The Study of Local Identities of Ban Chiang Yuen Catholic Community, Wern Phrabat Sub-district, Tha Uthen District, Nakhon Phanom Province

Abstract

            The purposes of this research were 1) to study the local history of Ban Chiang Yuen Catholic Community, 2) to study the local identity of Ban Chiang Yuen Catholic community in 3 aspects: beliefs, lifestyle and cultural traditions from documentary data and field data collected through interviews, observation and focus group discussion.

            The results of the study found that Chiang Yuen village was an important Christian community in the Catholic evangelization in Nakhon Phanom province. In the past, people in the village were “Suay” people who migrated from Lamnao province of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, with the French priest “Artino” leading the migration by sailing along Mekong River in search of a new abundant habitat.

            Regarding the local identity of the community: 1) for the aspect of beliefs, villagers of Ban Chiang Yuen believed in the Trinity – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit as "one God in three Divine persons" - and that Jesus Christ was the Son of God who was born as a human being and a Savior. This belief would not be changed. 2) For the aspect of lifestyle, villagers of Ban Chiang Yuen had adopted the 7 Sacred

            Sacraments and applied them to life, coexistence in society and culture. 3) For the aspect of cultural traditions, doctrines and practices in the Christian life were very closely related to the traditions of Ban Chiang Yuen Christians. Especially, the important traditions were extensively observed in the community, such as the Christmas star tradition and church festivities, which were Christian traditions that showed stability in religious beliefs, unity, and common awareness of community citizenship.

            However, this research should still study other aspects of the identity and other factors that caused the adjustment of villagers and communities in the globalization era as well as promoting villagers in the community to have more knowledge and understanding about religion to be more stable and able to live with various virtues appropriately according to the living conditions of each individual or community.