan distinguished by different traditional dress. In addition to the ‘long-neck’ Kayan there are also Kayan who wear a long coil brass around their arms or just around their legs.
The Kayaw also wear a brass coil around their legs. The Ndebele tribe of South Africa has a very similar tradition of ring wearing.
As they ring bin their legs and arms, as well as neck. Not only do they do brass rings but they also do cloth and decorative cloth rings. Basically they are THE definitive Ring people.
Also, if you take a look at that region of Asia there is still a strong "African" presence there.
By Reader posted on Sep 15th, 2009
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Actually, they are not elongating their necks at all, the weight of the brass rings/coils pushes their shoulders down compressing their rib cages. If the rings were to be removed they would be able to move their heads freely because the neck is actually not stretched at all.
By Reader posted on Sep 15th, 2009
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Actually, they are not elongating their necks at all, the weight of the brass rings/coils pushes their shoulders down compressing their rib cages. If the rings were to be removed they would be able to move their heads freely because the neck is actually not stretched at all.
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