As it rattled along dusty dirt tracks with the Kali Gandaki hurtling down the slopes dangerously to our right, we had a full 14 hours to rue our decision to exchange the trek for this roller-coaster ride. The Khampa were originally fearsome warriors, sometimes referred to as bandits, who held out the longest against the Chinese advance into Tibet. Today, most Lhoba live at the foot of the Himalayas, in the high mountains and deep valleys. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. The Newars: An ethno-sociological study of a Himalayan community. In R. B. Chhetri & O. Gurung (Eds. Lobas speak their own Loba language, which is similar to the Western Tibetan Language. Global Cell Culture Reagent Market [2023-2030] | Growing - MarketWatch 2000; Peterson & Broad 2009), to understand the variation in place-specific impacts of climate change. Women are the mother of everything, so women take care of the seeds more than men. PLoS ONE 7 (5): e36741. Poudel, 135154. tribes. The Loba people often invite folk singers to perform in their H.R. Perhaps the river reached up to that height in the distant past? The Loba nationality mainly distributes Nepali, Gopal Singh. Other household types, such as phorang (of a singled man) and morang (of a singled woman), are also observable in the place. The non-violence value of Buddhism are transferred to the people via rituals, performances, and direct teaching. This is a unique trait to the Loba, and is practiced so that there is less of a chance of a woman becoming a widow in her lifetime. Oddly shaped blood vessels on this freshly harvested liver are bad omens. Mustang is a semi-independent kingdom within Nepal. The sun was already up. Google Scholar. However, their everyday clothes and hairstyles have changed with the course of modernization. Ask God to send Christian tourists and hikers to Nepal who will share the love of Jesus with the Loba. Craig, Sienna R. 2011. LHOBA CULTURE - YouTube Indigenous irrigation management system is as old as the agriculture system that began in Lo-manthang. Agrawal, Arun. We feasted on buckwheat pancakes dripping with mountain honey as our eyes feasted on the Nilgiri wrapped in a gossamer scarf of mist. Aanis were not allowed to marry and had to shave their heads and wear red clothes. Samasume includes those households formed by children who are usually grown up in maternal homes and are illegitimate for the ancestral property. On our way back, we visit it and the shrine of Muktinath. Nationality. told reporters that due to the dispersed living and inconvenient transportation https://doi.org/10.1080/17565529.2014.951018. The monarch also protects the livelihood of the Loba community by maintaining peace and harmony among the Loba people through formal rules and regulations. In the polyandrous family, male members follow the reme gyapkin system to maintain a harmonious relationship among the brothers in the household. (Press release on initial result of National Census on Population and Housing-Nepal. Ojha, Durga Prasad. This study adopted multi-site ethnography, which is suitable in the modern social context, as argued by Marcus (1995). 1990. Grocery shop in Lo Manthang (2018) by Angelo ChiacchioEphemera documentary Newly paved routes. It is surrounded on three sides by Chinese-occupied Tibet. Here are five interesting facts about the Himba: 1. The ghenba system has three key positions in Lo-manthang. This is being rejected by younger Loba people as modernization sets in. Called sky caves, they harbour secrets from a distant past. Tashi Gephel Foundation. Darnal, Prakash. Chhetri, Ram Bahadur. It is not even a dirt track but a boulder- and rock-strewn unpaved road prone to landslides. The temperature is rising at 0.048 degrees Celsius per year, and the annual rainfall is decreasing by three millimeters (mm) per year (Khattri 2021; Khattri & Pandey 2021). 1965. Today, most Lhoba people celebrate The New Year Festival but their celebration date and style is different than typical Tibetan. The communities near Tibetan people, the cuisine also includes potatoes and spicy food. The color identifies them as the Lamas. How the Himba came to be The first settlements of the Himba people can be traced back to the early 16th century when they crossed the Angolan border and chose Kaokoland (nowadays called Kunene region) as their new homeland. 