Karen - Marriage and Family

Marriage. A Karen may marry anyone who is not closely related (i.e., anyone except siblings, first cousins, and lineage mates). Among Pwo and Sgaw Karen there are proscriptions against certain matrilineal and intergenerational marriages. Patrilateral parallel second cousins may marry, but matrilateral parallel cousins of any degree may not because the latter are of the same lineage or of the same female spirit. Marriage is monogamous. Courting takes place on social occasions such as weddings, funerals, and communal planting and harvesting. Proposals, which require parental approval, are made by the young man or woman, although a go-between is often used. Premarital sex is prohibited, and 15 to 20 percent of bridegrooms pay a fine for having broken the rule. The marriage ceremony involves rituals to the Lord of Land and Water (see under "Religion and Expressive Culture") marking the union of the new couple and the husband's incorporation into the bride's parents' household. The ritual and wedding feast in the bride's village can last three days. After marriage the bride gives up her long white dress for the black embroidered blouse and red-and-black tubular sarong of married women; men continue to wear the traditional red fringed shirt.

Residence is usually matrilocal. Up to 30 percent of Karen marriages are village-exogamous. The groom moves to the house of the bride's father and eventually may establish a new household in that village. Postmarital residence depends as much on availability of agricultural land resources as on ideal uxorilocal pattern, binding villages in an interdependent net of relationships.

Domestic Unit. The normal domestic unit is the nuclear family, made up of husband, wife, and unmarried children. In the hills each nuclear family traditionally occupied either an apartment in a longhouse or a separate house in the village.

Inheritance. Property is generally divided into three shares, with equal parts going to the eldest ( a' vwi shiae in Pwo Karen) and youngest children ( a' oe dae ) and slightly smaller shares to middle children ( a' oa 'klae). Inheritance takes place ideally before the death of the parents, to avoid disputes and the bad luck brought by personal property containing the dead person's k'la ( kala ), or spirit. The youngest child, preferably a girl, cares for the parents until their deaths and controls their property. Widows retain control of their property until remarriage.

Divorce is discouraged and rarely occurs: 5 to 6 percent of marriages in the Thai hills, and about double that in lowlands and towns, end in divorce. Divorce may be initiated by either partner and is granted upon payment of compensation to the divorced party. The wife keeps the house and the children; other property is divided equally, except for any paddy land that was previously owned by one of the partners.

Socialization. There has been little research on traditional Karen childbirth and socialization practices. Karen women fear complications in childbirth, knowing this to be a common cause of death. There are dietary restrictions and other taboos that pregnant women must observe. To ease the birth, midwives cast magical spells and conduct ceremonies to placate spirits. Traditionally a mother sits by the fire for three days after the birth of her child; during this period rituals are held and amulets are used to protect and purify both mother and child. There is a naming ceremony when the child is one month old. Children are taught to emulate the same-sex parent. Young girls and boys both carry water, collect firewood, and care for younger siblings; both transplant rice in paddy fields, although boys do so less frequently than do girls. By puberty children do only the work that is appropriate to their gender. Education for Karen in Burma was formalized in missionary schools, which devised a Karen script based on Burmese and also taught English and Burmese. The Burmese and Thai governments have promoted the establishment of government schools in tribal villages or towns, to which Karen children are sent to live. The Karen National Union runs its own school system in Kawthoolei, where they teach English and Karen.