ANTHROPOS
104.2009: 457–468
Identities and Space The Geographies of Religious Change amongst the Brao in Northeastern Cambodia
Ian G. Baird
Abstract. – Protestant evangelical Christian proselytizing has of religion” (see Kong 2001 for a review), even if increased considerably in northeastern Cambodia over the last the field is often neglected and misunderstood. decade, and many ethnic minorities have recently converted to Lily Kong (2001) points out that “geographies of Christianity. This process is having important social and spatial implications, including influencing the ways that people define religion” are frequently conflated with race, thus “sacred spaces.” This article considers the Protestant evangelical reducing the degree of attention they receive. This Christian religious transformation occurring amongst former- is despite the contributions that the subdiscipline ly Animist ethnic Brao people, and the spatial implications of has made to better understanding how the social these changes, including the struggle over “places.” The marking out of social spaces to accommodate particular identities is un- construction of the “sacred” is linked with places – doubtedly an important part of the interactions that are presently spaces with particular meanings to certain people. taking place between Animist and Christian Brao. [Cambodia, For geographers, it is often the dialectical relation- religion, Animism, Christianity, religious sites, spatial change] ship between communities and places that are crit- ical. Kong usefully reminds us that like class and Ian G. Baird, Ph. D. in human geography from the University of British Columbia (Vancouver 2008). His doctoral field re- race, religion is frequently imbedded in historical search focussed on social and spatial change amongst the ethnic and place-specific contexts and should thus only be Brao people in northeastern Cambodia and southern Laos. – For taken as a priori theory, in which specific inquiries most of the last 23 years he has lived, worked, and conducted are made at different locations and at various scales. research in mainland Southeast Asia. – Besides a large number Bowman (1993) deals with the multiplicity of of academic articles and book chapters, he also coedited (with N. Haggan and B. Neis) Fishers’ Knowledge in Fisheries Sci- attachments to places, and emphasizes that a sin- ence and Management (Paris 2007) and (authored with B. Shoe- gle religious site or place can have multiple mean- maker) People, Livelihoods, and Development in the Xekong ings of varying significance for different people, an River Basin, Laos (Bangkok 2008). – See also References Cited. idea which is line with the theory of place-making more generally (Duncan 2000). Grapard (1998) agrees, and adds that the contested nature of reli- Introduction gious spaces cannot be separated from broader so- cial, economic, and political conditions. Instead, It is now widely recognized that identities are mul- struggles for religious spaces often symbolize these tiple, flexible, and constantly changing, and that struggles and power relations. These tussles are fre- shifts in identities have important spatial implica- quently complex and incomplete, resulting in hy- tions. Social scientists, including human geogra- bridization processes that mix and fuse religious phers and anthropologists, have developed an ex- identities, and transgress previous social and spatial tensive and diverse literature on the “geographies boundaries.
https://doi.org/10.5771/0257-9774-2009-2-457 Generiert durch IP '170.106.33.22', am 02.10.2021, 14:14:54. Das Erstellen und Weitergeben von Kopien dieses PDFs ist nicht zulässig. 458 Ian G. Baird Sacred space is often a focal point in geogra- tians” with the police and the provincial Depart- phies of religion. Chidester and Linenthal (1995), ment of Religious Affairs, fearing that such infor- and Gregory (2004), have usefully illustrated that mation could be used against them in the future. sacred space is frequently contested space. These While the extent of the pressure put on Chris- authors, and others, have demonstrated the impor- tians is varied, the Cambodian government has tance of considering the role of power and identity been critical of the Christian conversions that have politics in the struggle for social spaces constituted occurred in the province. In early 2005, the Na- through religion. tional Police Chief, Hok Lun Dy, visited Ratanakiri “Ritualization” is an important part of sacred Province and made a strong public statement that place-making processes, and Chidester and Linen- the government wanted to keep Ratanakiri from thal (1995: 9) argue that sacred places are ritual becoming Christian. places, spaces where “formalized, repeatable sym- The increasing concern within the government bolic performances” occur. They emphasize the about the Christian situation in northeastern Cam- role of the human body and actions in the ritual bodia is undoubtedly related to what has been hap- production of sacred space. Ritualization is clearly pening in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, where crucial for the construction and maintenance of the highlanders have vigorously although nonviolently boundaries that constitute religious identities and protested against land alienation and the oppression associated places (Vertovec 1992), but it can take of their rights to worship a particular variety of many forms, and generalizing about what consti- Protestant evangelical3 Christianity called “Dega” 4 tutes “rituals” can be dangerous. (Human Rights Watch 2002; Salemink 2003). Christian proselytizing is increasing in north- Many Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) eastern Cambodia, thus making the issue quite observers are not fundamentally against highland- relevant in Brao areas. There are probably over ers voluntarily becoming Christians, but are con- 200 Protestant Christian Brao people in Ratanakiri cerned that intra-community conflict has the poten- Province,1 where there were none at the begin- tial to occur when part of a community becomes ning of the 1990s.2 Yet despite achieving some Christian. For example, the Jarai village of Lom successes in converting highlanders – albeit only split into two when part of the population converted about one percent of the Brao population in north- to Christianity a number of years ago, thus de- eastern Cambodia – a promissionary survey of creasing community solidarity. This issue is impor- Ratanakiri Province stated in 2005 that, “Ratanakiri tant, as it is generally more difficult for Christian province is extremely hostile toward Christianity Brao and Animist Brao to work together to solve and missionaries.” In 2006, a representative of a common problems, although good cooperation be- nondenominational Protestant evangelical Chris- tween those who believe in different religions is tian Church in the USA similarly reported that, certainly not impossible. It may, however, require “Cambodia is not real [sic] receptive to mission- more effort. aries . . . They are trying very hard to keep Chris- Here, I specifically look at some of the spa- tianity out; not making it illegal, but making it hard tial implications of Protestant evangelical Christian on people who are working there.” Indicative of the conversions of ethnic Brao people formerly with tensions, at least some Christians in Ratanakiri are Animist belief systems (called sangkhom labop or resisting attempts to become registered as “Chris- “the system society” in Brao). My goal is to illus- trate how the particular circumstances of Brao re- ligious change are having important spatial impli- cations. 