Herdswoman Tamdrin’s Life
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The Village of Namseling lies in a valley of South Tibet. There the industrial structure mainly centers on traditional animal husbandry. Namseling has a meadow about of 800 hectare. By day， most villagers drive their fl ocks and herds to graze on the grassland， and in the evening they drive their animals back to enclose them at home. However， even today， there are still a few families herding on the mountains all year round and living a nomadic life， so does tamdrin. On the morning of July 4th， 2012， accompanied by Tasang， my interpreter， I interviewed Tamdrin in her house. She was helping her eldest daughter to take care of her one month old granddaughter. Her husband and eldest son-inlaw were at work in the pasture on the mountain.
Tamdrin is 48 this year. She is a resident at Group 2 in the Village of Namseling. There are fi ve people in the family， including the Tamdrin couple， two daughters and a granddaughter. Her eldest daughter is 23 this year. Her eldest son-in-law lives with them but his registration is in Group 3 and hasn’t been moved to his new family. Her little daughter is now only 14 years old and a student in junior high school. The Tamdrin’s house was built in 2010. It is a two storey building supported by eight columns， occupying a total about 130 square meters and a little smaller than the other houses in the village. When the house was built， she received a subsidy of 15 thousand Yuan in total from the government’s Settle Down Program. She borrowed 10 thousand from the bank and more than 10 thousand from her relatives. Now， her loan from both the bank and her relatives remains. After the house was completed， Tamdrin moved in. The house has Tibetan furniture， a TV set and a DVD player. Even so， Tamdrin says， “I would rather live on the mountain because all my family is there. Living on the mountain is free and easy.” I asked her why therefore she built a house in the village. Tamdrin replied， “I did it for my children！”
The Tamdrins work mainly in animal husbandry. Except for their little daughter， all the family goes herding on the mountain all year round. The 100 hectare meadow on which they graze their animals is shared by Groups 1 and 2， but the fl ocks and herds are privately owned. The professional herding families like the Tamdrins exist both in Group 1 and Group 3. Each Group has one family. The family in Group 3 is her son-inlaw’s. Now， the Tamdrins own 20 yaks， 13 cows， 34 beef cattle， 2 calves， and 14 sheep. The family mainly consumes the meat and milk produced by these domestic animals. Last year， they got more than 40 kilograms of butter and 20 kilograms of cheese. They sold about 4 kilograms of cheese at the unit price of 6 Yuan， and also gave some to their relatives. In addition， they slaughtered two old cows， sold one cow （for 2500 Yuan） and one yak （for 4000 Yuan）.
The Tamdrins have been professional herdsmen for dozens of years. Their parents are residents in Group 1 of the Namseling Village. Tamdrin recalled that her aunt on her mother’s side adopted her when she was only one year old because her aunt and uncle were childless. They have been working in the house of an aristocrat， Tashi Gyaltsen， near the manor. They were nangsans （house slaves） of the Tashi family， mainly farming in the fi elds and doing rough labor in the household. Her aunt told Tamdrin， at that time， they lived in a small room offered by their master， and had only a little Tsmapa （the main food for Tibetan people） for each meal.
After the Democratic Reform in 1959， Tamdrin’s uncle and aunt began to work for the collective team， driving a donkey cart to transport barley and other goods. When Tamdrin was fi ve， she went to school in the village but she quit three months later， because her uncle and aunt decided to do herding for the team. Tamdrin followed them up the mountain and returned down once a year since then. For every trip down the mountain， they would stay in the village for three or four days， fi rstly， to deliver beef， sheep and dairy cattle to the team， secondly， to get food and other living necessities on the mountain from the team. Both her uncle and aunt said they had a better life herding for the team than working for Tashi Gyaltsen.
After the Reform and Opening up， the village began to contract land for the villagers， 0.26 hectare each. But her aunt chose to continue herding on the mountain. They bought all the animals from the collective team including more than 20 yaks， 27 cows， in total 19 thousand Yuan after the money conversion. The village agreed that they could pay it back little by little. Later， both her uncle and aunt were not well and descended from the mountain while Tamdrin kept grazing the animals on the mountainside. Then， she acquired a companion （her uncle’s elder brother’s son， who is one year younger than her）. The boy was taken from his hometown by Tamdrin’s uncle， Konggar， and began to live with them when only 13. When Tamdrin was 18 her aunt passed away and at 21， her uncle passed away too. Tamdrin married her uncle’s brother’s son when she was 23. They have nine children in total. Only the third one was born in the People’s Hospital of Lhoka Prefecture， all the rest were delivered on the mountain by Tamdrin herself. Consequently， only the third one （her eldest daughter） and the sixth one（her youngest daughter） survived. I asked Tamdrin： “Why didn’t you give birth in the hospital？” Tamdrin answered： “I was too busy to go down the mountain.” Only when she gave birth to the third child， Tamdrin’s mother and eldest brother went up the mountain to give a hand （thus Tamdrin could go to the hospital）. Even so， she came back for work three days after giving birth. As the other babies were delivered， only her husband nursed her. Most of those who didn’t survive might have died as they were born. Tamdrin said： “I would not have a rest after a baby was born. Usually， I would go to work the next or third day.” Tamdrin’s last labor was in the year 2007.
