Approach the Modern Civilization

A little Mamba girl

　　The Slash-and-burn cultivation of Mamba people is similar with that of the Lhoba people. After the land is reclaimed, good lands could be used for 4 to 5 years; generally, after 2-3 years of cultivation, the land would become wasteland again. So each year they will have to reclaim some other lands. They turned all the green lives into debris, which is quite destructive to the local biology, where it looks flourishing but actually quite easily damaged. In order to protect the environment, after the democratic reform of 1959, governments of all levels led the inhabitants to combine production with environment protection. Nowadays, this policy has come into some effect.

Mamba people are helping us in carrying

　　Besides cultivation, Mamba people also go hunting or have gathering activities. Medog has dense vegetations as well as enriched animal resources; many of them are rare species in China and in the world. The main preys of Mamba people include small deer, wild pigs, black bears, tigers, panthers and pheasants etc. Their main hunting tools are poisonous arrows, bamboo spears, pitfalls and traps etc.; after they catch a big wild beast, such as a wild buffalo or a bear, they would set on fire in the mountains. When the villagers see the fire, they will enter the mountain and take the animal back. The main hunter can have two shares; people who go hunting with him can get one share; each family of the village can also get a share. The information of market economy is continuously lashing the self-sufficient society of the Mamba people. Particularly in recent years, tourists are increasing year by year; the Mamba people are still struggling in-between their tradition and things outside. Because their traditional life style is the guarantee for their daily life; while accepting the sense of commodities is also providing a best chance for Mamba people to get rid of their old living modes. 

The bee-keeping box of Mamba people

　　Handcraft is very advanced with the Mamba people. They can weave bamboo wares, woodenwares, stone tools and metal wares etc. These crafts are all living utensils or necessary ornaments, which have strong local features. In the wooden buildings of the Mamba people, we can see a variety of tools. Mamba women can all weave. They weave the cottons and liens into cloth. They make their own looms. Accompanying the sounds of the loom, they weave ceaselessly and they can weave a set of clothes within a few days. Though these clothes are not so good as those bought on the market, but they are full of family harmony. They are the prides of Mamba women. To them, weaving is the symbol of their talents. Nowadays, we can only see these traditional clothes in some isolated place. Every Mamba woman has her own texture. The casual patterns and the special quality of such textures are just the extension of traditional Mamba culture.