44. Chinese Nationalities (Jino Minority) -- Minorities by Descending Populations

Jino Minority (Juno) (Junuo)

Some minorities had been so absorbed that their status as separate peoples was nearly lost. The Jino of Yunnan in the southwest were only designated a minority in 1979. The Jino are found in Yunnan Province. About 18,000 of them live in the Jinuo Mountains in Jinghong County. The rest are scattered in Jinghong and Menghai Counties. They have a long history of tea growing. The Jino have retained the custom that people with the same name live together. Ten or twenty small families with the same family names live together in one big house, with a big fireplace for public use and a small room for each family. They are part of the Sino-Tibetan Thai ethno linguistic group.

Tooth painting also are of their special cultural practice, dyeing tooth to black color with plant, albeit tattoo related, considered to be beautiful. The Jinos are great hunters. When men go out hunting, they shoulder crossbows with poisoned arrows or shot-guns. They are also experts in the use of traps and nooses to catch wild animals. They hunt in groups and divide the game equally among the participants. But the pelts of animals go to the men who shot them. While the men hunt, the women gather wild fruit in the forests. Edible herbs are also collected for soup.