Ola Hanson and the Kachin Baptist Mission in Burma

Abstract In the name of decolonizing and rebuilding the state of modern Burma, successive Burman-dominated regimes have adopted a xenophobic policy of homogenizing the country since independence, threatening the existence of ethnic minorities. When the ethnic Kachin, evangelized by American Baptist missionaries, accepted Christianity, their new religion played a pivotal role in fostering their ethnic, cultural, and social distinction and distance. This article meticulously explores how Ola Hanson, a Swedish American Baptist missionary to the Kachin, revitalized and fortified a distinct Kachin ethnic identity by inventing a written script and translating the Bible into the Kachin language.