Life style : Occupation

           The main occupation of the Mien people is working in a drift plantation. Now there are more silver makers because the Mien people favor accessories made from silver. In the Mien village, there is a traditional accessories maker and is favored by the Mien people also. Despite the social changes, the Mien people can adapt themselves and have more occupations such as agriculture. Mien people plant the vegetables for their own consumption and not for sale. The Mien people will store the excess food for the dry season. They do not sell the crops that are grown in the first year of their plantation.

Plantation. The plantation is the main occupation for the Mien people. In one year the Mien people will plant much more than they can for storage for the future. Every year the Mien people will change the kind of vegetables they plant. For example this year they plant pumpkins, the next year they will plant other kind of plants because they believe that if they plant the same thing every year the soil not be rich in the nutrients. In a couple of years, the Mien people will change the area for planting and move to a new area. When they plant rice, they will plant onion and parsley also in the same area. They often choose a place for planting in valleys between the mountains because it is closer to the river and is a low-lying land.

Agriculture process. When the Mien people found a place for planting, the first step that they will do is mow the grasses until all of the grasses dry up, and the villagers will then burn them. In the rainy season, Mien people start planting vegetables. When the vegetables have grown for a while, the villager will start to mow the grasses again, until the time of harvest

The obstacles of Farming.             In the past, transportation is not convenient, and posed a big problem for the Mien people when they need to travel. The Mien people solved the problem by using animals as a mode of transportation, but the problem is not fully solved as the animals cannot carry a lot of things on them. Usually, the Mien people have their farms situated far away from their village. However, their farms are often destroyed by wild animals as they cannot take good care of their paddy fields from their village. Thus, Mien people solved this problem by building a hut in the farm.

Rearing of animals. The Mien people rear animals in their farms, and the type of animals they keep vary, depending on the preference of the family. Usually they rear pigs, chickens, horses and dogs. The most commonly reared animals are pigs and chickens because they are a food source for the people and are often used as offerings in rituals. The people keep horses because in the past, Mien preferred to use horses for transportation. As for the dogs, they can watch over the house and accompany their owner when they go for hunting in the forest. In the past, they just left the animals to roam around the village and would feed them twice a day, in the morning and evening. Now, the Mien people build fences for the pigs and chickens to protect them from wild animals.

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