Tamdrin’s eldest daughter is Dawa Drolma. She has been herding with her parents on the mountain. Of school age， she had been to school for half a year. Later， she quit because no one lent a hand to her parents. I asked her： “Do you have any friends on the mountain？ Isn’t it lonely？”Dawa Drolma shook her head and said： “It is true that the conditions on the mountain are not as good as at the bottom， yet I am used to being without a friend： I can listen to the radio and talk to my family， so I don’t feel lonely.”
Dawa Drolma’s husband comes from a professional herding family in Group 3， who has been living on the mountain since he was young. Dawa Drolma told me： “We fell in love by ourselves. We met in Nov. 2011， and got married in the next lunar February. On May 14th， 2012， my baby was born.” I felt confused that the child was born only seven months after they met， and it was not a premature delivery. Something must be wrong about the date！ I asked her again about the birthday， Dawa insisted it was right. I half believed and half doubted it. Since Dawa was pregnant， she has been to the County Hospital for an examination once and taken some medicine to prevent miscarriage. She had thought to deliver the baby in the hospital， but she went down the mountain too late and had no time to get to hospital， thus she was in labor at home in the village. Afterwards， she was in hospital for seven days and spent about 500 Yuan. Now， in the rural area of Tibet， women’s maternity insurance is very good. A puerpera doesn’t have to pay a deposit when she goes to the hospital. The 500 Yuan Dawa paid might have been the part undertaken by the individual.
Now， Tamdrin’s little daughter is called Dekyi Yangzom. She has been living on the mountain before she was eight. Tamdrin regretted that Dawa Drolma hadn’t been to school， so she sent Dekyi Yangzom back to her parents’ house， asking them take care of Dekyi Yangzom and support her study. She is interested in study， and has performed well in Grade 8 at Konggar Junior High School. During the school vacation， Dekyi Yangzom will return to the mountain and unite with her parents and sister. In ordinary times， the Tamdrin couple is very concerned about Dekyi Yangzom. They often call her and push her to study hard. Tamdrin said： “I don’t want her be herding on the mountain like us any more.”
Actually， besides animal husbandry， the Tamdrins also contract farmland from the village. In 2003， these four people were allocated 0.46 hectare. Tamdrin’s parents have helped her farm it for nearly four years. All the products belonged to Tamdrin. Generally， the family can harvest about two or three hundred kilograms of barley， about four or fi ve hundred kilograms of wheat， about one or two hundred kilograms of potatoes， and some rape. Now， the family does farming by themselves. Most days， they stay on the mountain and come down when the busy season begins. All the output will be consumed by the family or used to feed the animals. The family doesn’t have any agricultural machinery so they rent it as needed； for instance， the cost of renting a sowing machine is 30 Yuan per land unit.
Tamdrin seldom sells her animal and agricultural products， so she makes only 15 thousand Yuan in cash a year. However， they have to buy living necessities such as pesticides and chemical fertilizers… thus， they don’t save any money. Fortunately， Tamdrin’s parents are very kind to them and responsible for all of Dekyi Yangzom’s living costs. The Tamdrins are too busy to go to the temple on the mountain behind the village. Only on every January of the lunar calendar， they light butter lamps and spin the prayer wheel in the temple. On every Harvest Festival， they walk around the farmland.
I asked Tamdrin whether life was better now than before. Tamdrin said： “Yes， much better. All the fl ocks and herds we raise belong to us， as well as all the grain we harvest. Food is plentiful. We can eat well and have good clothes.” I asked Tamdrin： “Do you have any problems or diffi culties now？” Tamdrin thought about it for a while and answered： “we have too little cash and no savings. Also， we have no machinery for farming so we must rent it from others. These are the most diffi cult things we face now.”
Talking of medical treatment and social insurance， Tamdrin said she has given birth nine times on the mountain， so she understands well how painful it is for a woman. Tamdrin’s husband has a stomach illness and was treated in the township village hospital in 2003. Even now he isn’t well and is very careful about his food. As the new rural cooperative insurance is implemented， Tamdrin’s mother has applied for it and paid the costs for all her family. However， as for the rural social endowment insurance， only Tamdrin and her eldest daughter participate in it. Tamdrin said she would make it up to her husband once their income increases.