Mustang of Nepal: Last of a Dying Group

I just finished a book about a lone survivor of a tribe in the Amazon, that has had no contact with the modern world. Logging and agriculture in Brazil have destroyed thousands of acres of land, on which various tribes formerly lived and thrived. As man has destroyed their homeland, they have had to seek refuge in deeper, more isolated areas of the jungle. The government has had a debate going on for decades, as to whether the Indian land should be protected, or rather, in the name of progress, the future of the tribes should just fall where it may. You can imagine this debate, with the environmentalists and humanitarians doing all they can to protect these dying tribes. One particular tribe had only one man left in the entire tribe, yet he was finally given a secure area in which to live out his life in solitude. Prior to this decision several years ago, groups were constantly chasing him, this clever guy eluded them, and is now living somewhere in the Amazon, in peace and anominity. This got me to thinking about other indiginous groups around the world that have been able to maintain their traditional ways. The Loba, from the Mustang region of Nepal, are one such group. Until 1992, the Loba lived in northern Nepal, at altitudes of 11,000-13,000 feet, in a climate that was windy and arid. They are primarily farmers, shephers, or merchants. Homes of the Loba are built from stone, and on each corner of the roof a prayer flag is hung. They have no windows, only holes in the walls to protect against the high speed winds. Although feudalism is pretty much extinct in Nepal, it is alive and well in Mustang. It is common for a Loba woman to be married to several men, a practice known as polyandry. They do this because the women believe there is less chance of a woman becoming a widow if she has many husbands. Religiously, the Loba are members of two Buddhist sects, the Kargyupa and the Akyapa. In 1991 Nepal opened Mustang's border to the outside world. What the first outsiders found, was shocking-the ancient monasteries were on the verge of collapse; the Buddhist wall paintings were disntegrating and the community was deeply impovershished. The people needed health care, education and jobs, but what they plead for first was help in saving the monasteries. The King understood-saving the art would save the people, because without cultural identity there is nothing. With help from modern technology the Loba have been able to survive, to keep their identity, and to continue to live in their traditional ways. My question is this: Should we interfere with these unique people and try to change their way of life, introduce more modern techniques and machines to make life easier for them? Is it our business to do this? This is a great question to debate. In the case of the lone man in the Amazon that I read about, humanitarians that were following him did give him an axe, which made his search for extracting honey from trees take only three hours, rather than fifteen hours. We often think that our way of life is best way of life, and want to change others. I think one of the things that makes this world so amazing is the different cultures and customs throughout the world. I vote for letting small indigenous tribes that have had the strength to survive, be left alone. I think that's what most of them want.