1 This number is uncertain, and because of security concerns, Christian missionaries in Ratanakiri are not willing to pro- vide statistics for the number of Christians in the province. In fact, they do not even want to provide information about the locations of “church houses” in the province, for fear that the information might be used against the Christians by the Cambodia government. 2 Overall, there were very few Christians in Ratanakiri in the early 1990s. Although the number of Protestant converts 3 A Christian missionary I met defined “evangelical” as “peo- was initially low in the 1990s, in early 2005 a long-time ple who feel a responsibility to share the truth about God.” expatriate Christian living in Ratanakiri reported that the 4 The Vietnamese government often associates Dega with number of people professing to be Protestants grew from 800 the former Highland autonomous movement in the Central in 2004 to 1,500 just a year later. Most of this expansion is Highlands called FULRO (Front Unifié de Lutte des Races believed to have been with the Jarai in O Yadao District, who Opprimées), and antigovernment elements in the USA (Sale- are mainly being converted by Jarai people from Vietnam. mink 2003).
Anthropos 104.2009
https://doi.org/10.5771/0257-9774-2009-2-457 Generiert durch IP '170.106.33.22', am 02.10.2021, 14:14:54. Das Erstellen und Weitergeben von Kopien dieses PDFs ist nicht zulässig. Identities and Space 459 The Brao was forced to abandon their efforts before many people were converted (Jacqueline Matras-Guin, The Brao are a Mon-Khmer language-speaking pers. comm. 2005). “ethnic group” 5 that self-divides into a number In Cambodia, Protestant evangelical Christian of different subgroups and encompasses a popula- proselytizing has become an important determinant tion of approximately 60,000 people in the south- of the human landscape, especially since Cambodia ern Lao provinces of Champasak and Attapeu and adopted a new constitution in the early 1990s that the northeastern provinces of Ratanakiri and Stung allowed for religious freedoms, and thus opened Treng, Cambodia. There is a single Brao village the door for foreign religious missionaries to freely located in the Central Highlands of Vietnam (Baird proselytize. 2008). This growth has included an increasingly active Most Brao historically resided in upland forest- and well-organized foreign-funded Protestant evan- ed landscapes, where they practiced swidden agri- gelical Christian missionary presence in northeast- culture as their main source of livelihood. While ern Cambodia. The Non-Denominational Church- some continue to live in the uplands, many, in both es,7 the Foursquare Church, the Seventh-Day Ad- Laos and Cambodia, have been variously manipu- ventist Church, the Korean Presbyterian Church, lated, coerced, or forced to resettle to the lowlands the Baptist Missionary Association of the Philip- and adopt wet rice cultivation (Baird and Shoe- pines (BMAP), the Love Church of Ratanakiri, maker 2007; Baird 2008). and the Kampuchea Evangelical Church (KEC) all Until the very end of the twentieth century, vir- have bases in Ratanakiri. Some of these groups tually all Brao people, whether in southern Laos or have foreign missionaries based in Ratanakiri (e.g., northeastern Cambodia, could be defined as “An- non-denominational, beginning in 1994), some- imist,” 6 meaning that their primary cosmological thing that was not possible in the 1970s and 1980s orientations were centered on various kinds of spir- due to political limitations and civil war. Others its, including those residing in forests, rivers, ani- support local proselytizing efforts by providing var- mals, large trees, and rocks and other natural land- ious kinds of financial and nonfinancial support to scapes, and also those associated with ancestors those who convert (i.e., Foursquare, see below). and houses. These spirits require periodic appeas- For the Non-Denominational Churches, when ing to prevent bad fortune or illness from inflicting small groups of people convert, they often organize an individual, family, or village, depending on the around “house churches,” which are regular houses circumstances. While sacrifices are outwardly done that are not registered as churches but which are for spirits, and are frequently criticized by outsiders informally used for religious purposes. Christian for being “wasteful” (see Salemink 2003), the re- rituals help constitute these spaces with meaning, ality is that only a small portion of the meat of thus making them “Christian sacred places,” even the domestic animals sacrificed is not consumed by if they only serve that purpose on certain days and people involved in the ritual. at particular times. These spaces are ritually made “not-Animist,” due to the exclusivity of the Chris- tian beliefs being promoted. They are seen as spe- The Changing Religious Landscape cial spaces not dominated by the state (even if they are sometimes partially constituted in response to During the French colonial period a Catholic Mis- it) – spaces where people can pray and study pri- sion was established at Kon Tum, in the present-day vately. They are spaces where highlanders can re- Central Highlands of Vietnam, but there is no evi- gain agency in the face of increasingly losing polit- dence that this mission had a significant or direct in- ical and economic power, including much of their fluence on the Brao, and there were never any mis- land, to ethnic Khmer people (see NGO Forum on sions established in Brao areas. Some attempts by a Cambodia 2006). Catholic Khmer missionary to convert highlanders Christian symbols are important for establish- in Ratanakiri Province did occur in the 1960s, but ing “Christian” spaces. For example, Christian because of the Second Indochina War, the Church 7 The Non-Denominational Churches are considered to be “independent” Protestant evangelical Churches that are rel- 5 Here, however, I refer to them as “highlanders,” following atively fundamentalist and strict in their beliefs. This is common discourses in Laos and Cambodia. the main group of Churches that foreign missionaries in 6 I argue that Animist should be capitalized, since it is a Ratanakiri are supporting, and was the first group of Protes- legitimate belief system, just like other world religions (see tant evangelical Churches established amongst the Brao of Baird 2008). Cambodia.
