Tribes live on cows

The Brokpa live in Bhutan raising yak to get their hair woven into traditional costumes, making rain hats, making tents or taking milk and butter milk daily.

Brokpa is a tribe living in the two villages of Merak and Sakten in remote areas of eastern Bhutan.This is where the fog is always covered and located at the foot of the Himalayas.

The Brokpa are from Tshoona, Tibet, and the main source of life is the animals.They have lived in the border area near the state of Arunachal Pradesh, India for centuries by raising yak, sheep and other cattle.Yak and sheep are raised for wool and meat.

However, in recent years, the Kingdom of Bhutan is on the rise, the life of Brokpa is also affected a lot.
Photographer AJ Heath has been in Bhutan for a year to work, and one of his projects is to meet the Brokpa tribe when he arrived at Merak and Sakten villages in July 2015. t

AJ Heath has spent two weeks to live with the villagers and make photo collections focusing on four main ethnic groups in Bhutan.Heath shared: "Almost all tourists come to the village one night when they have to trekking 4-5 days, so the villagers are very surprised and curious when they see me stay longer".Brokpa live by raising animals because they are in high land, conditions are not suitable for cultivation.

One of their special accessories is a yak fur hat. It is designed to prevent rain from hitting the face when adding curls.
Heath said: "Most of the people I photographed invited me to drink milk tea and added a few cups of Ara (a local drink)".Although living in a deserted and remote area, the people of Brokpa were very happy and excited to be photographed.

"The Bhutanese are friendly, like to be photographed. Not too many places in the world where people send" thank you "for being photographed," Heath said.However, he is still a careful photographer to not affect them much.Heath was in the house of Brokpa people to easily learn, travel, meet people.

Taking care of yak is an important work of Brokpa people.Only castrated bulls and cows are harvested.In the summer, the Brokpa migrated because they often moved around the area to find a better place for cattle grazing.

The life of the Brokpa depends very much on the animals they raise.The costumes they wore, their hats were made from wool of yak, even their tent was made of wool, although more and more plastic tarps were used.

Yak cows also play an important role in the diet of Brokpa people.Not only meat, they also milk to drink.They can drink dozens of tea cups (made from yak cow's milk) daily.

As a professional documentary photographer, Heath has captured special moments in the daily life of Brokpa people, in the context of rapidly changing Bhutan.

Like the special way of life of Brokpa people, the scenery where they live also appeals to the artist.He said: "It is a combination of a dense forest, large valleys and vast grasslands".

A new road to be built here will make their life more convenient, reducing dependence on yak and sheep farming.

Heath has recorded shopping and merchandise images appearing in the villages. Commodities wrapped in plastic bags are gradually changing their way of life and diet.
However, importing and using these items will cause them to discharge non-biodegradable waste.Moreover, when visitors everywhere pour in, the culture and traditions of Brokpa people will be more threatened.