The Sixth Resettlement

For thousands of years, the Kucong tribe have lived in the primary rainforests of the Ailao Mountain and led primitive hunter-gatherer lifestyles. However, things changed in 1949 with the proclamation of the People’s Republic of China. A series of programmes were initiated to get the Kucong tribe to leave the forests and mountains, however, such initiatives did not go down well with the Kucong tribe. During the 50 years between 1958 and 2008, the Kucong tribe has been relocated from the forests five times; all five times, they escaped back to their homes in the forests. In 2008, the government decided to resettle the Kucong tribe for the sixth time—will they leave the forests this time?