Anthropos 104.2009
https://doi.org/10.5771/0257-9774-2009-2-457 Generiert durch IP '170.106.33.22', am 02.10.2021, 14:14:54. Das Erstellen und Weitergeben von Kopien dieses PDFs ist nicht zulässig. 460 Ian G. Baird crosses and pictures of Jesus become visible inside verts, even if materialism and modernization are houses. Crosses sometimes adorn gates in front of not being explicitly promoted by at least the non- churches, thus establishing the nature of the Chris- denominational Christian missionaries. tian space for all to see. These Christian symbols Apart from material benefits, Tapp (1989) points replace the religious symbols typically seen on the out that some Hmong converts are attracted by the ceilings of Animist Brao houses, or ritual poles in fact that prayers have been translated into native people’s yards that mark where buffalo sacrifices languages, since gaining a written language helps previously occurred. This spatial (re)organization put them at a more equal level with lowlanders of house spaces is important, as identities are fre- socially. This, too, is a factor for highlander con- quently closely associated with house organization versions in Ratanakiri Province, and is one of the (see, for example, Bourdieu 1979). reasons why missionaries working in Ratanakiri are The vast majority of the Brao Christians in emphasizing the translation of parts of the Bible Ratanakiri Province are associated with the Non- into indigenous languages (OMF [Overseas Mis- Denominational Churches and the Foursquare sionary Federation] 2005). I have heard Brao peo- Church. So far Brao Christians have not converted ple tell stories about previously having a language en masse. Instead, Christians have largely emerged before a dog ate the buffalo skin that it was written as individuals, families, or in small groups in var- on. This story indicates that not having a written ious villages over time. While some have returned language is a source of concern or even embar- to being Animists after trying out Christianity, oth- rassment for many Brao, who see the situation as ers have remained faithful to Christianity for many belittling. years. Yet Brao Christians are not in the majority The non-denominational groups do not empha- in any villages in northeastern Cambodia. Many of size financial or material benefits, as they do not the converts are younger people and proselytizing want people to convert for material reasons, or for activities appear to be focused on converting this Churches to become overly dependent on foreign easily influenced group, which is looking for some- support. For them, sustainability is a concern. thing new in the face of the wide divide between There is evidence that highlanders often prefer the lives of their parents and the modern world to not to convert to religions to which dominant eth- which they are increasingly being exposed. Easily nic groups belong. Instead, they frequently adopt impressionable and vulnerable groups – like the religions different from those in power. Salemink desperately poor and sick, many of whom are eager (1997, 2003) and Keyes (1996) have written about for any help they can receive – are another impor- the ways that ethnic boundaries are sometimes tant target group. redrawn by highlanders, who have converted to Christianity, including how they apply religion in order to divide along ethnic and political lines. In Why Are Brao People Converting these cases, losing parts of one’s cultural heritage is to Christianity? apparently accepted in exchange for gaining other advantages. This is an important factor in northeast- Various factors are encouraging some Brao to con- ern Cambodia too. It is not just about highlanders vert to Christianity, even if there has been consider- adopting a “Western” religion; it is about them try- able resistance against Christianity by many Brao. ing to constitute an ethnic boundary, one that sepa- A number of authors have written about Protes- rates them from those who have dominated them. In tant religious conversion in Southeast Asia.8 Nich- this way, conversion can create a certain degree of olas Tapp (1989), for example, found that some discursive autonomy, or “free” or “private” space. ethnic Hmong people in mainland Southeast Asia Salemink (2003) sees conversion as a way for the adopted Christianity in order to gain member- highlanders of Central Highlands of Vietnam to ship in a powerful and prestigious “World Reli- regain a certain agency in the face of not achiev- gion” (following Weber 1922), which many see as ing political autonomy, thus creating new Christian preferable to what has been called “primitive An- spaces rather than agreeing to become assimilated imism.” For them, becoming Christian symbolized into the dominant Kinh community. This rings true modernization (see, also, Keyes 1996), and this is for the Brao in northeastern Cambodia as well. probably an important factor for some Brao con- Writing about Protestant conversion in Thailand and Indonesia, Keyes (1996) believes that many highlanders convert because they feel that localized 8 Platz (2003); Salemink (1997, 2003); Aragon (1996); Zeh- Animist practices do not fit with a modern and ner (1996); Keyes (1996); Hayami (1996); Elkins (1994). globalized world. This is undoubtedly part of the
