As we all know, China is a multi-ethnic family, and there are now 56 ethnic groups that have been identified, but there are still some ethnic groups listed as unrecognized ethnic groups, and there are now about 60 unidentified ethnic groups in China, most of which are concentrated in Tibet and the southwestern Yunnan-Guizhou region. Today I will talk to you about an unrecognized ethnic group located in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, and this tribe is called "Bird People" because the men here live in trees.
This mysterious tribe is the Kemu people, located in the border area of Xishuangbanna and northern Laos, with a population of about 2,000 people, and they are still engaged in slash-and-burn farming. There's a lot of things here that you didn't expect. Today I will introduce you to a few things that you would never expect.
First, the men of the Kemu tribe live in trees, so they are called "bird people" by the locals.
Second, their tradition is that older women paint their teeth black and their ears pierced with large holes.
Third, the Kemu people have two or three castes, the first type is to use the name of the beast to take the surname, such as tiger, lion, bear, fox, etc.; the second type is to take the name of the bird, such as swallow, thrush, phoenix, etc.; the third type is to take the name of the grass and tree. When worshipping ancestors, they painted or wrote totems on their bodies and faces.
Fourth, Kemu people with the same surname are considered to be of the same blood and cannot intermarry, and violators are considered incest and punished.