Charles Shontz collection
odd: label: Local Number
content: HSFA 1990.22.1
name: label: Creator
content: Shontz, Charles, 1926-2019
place: label: Place
content: Southeast Asia
label: Place
content: Burma
topic: label: Topic
content: Agriculture
label: Topic
content: Dance
label: Topic
content: Festivals
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Received from Charles Shontz in 1990, 2008 and 2009.
creator: label: Creator
content: Shontz, Charles, 1926-2019
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 2 Film reels (47 minutes, black-and-white silent; 1700 feet)
label: Extent
content: 2 DVD
label: Extent
content: Slides
label: Extent
content: Linear feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1955-2009
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: Previously titled "Charles Shontz Footage of Burma 1955-1956."
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Human Studies Film Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: HSFA.1990.22
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Film reels
label: Type
content: Dvd
label: Type
content: Slides
label: Type
content: Silent films
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Titles are supplied by the archivist for untitled films.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: silent films
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Footage shot during Shontz' year as a Fulbright teacher in the Union of Burma. Documented are aspects of daily and ceremonial life primarily in the locations of Taunggyi, Yaung-whe (on Inle Lake), Namkhan, Kentung, and Rangoon. Scenes of ethnographic interest include: the annual Buddhist Festival of Lights in Taunggyi; a pwe festival sponsored by a Lisu chief at Kentung near the Laos border which includes shots of Ekaw, Lisu, and Palaung (Ta-ang) peoples; masked dance by Black Karens in Taunggyi; Intha "leg rowers" on Inle Lake towing a float with Buddah images; a festival of the northern Shans in Namkan; and Hindu fire walkers and Siamese dancers in Rangoon. Arch Nicholson was director.

Collection also includes 35mm color photographic slides, 2008 DVD of slides with Dr. Shontz' annotation, 2006 DVD of film with Dr. Shontz' annotation (video has earlier annotation by Dr. Shontz), correspondence and other paper records associated with the film and photographs.

Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or Anthropology Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.