Anthropos 104.2009
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He sees conversion than they have been exposed to. as an attempt by highlanders to move away from One difference between Protestant evangelical a religion frequently associated by lowlanders with Christianity and Theravada Buddhism is that the “backwardness” and “superstition.” former demands that adherents honor no other spir- Darrow Miller, in his book “Discipling the Na- its or gods, whereas Buddhism is generally more tions” (1998), linked the conversion of people to tolerant and flexible in terms of adherents partici- Christianity with achieving modernization and de- pating in Animist rituals. velopment. His argument can be described as a Protestants are generally concerned about not modern evangelical version of Max Weber’s “The straying from a rather strict rendition of the Gospel, Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism” (1985 and a foreign missionary working in Ratanakiri told [1930]), in which the advanced state of devel- me that one of his main roles is to ensure that new opment of the Western world was compared to Christians follow “the right path,” which seems to other parts of the world, and advances in the West at least partially mean working to try to prevent hy- were attributed to the industriousness and capital- bridization of belief systems or “contextualization,” ist tendencies that were linked with the adoption something that is more common with the Catholics. of the Protestant faith. Miller claims that develop- Protestant missionaries feel that it is important to ment cannot be achieved unless people adopt Chris- have “doctrinally-sound Christian literature” avail- tianity. able for highland groups. Salemink (1997) and Tapp (1989) mention an- In Ratanakiri, one missionary told me that he other important motivating factor in converting believes that converting people to Christianity will highlanders to Christianity, one that is also relevant ultimately lead to the protection of “Brao culture.” among the Brao of Cambodia. People perceive that This might seem surprising to some, considering converting to Christianity can save families signif- that religious conversion is about changing some- icant amounts of resources since animal sacrifices, body’s belief systems, which is certainly funda- which can be quite expensive, are no longer neces- mentally linked with one’s culture. However, mis- sary once one becomes a Christian. This argument sionaries appear to believe that losing some aspects is commonly evoked to convince people to convert of their culture could make it possible for them to Christianity in northeastern Cambodia, and an to protect other aspects, even if what remains is a ethnic Tampuan friend in Ratanakiri told me that “culture” that no longer has its core non-Christian this is the main reason she converted to Christian- beliefs associated with it.11 ity. However, amongst the Brao I have heard count- er discourses. Some argue that highlanders have no money to buy medicines, but that they do not need Christianity and Messianic Movements cash to sacrifice their own chicken, pig, or buffalo, thus making Animist rituals more appropriate for In June 2004, a movement briefly arose amongst “poor” people. They sometimes mention that peo- the Brao of Ratanakiri Province that indicates that ple spend millions of riel at the doctor but are still links between messianic movements and Christian- not cured, whereas sacrificing a single chicken can ity sometimes exist. The “Jarai king” movement,12 sometimes do the trick.9 Since sacred spaces are as it came to be known, was apparently most ac- often linked with illnesses by the Brao, health is an important issue for which struggles based on 10 The Christians in Ratanakiri do not strictly prohibit alcohol, religion are common. although they do strongly recommend against consuming it. Roman Catholics tend to be more tolerant to Christians are allowed to drink jar beer if the jar has not been “traditional practices,” such as smoking tobacco anointed as part of an Animist ritual. Alcohol and meat that and drinking alcohol, compared to Protestant forms has been part of a ritual is not supposed to be consumed. of Christianity (Tapp 1989). This is certainly the The idea is that the Christian “God” is the only one who deserves the respect of the people, and so meat that comes case in northeastern Cambodia. For the Brao, not from sacrifices honouring others should not take place. being able to smoke or drink alcohol, as recom- 11 When Protestant evangelical Christianity first came to mended by the Protestant evangelical Christians, Ratanakiri Province, Brao converts associated playing mu- are probably the main reasons why converts revert sical gongs as being related to Animism, and thus aban- doned gong playing. However, in 2004 Brao Kreung Non- Denominational Christians in Ratanakiri began playing 9 In fact, most minorities are willing to use modern medicines gongs again, adapting the music to their new Christian faith. as well as follow traditional practices to cure illnesses. 12 It is also considered by some to be a “pan-Jarai” movement.
