Understanding Karai Kasang and Nats

This article examines Karai Kasang, the Kachin Supreme Being, and the nats, the spirit beings of Kachin traditional religion in Myanmar, as a foundation for dialogue between Christianity and Kachin indigenous spirituality. Drawing on ethnographic sources, oral tradition, and missionary histories, the author traces the historical "Kachinization" of Christianity, including contested inculturation efforts such as the Manau dance and Kabung funeral dance. Building on Vatican II and FABC teaching on the universal presence of the Holy Spirit, the essay proposes a Kachin pneumatology that reinterprets benevolent nats as intermediaries participating in God's sustaining activity, while acknowledging the ongoing difficulty of discerning good and evil spirits, and concludes by urging respectful, collaborative inculturation rather than domination or rejection of Kachin traditional religion.