Ethnographic Analysis of the Chakma People - Essay Example

Ethnography- The Chakma People This paper is about a study on the culture, of the Chakma People, an Indian ethnic group traditionally living in and around Chittagong Hill of Bangladesh, the North-Eastern part of India and Myanmar's Rakhine state. The paper discusses a typical ethnographic study I carried out on the community's immigrants in the DC Armory which is a complex used for sports and entertainment in Washington DC during Bizu, a social religious festival of the ethnic group. Methodology Findings Discussion Introduction Ethnography refers to a qualitative research which is aimed at establishing cultural practices of a given people. The results or the findings from the research ought to reflect the true cultural practices of the group in question. A comprehensive ethnography ought to consider among other things, the language, history of the culture, physical geography of the group and its impact to the group's livelihood, the people's views on animal and plant life, their art and craft (material culture), occupation and social structure (Philipsen 1992). The paper delves into the livelihoods of the Chakma people living in the United States. The ethnography was conducted through interview and personal observation. Literature review The Chakma The Chakmas or Changhma, are a Tibeto-Burman community traditionally living in and around Chittagong Hill of Bangladesh, the North-Eastern part of India and Myanmar's Rakhine state. They are Chakmas are the largest ethnic group inhabiting the Chittagong Hill Tracts. In Myanmar the term Daingnet people is sometime used to refer to the Chakmas. They are traditionally divided into 46 distinct clans called Gozas. In addition, they consider a tribal group called Tongchangya as Chakmas since both ethnic communities speak the same language and have similar cultural practices. The latter, however, maintain that they a different ethnic group altogether. Today, many Chakmas have migrated to different parts of the world including the United States in search of better lives. In the US they are mainly professionals, students, small scale business people and domestic workers. Major Findings Language The lives of the Chakma people in the United States are highly similar to that of many Chakmas back in Asia. Many still speak their vernacular when they are at home. Many live in low- roofed houses that are indicative of the nature of their traditional architecture. Most Chakmas speak their mother tongue in addition to English. Some also speak have been influenced by neighboring other Eastern Indo-Aryan languages such as Chittagonian and Bengali who they get to relate with due to their many common cultural activities. The Chakmas refer to their language as Changma Vaj. The language is written in its own unique script, the Chakma script, also referred to as Ojhopath. Chakma language's is written form is in an alphabet very closely related to Khmer and Lanna which is mostly used in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and some parts of Myanmar. The minute differences in the alphabet allow the Chakma script to use a unique cursive form. Religion Most Chakmas profess to Theravada Buddhism. Their geographical locations in modern American cities and limited numbers hinder them from practicing the orthodox version of the religion. However they have been actively involved in the establishment of organizations and movements that call for ultimatism, Green movement and environmental conservation that are in line with their beliefs. However they differ in opinion between those who propose that they should adopt universal inclusivity and syncretism with traditions from other Buddhist forms and those who are of the view that Theravada Buddhism is pure since it is the oldest form of Buddhism and the suggested modernization will lead to its corruption. Cuisine Being Buddhists, most Chakmas are vegetarians. Many eat hot spicy foods with many oriental spices. Rice is a staple source of energy. Their most favorite delicacy is a vegetable curry called Pazon ton. Cultural practices The American Chakmas have their own culture, traditions, folklore and literature. Their folklores tend to focus on wars against their traditional enemies, the Bengali, the struggle for freedom from their British colonialism. Newer folklores also capture their life in the United States. The Chakma women usually wrap a Phinon, an ankle length piece of clothing around the waist and a Haadi, above the waist. They also don themselves with silver ornaments. The Phinon and Haadi are usually colorfully decorated with various designs that are hand weaved. Festivals Bizu is an extremely important and popular Chakma festival. This festival is credited for giving rise to the popular Bizu dance. The festival is three days long beginning on Phool Bizu, the last day of a month referred to as Chaitra.The first day involves thorough cleaning and washing of household items and clothes giving the house a new look with flowers. Mul Bizu, the second day ought to start with a bath in the river but this being impossible in many places in America, the Chakmas make use of public swimming pools. People wear new clothes and visit each other's homes exchanging gifts and playing traditional games. The day is signed off with the Bizu dance. The last day was traditionally a religious festival to pray for a bumper harvest. However, in the United States, this agricultural aspect has been lost. Buddha Purnima is a religious festival to commemorate the Birth of Lord Buddha and is celebrated at full moon. The Buddhist monks lead the faithful in mantra chanting. Many however take part in conventional festivals such as Christmas and new year celebrations. Research Strategy In any field work or data collection activity, the strategy used to collect the data or conduct the field work is meant to capture all a sample that can be authoritatively taken as a true representation of the target group's activity at normalcy. The main goal of using any given research strategy is to collect data in such a