Anthropos 104.2009
https://doi.org/10.5771/0257-9774-2009-2-457 Generiert durch IP '170.106.33.22', am 02.10.2021, 14:14:54. Das Erstellen und Weitergeben von Kopien dieses PDFs ist nicht zulässig. 462 Ian G. Baird tive in Taveng Leu and Taveng Kroam Communes others are consciously designating “non-Christian in Taveng District; Cha Ung and O Chum Com- spaces.” There are discourses associated with dif- munes in O Chum District; and Labang Commune ferent sides of the debate. in Lom Phat District, all of which are dominated I have frequently heard the Brao criticize Chris- by the Brao. The movement had something to do tians for “burying their dead like dogs” because with the rising-up of a Jarai king who would lead they allegedly do not cry when their dead die. That the highlanders to an autonomous future, but not is, it is said, that Christians are told to not cry necessarily secession from Cambodia. Brao Chris- when someone dies, since dead Christians go to tians in the district center of Taveng and in Dun heaven. Although missionaries in Ratanakiri insist Village, Taveng District, initially became involved that crying at funerals is not discouraged, this story via a Brao Christian who could speak Jarai and had is frequently evoked by Animist Brao. Similarly, been assisting Jarai refugees13 fleeing persecution Khmer Buddhists have become upset about stories in Vietnam. The movement continued until August of full-body baptisms where Buddhist images are 2004, when it was snuffed-out by the government, buried at the edge of the stream. Once the person which threatened to use force to stop it if other baptized emerges from the water, he or she is said to means were not successful. The people succumbed. be encouraged to stomp on top of the spot where the Amongst the Brao and Kreung in Ratanakiri, ap- Buddhist images are buried, to symbolize their con- parently 500–1,000 people joined at its peak. The version from Buddhism to Protestant Christianity. organization of the movement involved taking pho- Foreign missionaries in Ratanakiri claim that there tos of highlanders, much like one would if joining is no truth to the story.14 Exaggerating situations, a political party in Cambodia. or even fabricating them, are ways that non-Chris- The original Cambodian highlander proponents tians are resisting Christian proselytizing efforts of the story that a Jarai king would come to free and the expansion of the Church. These discourses them from oppression fled to the forests when the appear to be variants of what James Scott writes government cracked down, but returned three or about in “Weapons of the Weak” (1985). People four months later, after an amnesty agreement was are not happy with what is happening, but feel rel- arranged. atively powerless to do much about it. Therefore, making Christianity look bad is a way in which they can safely defend their belief systems, and regain Christian Conversion and Conflict some agency. The Protestant evangelical Christian agenda for Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? changing the belief systems of the Brao and others, No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on, five in even when not misrepresented, has been described one household will be divided, three against two and two by some as “aggressive.” A Protestant evangelical against three; they will be divided: father against son and Christian group posted the following provocative son against father, mother against daughter and daugh- statement on their website: ter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter- in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law (The The Brao are a war-torn people who need emotional Holy Bible, 1995, Luke 12:51–53). healing and spiritual hope. There are presently three Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing missions agencies working among them; however, few them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the of the Brao have accepted Christ. Additional laborers, Holy Spirit (The Holy Bible, 1995, Mathew 28:19). evangelistic tools, and increased prayer efforts are needed to effectively reach them with the Good News (Bethany Whether missionaries are inclined to admit it or not, they World Prayer Center 1999). are professional agents of culture change, for there is no other way of establishing, consolidating, and perpet- In one case in Taveng District, Ratanakiri Province, uating the Church in a society than through its culture. an old Brao man told me that his son was dead. Since missionaries are by their vocation uncompromis- ing agents of culture change, the study of missionary I asked how he died. The man responded that his techniques cannot be divorced from the study of culture son was not actually physically dead, but that he (Luzbetak 1963: 6). might as well be, as he had become a Christian and was no longer willing to participate in family or vil- Brao responses to Christianity have varied and are lage Animist rituals. When a sacrifice is prepared, dynamic. Some are creating “Christian spaces,” 14 However, these types of actions have previously been 13 These Christians in Vietnam were apparently associated with recorded elsewhere in the world (Lewis 1988; Hvalkof and the“Dega”movementthere. Aaby 1981).
Anthropos 104.2009
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Many young people are converted ing, especially when juxtaposed with development when they go to study in the district center, and as a activities, but it does not, in my view, justify at- result some Brao do not want to send their children tempting to convert people to a different religion, there to study. although it does stand as a strong critique against Even those sympathetic to Christianity in Rata- certain types of development. nakiri acknowledge that social upheaval is some- It is noteworthy that missionary discourses are times associated with conversion to Protestant generally not encouraging Animists to abandon evangelical forms of Christianity. One foreign staff their beliefs, as those who believe in spirits are of the Christian NGO International Cooperation generally more open to Christian proselytizing than in Cambodia (ICC)15 highly recommended, in an those who have abandoned Animist beliefs. Illus- interview he did in Ratanakiri, that missionaries trative of this, one missionary told me that he ad- should come for the long-term to do mission work vised people not to give up their Animism in favor because some short-term work had caused “quite a of becoming a secular highlander. Essentially, if lot of division and damage to local villages” (OMF one believes in devils, it is easier to convince them 2005). to believe in a “God.” Christian missionaries in Ratanakiri claim that An American Christian missionary told me that their main role is to support already converted he did not want conversion to Christianity to cause Christians, rather than to convert new ones. They conflict, but he acknowledged that in the Bible Je- say that the highlanders of the province are the sus said, “Do not think that I have come to bring main messengers of the Gospel to new converts. peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, With highlander-to-highlander transmission preva- but a sword.” 16 For him, some suffering is appar- lent, some missionaries even feel frustrated with ently justified to achieve what he believes to be a their personal inability to convert large numbers of better future. I asked another missionary about the people. sometimes divisive nature of Christian conversion. One American missionary with the Overseas She quoted the Bible, which says, “Come out from Mission ary Federation, who is involved with “in- among them and be separate.” digenous village churches” and “house church planting,” told me that efforts to convert the Brao to Christianity are very much like development Religious Conversion and Spatial Change work. He suggested that there is very little differ- ence between him attempting to convert someone In northeastern Cambodia, changing sacred space is to Christianity and a development worker trying to an important part of converting the Brao to Chris- change the attitudes of indigenous people towards, tianity. This is not a new idea. The father of struc- for example, gender issues. Indeed, he is funda- tural anthropology, Claude Lévi-Strauss showed mentally correct. While some development people long ago how Christian missionaries in Latin Amer- work in participatory ways to promote ideas that ica consciously provoked changes in village terri- at least partially originate with villagers, both mis- torial organization as part of their strategy to open sionaries and “fundamentalist” development work- communities up to evangelization and moderniza- ers push particular agendas based on the assump- tion processes (cited by Bourdier 2006). Gordillo tion that certain types of social change are desir- (2004) has similarly, but more recently, shown this able, regardless of what locals think. Just as the to have been the case in the Chaco region of Ar- development worker is sincere about bettering the gentina. Bourdier (2006) suspected that missionar- lot of women by changing gender relations, the ies were adopting a similar strategy in Ratanakiri Christian missionary is convinced that converting in the mid-1990s, and he claimed that the adoption people to Christianity is for the best. Of course, of Christianity by some Kreung Brao was leading both are assumptive, as developers and mission- 16 TheHolyBible(1995: Mathew 10:34). To be clear, the 15 ICC includes World Concern as one of its members. World missionary was being metaphorical, and was in no sense Concern no longer operates independently in Cambodia. advocating violence.
