This study aims to identify how school teachers recognize the problem of positioning minority languages and cultures in school education in Bhutan, a multilingual country.

In the sixty years since general education was introduced in Bhutan, the government has totally rejected incorporation of the languages and cultures of the 19 ethnic minorities in Bhutan into school education. The government has strengthened the policy of “One People, One Nation” by providing education that teaches only the Bhutanese national language Dzongkha, the teaching language English and the mainstream ethnic culture Tibetan culture, with the purpose of making the national language a pillar of national identity.

In this study, three types of survey were conducted: (1) a questionnaire survey of 115 active teachers, (2) an interview with a teacher and his family who were transferred to a minority ethnic district, and (3) discussion with four university students who aimed to become teachers. By integrating the results of the surveys, the research aims to clarify what present and prospective teachers think about the current education system.

This paper aims to reconsider the kinship organization of ethnic groups in China with a case study of the Dong people, a Tai-speaking ethnic group that inhabits Southern China. It questions the uncritical application in earlier research of the research pattern of the Han Chinese to the analysis of the kinship of non-Han minorities in China, which leads to ignorance of ethnic characteristics and identity. Specifically, this paper rethinks the view of Dong society through reexamination of the customs and practices of the model of kinship and marriage among Dong people, namely, apl weex bux lagx (combination between different descent groups) and pak singv kkeip (intermarriage ignoring the surname system). It is pointed out that the Dong people’s kinship organization is similar to that of the Han Chinese. However, according to field research, Dong people continue to practice their own model of kinship with the Dong language, though as an ethnic group that lacks a writing system, the Dong have also been strongly influenced by the customs of the Han Chinese. These two aspects are characteristic of the Dong people’s kinship organization. In this case, the use of the Chinese language as a written language to express and practice their kinship organization make it appear to have similar characteristics to that of the Han Chinese. It is found that a series of unique social cultural systems have been produced within Dong society as a result of the fact that the Dong people’s kinship organization has both similarities and differences in comparison with that of the Han Chinese and because of the pressure from the tense relationship between using the ethnic language and Chinese language.

The Sama-Bajau peoples are maritime populations living on various islands in several Southeast Asia nations who are known for their traditional sea-nomadic lifestyle and coral reef fishing. However, some Sama-Bajau people have settled on islands in “non-coral-reef” zones. This study aims to examine the open ocean fishing practices and spatial cognition of these non-nomadic Sama-Bajau people in the Banggai Islands, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. After intensive participatory observation and interviews, it was found that the main fishing method of the study population was angling in the open ocean and not net fishing in coral reefs, in contrast to the results reported in previous studies on the Sama-Bajau people. The sample in this study classified sea space into 12 categories based on submarine topography; however, fishing sites were chosen depending on specific characteristics of each point regardless of these space categories. When identifying fishing spots, fishers considered not only submarine topography, but also the shape of islands as observed from the spot, stars visible at the time of identification, and other related details. By comparing these findings with those of previous studies, it was concluded that the populations in the non-coral-reef zones have developed a “spot-based understanding,” while those in the coral reef zones have developed “surface-based understanding.” This difference can be understood as a result of adaptation of the Sama-Bajau peoples to varying geographic conditions.