Nomad woman milking in front of yak hair tent, Kangang Valley, Kham, Tibet 2006.<br />
This may be the last generation of the pastoral Tibetan nomads as we know them. Like the American Indians before them the modern day Tibetan nomads are being forced to give up their traditional lifestyle without time to adjust to this abrupt change. They must abandon the only life they know, leaving their portable yak hair tents and move into concrete rooms in the cities where they have no job skills for survival.<br />
The wealth of the nomads is measured through their livestock, yet the Chinese are discouraging the Tibetan’s centuries-old livelihood of herding yak and sheep, building ubiquitous fences along the hillsides so that the animals can no longer roam free. The government claims that these animals are destroying the grasses, when in fact for generations it’s these grazing animals that have protected the land-land that no longer belongs to the Tibetan people. And without the nomads the Tibetan culture shall continue to vanish.

Face to Face: Portraits of the Human Spirit

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Nomad woman milking in front of yak hair tent, Kangang Valley, Kham, Tibet 2006.
This may be the last generation of the pastoral Tibetan nomads as we know them. Like the American Indians before them the modern day Tibetan nomads are being forced to give up their traditional lifestyle without time to adjust to this abrupt change. They must abandon the only life they know, leaving their portable yak hair tents and move into concrete rooms in the cities where they have no job skills for...
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  • Date: 20 Sep 2006
  • Location: Kangnang valley Kham Tibet
  • Filename: 055.tif
  • Image size: 5120x3401 pixels