Anthropos 104.2009
https://doi.org/10.5771/0257-9774-2009-2-457 Generiert durch IP '170.106.33.22', am 02.10.2021, 14:14:54. Das Erstellen und Weitergeben von Kopien dieses PDFs ist nicht zulässig. 464 Ian G. Baird to the loss of social systems that protect nature. In the Animists have located their houses on the other. other words, the sacred spaces in nature that were The social control of religious space appears to once sacred to Animists are now profane to Chris- be an important factor in this (re)organization of tians. Religious conversion is also bound to affect house/village space. peoples’ value systems, which are inevitably inter- Sacred space can become contested when some twined with peoples’ relationships and the natural convert to Christianity. The Brao Kreung village of world. Kroala in O Chum District, Ratanakiri Province, is The sacred places of the Animist Brao are often a good example. The Brao historically organized found in nature. For example, the Haling-Halang their villages with houses located in concentric cir- Mountains along the Laos-Cambodia border are sa- cles (Baird 2008; Matras-Troubetzkoy 1983), and cred to the Brao Kavet, and it is taboo (da-ah in while many Brao now live in “long” or linear vil- Brao) to cut trees or hunt on the mountain. They lages, Kroala has retained its circular shape. Their must perform an Animist ritual to be able to take a communal house is located in the center, the pow- small number of pieces of thin bamboo for making erful epicenter of the village. The people from into straws for drinking jar beer. For Christians the Kroala frequently sacrifice domestic animals: buf- sacred landscapes change, with old sacred places, faloes, cows, pigs, and chickens. When communal like the Haling-Halang Mountains, losing signifi- village sacrifices occur, it is socially important for cance to varying degrees. New sacred places be- all families in the village to participate, and the come prominent, but for the Christians in north- symbolism of everyone in the housing circle being eastern Cambodia these places have apparently so involved is culturally significant. Therefore, it was far not included forests. Christianity generally puts upsetting for many in the community when a small less emphasis on “sacred nature” compared to An- number of families decided to become Christians, imism, although there are exceptions. Newly con- as the converts no longer wanted to participate in verted Kavet Christians in Kok Lak Commune, village sacrifices, which they have been taught are Veun Say District, claimed that their new faith fundamentally opposed to their new beliefs. would be advantageous in protecting nature, but The type of Christianity being preached in Ra- Animist Kavet from Kok Lak told me that they tanakiri is indeed a strict and fundamentalist vari- have now lost faith in the claims of those Chris- ety,19 which increases the potential for conflict due tians, as some have recently been caught engaging to it being relatively less flexible than other vari- in damaging practices, such as electricity fishing. eties of Christianity. That is why those who become In Taveng District, the head of the house church Christians are taught that it would be disrespectful became involved in legal logging, and generally in to their God if they participated in village Animist Ratanakiri, both non-Christians and Christians are ceremonies, be it at the family or village levels. involved in land selling. Consuming rice jar beer that has been anointed In Laos some highlanders that were converted as part of a sacrifice ritual is similarly off lim- to Catholicism during the French colonial period its, as is meat from sacrifices. There is very little organize their villages in circular patterns like the social space for valuing other religions, as is the Brao. However, Animist communal houses are not case for most Buddhists20 or even Catholics.21 As a located in the centers of the circles. Instead, the result, social conflicts frequently arise, especially Christian church is located in the center of the vil- when younger people convert and then refuse to lage, thus taking over the ritually sacred and pow- erful space at the center of the village.17 This is a good example of Catholics superimposing Chris- 19 For example, writing about similar groups in Vietnam, Sale- mink (1997: 523) described them as “an interdominational tian sacred spaces on Animist spaces, and is com- evangelical society that adheres to a Christian fundamental- mon worldwide. ist doctrine.” Spatial division is frequently associated with re- 20 It should be noted, however, that the Khmerization process in ligious change. In the Brao Kreung village, Dun,18 Ratanakiri has also included support for the “state religion,” in Taveng District, for example, a large number Buddhism. Ruohomaki (2003: 88) has pointed out that Bud- dhism has expanded in the northeast in recent years as well, of families have converted to Christianity (Non- and he mentions that, “missionary monks have been active Denomination Church), and the Christians have in propagating Buddhism in Ratanakiri.” tended to gravitate to one side of the village, while 21 For example, Catholic priests do not object to Catholics entering Buddhist temples or places of worship for other religions, or even showing respect for other religions. How- 17 See, for example, “Km 15 Village” in Bachieng Chaleun- ever, this is not permitted by Protestant evangelical Christian souk District, Champasak Province. groups, who advocate much more separation between those 18 The Khmer call this village “Tun.” following their religion and “religious others.”