way that the person carrying out the research will be able to impose minimal amount of their own bias on the data collected. This research has used observation, interviews and field notes in order to collect the data. I used the Biza festival celebration to meet many of the respondents to my interview questions in the DC Armory as many were free on the festival days and came to the complex for entertainment. It was easy to identify them since this being their festival, they came in large groups. The fact that they have a distinct physical appearance made identifying them even easier. Through interviews, I was able to come face to face with my respondents who were willing to give me information about their culture. I first identified a potential respondent, went up to them, identified myself and requested them to help me in my research through affording me information. I interviewed children, adults and senior members of the Chakma society. For some of my interviews, I had to use an audio recorder which I later put down in writing. In the interviews, I made sure that I gained full attention from my interviewee and was thus able to get more information. For accuracy purposes, I ensured that I asked the same question to at least three respondents so as to be able to compare their responses and come up with credible findings. I conducted both oral and written interviews so as to capture the largest amount of data. I used the opportunity where a Chakma family I met at the festivities invited me to stay with them for two days to learn more about their culture through observation. The observation was able to confirm what I had been told verbally on their religion and cuisine. I was also able to learn more on their mannerism, material culture and social structures such as the yielding of the authority in the family. The observation had a longer lasting effect than the interview and I used an audio visual recorder to capture some of them. The other strategy which I made extensive use of was participation. I strived to participate in many of their activities such as games which gave me a first- hand experience of their culture. This method was even more accurate than observation. I also used note- taking as a memory enhancement tool and strived to record everything I saw, heard and did. I was therefore able to avoid mixing up several aspects of the culture and was able to recall most of the information later as I had notes from which to refer. Obstacles Encountered The research was not without its share of obstacles. To start with, I had communication problems as a lot of interviewees especially the elderly who are most knowledgeable on their culture spoke with an accent that I found hard to understand. They also tended to switch to their pidgin, a blend of English and Chakma language that I found extremely hard to comprehend. Some of the respondents especially the elderly were also suspicious of my intentions as it is traditionally a taboo in many Chakma sub tribes to reveal the secrets of the community to an outsider. The time factor was a third obstacle as the Chakma traditional method of conversation takes a lot of time before one actually passes the information. This was a problem because I had to capture a lot of information within limited time. I also faced financial constrains as I had to seek accommodation in a hotel in Washington DC during the three days of the festival and the costs in the area were extremely high. Tactics Devised to address the challenges. When I realized that communication was a problem, I looked for an interpreter who was fluent in English and several Chakma dialects to act as a translator. I also did my best to learn what was expected of me in terms of etiquette and cultural norms to ensure that I appealed favorably to the respondents to minimize their distrust on me as a stranger. I also offered them information on the cultural practices of my ethnic group as a trade so that they would feel free to reciprocate. Finally, I made sure that I explained fully to every respondent that the findings of the research would be used solely for educational purposes. In order to minimize the amount of time used per respondent, I employed a method through which I could interview several respondents at once. I also came up with innovative ways of cutting down my spending throughout the ethnography. Analysis of the Meaning of the Findings Throughout my research, I learnt a lot of information concerning the community. For one, I understood that each and every cultural group has their different cultural practices. One thing that I learnt that for the Asians, their staple food was rice in which they could eat on daily basis. The other thing I learnt from the interview is that each and every community has their deep cultural practices in that there are some things that they were not allowed to tell strangers. For me, I had to device methods of extracting information from them. Conclusion For one to carry out a successful research, one has to device the appropriate ways on how to the most of the respondents and also to observe keenly so as not to miss a thing. One should also carry out a pre-ethnography research on the people and the research area in order to familiarize themselves and have rough expectations of what to meet on the ground. One must, for instance know the mores of the people they need to interview and their expectations on conversational etiquette, table manners and such to avoid offending them. It is also imperative to have made enough preparations such having the questionnaire at hand. Innovative solutions should be devised to respond to arising issues if the research is to be a success. Having made all the necessary, preparations, it was easy to learn the most of the Chakma people. The research was helpful as it enabled me to interact, learn the way of life of, and make friends with people of a culture, vastly different from mine. Work Cited Philipsen, G. Speaking Culturally: Explorations in Social Communication. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press: 1992. Print. Read More