Celebrating the Karen New Year

Posted

HURON — The Earl Nordby 4-H Exhibit Hall was awash with color Saturday, as the Karen community in Huron celebrated its culture’s New Year.
“This is the Karen year 2757,” explained Wah Ka Paw. “because the Karen year is shorter. Our New Year date changes year-to-year.”
Wah Ka Pow said that she has been in the United States for about 10 years and is very happy to be in a country where she enjoys freedom and has access to educational opportunities.
She explained that most of the wooden items on the table, including a slingshot, some musical instruments and utensils, are made by hand from bamboo.
One of the items on display was a metal drum, made from gold and silver, with thousands of decorative motiffs on its 30” face. Next to the drum was a family photo of Paw Say, the first of the Karen people who arrived in Huron, back in August of 2007.
“He convinced many others to come and make Huron their home,” she added.
The Karen National New Year celebrations are held during the month of “Pyathoe,” which on the Roman calendar falls during December or January.

People mark the occasion by sounding the Karen horn and drum, to maintain the tradition of the Karen New Year.
Officially, the Karen New Year began in 1938.  Celebrations were first held in 1939. It was on the first of January 1938, which that year corresponded with the first of Pyathoe, that Karen national leaders demands to the British administration for the Karen New Year were recognized, and declared an official holiday.  That date was also formally acknowledged as being the year 2677 on the Karen calendar.
“We hold a day-long celebration each New Year,” said Lah May Paw Soe, the Karen community leader in Huron.
“This is a celebration for the Karen residents of Huron,” she added. “It symbolizes the Karen people coming together.
Throughout the morning and early afternoon, a continuing rotation of young Karen men and women performed dances on a stage constructed in the end of the exhibit hall.
As they danced to the lively music, hundreds of people watched from chairs on the floor or from the bleachers next to the stage.
Throughout the hall, people of all ages mingled, wearing colorful fabrics, many of which were woven by hand.
In an area just off the stage, Wah Ka Paw demonstrated the weaving process that created the fabric.
“This is a typical New Year’s celebration,” Lah May Paw Soe said.
“We have dancing first, then in a little bit we will eat and then play games after that. It will go on most of the day.”

Photos by Curt Nettinga of the Plainsman

A group of young dancers participate in the “Rope Dance,” a traditional Karen dance that displays the community’s unity, by winding the colorful ropes together.

Visit the Plainsman.com homepage and scroll down to the image gallery to view more photos from the event