021812ChinCelebration2 Van Peng, front and Ngun Hlei Par perform a skit that shows traditional hunting during the cultural demonstration at a celebration of the 65th Chin National Day at King Edward Public School.
David Bebee/Record staff
KITCHENER — Tucked vulnerably between India and Bangladesh and sitting at the western edge of Burma, also called Myanmar, the tiny state of Chin has struggled for centuries to maintain their culture and independence. Theirs is a story of a people who continue to be dominated by more powerful forces yet steadfastly refuse to be assimilated.
Every February for the past six years, a small cluster of Chin people gather in Kitchener to celebrate Chin National Day which falls on Feb. 20, though this year’s celebration took place Saturday at King Edward Public School’s auditorium.
Victor Khambil, president of the K-W Chin Community and a staunch supporter of both his people and their culture said there are only 253 Chins in the region and that national day celebrations are important for their children, to keep their culture alive.
The day’s festivities were filled with food, music, dance and dark-eyed children darting around the halls and among the adults. What was most striking was the clothing, a vivid array of reds, oranges, yellows and blues with women wearing sometimes two gold belts and skirts swinging wildly with strands of beads. Khambil explained, there are many dialects among his people – he speaks nine - and each village has it’s own traditional fabric colours and patterns.
“When we get together, it’s very colourful,” he said, a wide sash of brilliantly coloured cloth tied across one shoulder and draping to his knees, a traditional style for men.
Khambil is not surprised few people in Waterloo Region are familiar with Chin culture, given their small population. The first Chin arrived in the region in 2003 and few have followed, largely because of immigration restrictions.
“All of us are refugees,” he said, adding his fellow Chins have limited English skills so they end up in low-skilled positions.
Khambil arrived in Canada from Malaysia in 2004, settling first in Thunder Bay where he attended college for two years. Today, he spends much of his time helping his people, including returning to Malaysia where 50,000 Chin live as refugees, as they do in India where he estimates there are 60,000 refugees.
“There are seven states in Burma, Chin is the poorest,” he said, adding that in Burma, their numbers are about 500,000 in the strictly controlled Chin State and that they are “100 percent Christians” in a largely Buddhist society.
As a fiercely independent people, the Chin’s history is one of constant struggle. They came from the plains of Mongolia, migrating south to Burma around 1000 AD. In modern times, the Chins have been controlled by the British, then their borders were divided between Pakistan and India. When the Union of Burma gained independence from the British, they took the Chin territory with them and since then, it’s been a struggle to maintain their identity.
In February, 1948, the Chin were determined to recognize themselves as a democratic nation and so 5,000 gathered from across the Burmese state for the first National Day celebration. Today, any such celebration is banned in Burma.
In Waterloo Region, this year’s celebration marked their sixth and it seemed more like a family reunion. With so few numbers of Chin in the region, Khambil admits everyone knows everyone, then adds with a laugh, “and everyone’s children, and everyone’s house.”
Despite their small numbers, the region’s Chin population attends two different Christian churches, though they often blend their activities.
“We are always together,” he said, happily.
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