The purpose of this paper is to present an ethnographic study of a particular culture, including a discussion of how the research was undertaken and by whom, and a description of the environment and ecology of the region as well as a review of the group's social behavior and values. Further, an analysis of the-culture's family/marriage and reproductive behavior will be put forth and then compared with the Yanomamo tribe of the Amazon.
For this study, the people of the "Golden Triangle" have been selected, specifically the Hmong culture. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Paul and Elaine Lewis undertook a study of the six tribes that live in the hill country of northern Thailand which borders on Loas and Burma. While the fertile valleys within this region have been populated for some eight centuries by the Lanna or Yuan people, also know as the "Northern Thai," "the mountain slopes are occupied by a variety of tribal people who have converged on this area from the north, northeast, west and northwest, and now eke out a precarious livelihood there" (Lewis, 1984, p. 9). These tribes include the Karen (Kariang, Yang), Hmong (Meo), Mien (Yao), Lahu (Mussur), Akha (Kaw), and LiSu (Lisaw) and have a total population of over 400,000 (pps. 9-10).
The Lewises used three methods to present the groups within their book entitled Peoples of the Golden Triangle (1984): field photographs from the villages; studio photographs of the Mayer-Lipton Hilltribe Collection; and a written description of the people and their culture based on the couple's observations, on consultation with experts on each tribe and from researching other anthropological studies (Lewis 1984 p. 7).
While these tribes have had contact with the outside world and some many have even assimilated into modern society, those remaining behind in the villages have been isolated from the rest of the country because of the difficulty in reaching and traveling through th...