Myanmar’s ethnic minorities lament ‘Burmanization’
TAUNGOO, Myanmar — From the age of 5, when she entered a government school in Myanmar, Stella Naw learned about the triumphs of Burman kings and heroes, recited Burman poems and performed Burman dances at school ceremonies.
Without realizing it, she was being torn from her ethnic roots and assimilated into the Southeast Asian country’s dominant majority.
“What was missing from my childhood was a chance to learn the culture and history of my own people, the Kachin,” says the political analyst and writer. “I was ashamed to speak my own language. I didn’t like the sound of my own name.