Anthropos 104.2009
https://doi.org/10.5771/0257-9774-2009-2-457 Generiert durch IP '170.106.33.22', am 02.10.2021, 14:14:54. Das Erstellen und Weitergeben von Kopien dieses PDFs ist nicht zulässig. Identities and Space 465 participate in important rituals that their parents and (da-ah, kun-trung, gumbrung, grung,andhuntre, grandparents organize. see Baird 2008), each of which has important spa- The refusal of the new Christian converts to par- tial dimensions. For example, in the past most im- ticipate in village sacrifices was seen as problem- portant sacrifices were associated with village or atic for the Animists of Kroala. Therefore, many house level restrictions in movement (called kun- Animists felt that it was necessary for the Christians trung in Brao), including not allowing people to en- to spatially reorganize. In the past, when impor- ter and leave particular spaces for one or more days. tant community conflicts occurred, villages would There are da-ah taboos that keep people from do- sometimes split, and at one point it was proposed ing particular things. There are also huntre taboos that the Christians in Kroala move away from the that restrict certain types of movements, such as village, since they could no longer participate in huntre dung ja which prevents people from hunt- the most important village social activities. How- ing on land and fishing in the water during the ever, a spatial compromise was negotiated, in which same trips, or huntre maw aw, which keeps relatives the Christians agreed to move themselves from the from borrowing household items from each other houses that make up the concentric circle of the vil- on a regular basis (Baird 2008). Those who convert lage, and position themselves in new dwellings just to Christianity generally no longer respect these outside of the village circle. Therefore, they are still taboos, thus leading to changes in the way people’s officially part of the village, but the Animist fami- lives are spatially organized.23 lies that make up the inner circle are able to par- ticipate in village sacrifices without feeling that the Christians who are not involved are violating their Creating Separate Christian Spaces: sacred “social space,” which to them is linked to “Orphanages” village solidarity and their sense of “community.” In other words, the Animists have taken control of The Foursquare Church’s activities are the most the center of their village. controversial of the Christian groups operating in Exclusion from village space is another Animist Ratanakiri. Since arriving in the province in 2002, strategy against Christian proselytizing, whether by the Church has set up a number of what they call missionaries or others. For example, since I am “orphanages” in Brao communities, including in Caucasian, I have often been erroneously identified Kalai Commune, O Chum District, Phnom Kok and as a Christian missionary. In one case, a group of Kok Lak Communes in Veun Say District, and at Brao men who had been drinking rice beer prior the edge of Ban Lung District near the border with to my arrival, and were a bit tipsy, frankly told me O Chum. Even some Protestant evangelical Chris- when I first arrived at their village, that if I was a tian missionaries in Ratanakiri have criticized this missionary, I was not welcome and should leave. organization for converting highlanders into “rice In the mid-1990s the Christian NGO, World Christians,” even though there are few differenc- Concern,22 was working on a literacy program in es from the religious doctrines of these groups.24 some Brao villages in Taveng District, but they While no foreigners work full-time for the Four- were asked by the elders of three villages to stop square Church in Ratanakiri, groups of Americans working there after a Brao World Concern staff, frequently make short trips to Ratanakiri to visit the who had recently been converted to Christianity, churches. According to their website, tried to use non-formal education activities as a means to proselytize in the villages. The Senior With the orphan population growing in epidemic pro- staff at World Concern claim that the acts of this portions, there is an enormous, immediate need for or- highlander staff member were not approved, and phan care around the world. We offer a fresh, dynamic approach to confront the problem, through establish- that the individual was fired for transgressing the organization’s rules. The point here is that keeping their village space uncontaminated from Christian 23 However, it would be inaccurate to claim that Christianity influences was clearly important. is the sole cause of decreasing adherence to taboos. There are certainly other factors as well, the most important being Religious conversion affects the spatial organi- modernization and Khmerization efforts unrelated to Chris- zation of the Brao in relation to their observance tianity. Zweers et al. (2002), for example, reported that high- of taboos, many with important spatial dimensions. landers in Ratanakiri are decreasing their respect for tradi- The Brao recognize five different types of taboos tional ritual and other activities. 24 In February 2008, Foursquare formally left the Evangelical Fellowship of Cambodia, a national umbrella organization 22 They are now a part of a consortium of NGOs together called whose members are not supposed to use material means to International Cooperation in Cambodia (ICC). lure people into become Christians.
Anthropos 104.2009
https://doi.org/10.5771/0257-9774-2009-2-457 Generiert durch IP '170.106.33.22', am 02.10.2021, 14:14:54. Das Erstellen und Weitergeben von Kopien dieses PDFs ist nicht zulässig. 466 Ian G. Baird ing and supporting church-based orphan Homes. Each discursively constructed as orphans to gain exter- Church Home has a family atmosphere based on love and nal support. Socialization with their parents and compassion that is touched by the word of God. Every siblings has been severely disrupted, and family home shares a building with the local Foursquare church organization has drastically changed. While these (Foursquare Church 2005a). orphanages are supposed to provide a “family” en- vironment, it is clear that these are “Christian fam- The orphanages in Brao areas are, however, not ily spaces,” not actual family spaces. On Sunday, really “orphanages” but rather “Christian places” for example, work of any kind is prohibited. The where families can give their children over to be children still work in swidden fields on other days, raised by the Church. At Kok Lak there were 12 but the orphanages rather than families cultivate Brao Kavet children living full-time at the Four- them. This is a fundamental change, both socially square orphanage in early 2007, but in reality none and spatially. of them are actually orphans.25 The implications The American leader of the group in Cambodia, of these orphanages will not be fully understood Ted Olbrich, has indicated the particular Christian for a long time. However, they may end up be- spatial divide from the rest of the community that ing the equivalent to the Residential Schools for has developed, native peoples in Canada, which were Protestant Christian-based, and continued to operate until the Rene and Kristi [two American Christians who visited 1970s. While the orphanages in Ratanakiri are fun- the orphanage at Kok Lak with him] attracted a lot of damentally different, in that people volunteer their attention so, a small crowd of fifteen or twenty villagers followed them to the church, but stopped at the edge children to live there, they may well lead to simi- of the church property, more than 100 meters from the lar important identity problems later. For the very building, not being believers in the “New God” (Four- young children that have mainly ended up there square Church 2005b). (often children from poor families), there is lit- tle awareness about what they have been “volun- Olbrich also claimed that Kavet villagers saw a teered” for. Many are not Christians when they ar- “whirlwind of fire over the church building” (Four- rive at the orphanages. square Church 2005b) when people were praying There are concerns about the ethics of some of in the church, either in Brao language or in the the Foursquare’s activities. For example, the Kavet “Spirit (tongues)” that they believe in (they are chief of Kok Lak Commune told me that he was “Charismatics” 26). The implications are that this promised a new motorcycle by Foursquare if he could only happen to a “Christian space.” Although agreed to allow an orphanage to be established. Foursquare’s website claims that local non-Chris- However, once he had signed off on the idea, the tian people were amazed by the fire, none of the motorcycle was not provided. non-Christian Kavet that I asked about it had ever The local Brao people who are being paid heard of the alleged event. salaries to look after the orphanages are strictly regulating the children’s actions. Although these places are in villages, the social spaces that they oc- Conclusions cupy are different than other non-Christian spaces in the villages. As Foursquare’s website (Four- In this article I have tried to present a contextual- square Church 2005a) puts it, “A healthy, flour- ized account of the recent phenomenon of Protes- ishing environment filled with love and songs of tant evangelical Christian proselytizing and conver- worship is found at each Church Home.” These sion amongst the ethnic Brao people in northeastern spaces are clearly meant to be “Christian spaces” in Cambodia, hoping to make some sense out of the villages that are mainly Animist. The children are, geographies of religious change that are beginning for example, discouraged from watching videos in to transform the spiritual landscapes of the Brao non-Christian parts of the village. They are not al- in northeastern Cambodia. I have tried to show lowed to return home to visit their parents, unless how religious change has important spatial implica- one of their minders from the orphanage comes tions, and how spatial change affects the ways peo- with them. Visits are invariably short. In that many ple socially organize, including designating “sacred of the children are only five or six years old and spaces.” actually have families, it is as if they have been 26 Charismatics believe that the Holy Spirit (the Holy Ghost) enters a disciple’s body and causes that person to “speak 25 There is no mention of this fact on the Foursquare Church’s in tongues,” which sometimes involves speaking in different website. languages that the speaker does not know.
Anthropos 104.2009
https://doi.org/10.5771/0257-9774-2009-2-457 Generiert durch IP '170.106.33.22', am 02.10.2021, 14:14:54. Das Erstellen und Weitergeben von Kopien dieses PDFs ist nicht zulässig. Identities and Space 467
Sacred space is contested space, and place mak- also benefited from comments provided when it was ing is often closely linked to “making sacred.” presented at the Southeast Asian Geography Association Whether one sees particular changes as positive or (SEAGA) 2008 International Conference, Quezon City, negative – or potentially a bit of both – it is crucial Philippines, 3–6 June 2008. to recognize that the present circumstances are re- sulting in considerable social and spatial upheaval and stress amongst the highlanders, sometimes to References Cited the extent of breaking families and communities Aragon, Lorraine V. apart. In particular, it can be argued that what is 1996 Reorganizing the Cosmology. The Reinterpretation of happening in Ratanakiri is extremely ill-timed, con- Deities and Religious Practice by Protestants in Central sidering the tremendous economic, cultural, and Sulawesi, Indonesia. Journal of Southeast Asian Studies environmental pressures that the highlanders of 27: 350–373. northeastern Cambodia are already facing. One of Baird, Ian G. the big concerns about the rifts caused by Christian 2008 Various Forms of Colonialism. The Social and Spatial conversion is that they will fundamentally weaken Reorganisation of the Brao in Southern Laos and North- eastern Cambodia. Vancouver. [Ph. D. dissertation, The communities and make them more vulnerable to University of British Columbia, Department of Geogra- losing their land. Land alienation is already a se- phy] rious problem in Ratanakiri (Baird 2008; NGO Baird, Ian G., and Bruce P. Shoemaker Forum on Cambodia 2006), and community con- 2007 Unsettling Experiences. Internal Resettlement and Inter- flicts are unlikely to help the people defend their national Aid Agencies in the Laos. Development and lands and resources. It seems like yet another major Change 38: 865–888. change that these people must deal with. Mission- Bethany World Prayer Center aries, however, argue that what they are offering is 1999 Brao of Laos.
Anthropos 104.2009
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Grapard, Allan G. NGO Forum on Cambodia 1998 Geotyping Sacred Space. The Case of Mount Hiko in 2006 Land Alienation in Indigenous Minority Communities Japan. In: B. Z. Kedar and R. J. Zwi Werblowsky (eds.), – Ratanakiri Province, Cambodia. Phnom Penh: NGO Sacred Space. Shrine, City, Land; pp. 215–249. New Forum on Cambodia. York: New York University Press. OMF (Overseas Missionary Federation) Gregory, Derek 2005 Tribal Work in Ratanakiri.
Anthropos 104.2009
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