7, 4 (2023). Khattri, Man Bahadur, and Rishikesh Pandey. The formal Kingship ended by the Nepali state in 2008. Whichever direction you turned, there was nothing but cobalt blue skies. The Gomba used to get some grains from the tenants/cultivators as rent, in proportion to the amount of seed being sown in the field. Occasional Papers in Sociology and Anthropology 9: 141175. They have also explored new livelihood opportunities, which are the outcomes of education and the changed legal system of the Government of Nepal. The maides considered themselves nobles and saw the niebas inferior and at their disposal. Loba in Nepal Other geography / data: GMI. The reflection of such teaching can be observed in peoples behavior toward animals and plants. At the same time, anthropologists are engaged in documenting indigenous environmental knowledge, traditional ecological knowledge, indigenous technical knowledge, local knowledge, folk climate models, and cultural-specific knowledge (Ellen et al. Man Bahadur Khattri. The global Cell Culture Reagent market size will reach USD 2731.5 Million in 2030 . Pandey, Rishikesh 2019. Pandey, Rishikesh. Institutions are understood in different ways, however, in social anthropological studies, they are recognized both as formal and informal organization having procedural and functional components of a community, public, civic, and private spheres (Uphoff & Back 2006). Even today, hunting dogs play a significant part in Lhoba life and it is common for a family to own dozens of dogs which are taken into homes as family. Thickly forested area is sparsely populated. Today, most Lhoba people are Lhoba households are farmers but hunting is the central activity of Lhoba men. The barter animal hides, musk, bear paws and other items with Tibetans in exchange for tools and clothing. feeling and sends out, exports for the song. Nevertheless, the process has created a cultural problem in maintaining Gomba since the number of Lama is reduced, which is implicated in the availability of lama for rituals despite their rituals demand many Lamas at a time. Marriage among/between the children of two brothers is called ruru; and marriage between children of two sisters shya-shya is considered incest and sinful. https://doi.org/10.3126/dsaj.v11i0.18822. Annual Review of Anthropology 24 (1): 95117. This practice used to be called phutok. countryside. Please abide to our community guidelines for posting your comment, Tamil Nadu cabinet to keep Finance Minister PTR amidst controversy, How Maruti Suzuki tried to turn men into machines at Manesar, 1947: Madras Devadasis (Prevention of Dedication) Act passed, At least 4 civilians killed in Ukrainian shelling on Russian village: governor, Galwan hero's wife becomes Army officer; posted to eastern Ladakh, RBI asks borrowers with total exposure of 5 crore and above to obtain LEI, IPL Points Table 2023 updated after CSK vs PBKS: Chennai Super Kings stays fourth, Punjab Kings displaces RCB at fifth, Online video games vs online real money games: Not one and the same. As the crow flies, that would have been the shortest route, except that we were not crows and the route entailed going up and down one mountain after another until we reached Jomsom. Architecture They were isolated for years and are completely unevangelized. In Loba society, a person may have as many as three names. and his descendants were Bogars. The people of Lo-manthang have experienced rapid changes in the natural environment, geo-political relations, political changes, infrastructural and technological development, trade, and economy since the 1950s. protection project, which will be more conducive to the protection of the folk Other than the game they hunt, they consume maize or millet flourdumplings, rice or buckwheat. Electricity, telephone and internet facilities are extended to this remote location. Gurung (1996) described a local institution called satthari (village council or a structure of village society), which is composed of different clans and kin groups in a community that legitimately works for local jural and political purposes. statement and A picture from their classroom Yaro, Joseph Awetori, Joseph Teye, and Simon Bawakyillenuo. : 2000 AD BLo(Mustang) Ko Saskritik Sampada (In Nepali Cultural Heritage of Mustang). Cambridge University Press. They cannot be abusive or personal. Indigenous knowledge-based systems of farm, labor, and resource management, accompanied by changes in food preference (food value) and linking agriculture with spiritual practice, followed by occupational modernization and migration, are a high priority in the adaptation process (Khatri & Pandey 2021) that the Lobas have demonstrated through their indigenous institutions. The rhetoric and realities of peoples participation in conservation and development in Nepal: An anthropological perspective. At some point it seemed as if we had lost our way. The Lama and Aani were taking mostly spiritual knowledge and practices from Gomba. We stopped for a bite at the Yak Donalds restaurant. The name Mustang is derived from the Tibetan word meaning, "Plain of Aspiration." 5 interesting facts about the Himba people - Africa Geographic The area was forbidden to foreigners until 1992, so it used to be recognized as the forbidden kingdom of the Himalayas. The Government of Nepal adopted only the high-yielding and controlled-flow of tourists after 1992. 1993. Lama teaches ordinary people about offering water (tho) and light (chhume) to God. Dhongba households are ancestral property holders, which is transferred from generation to generation, mainly to the eldest son. Altogether, there were 18 households, they worked on a rotational basis. The main cause of monogamy is quarrel among the brothers (Gurung 2012) and new family law of Nepal. Besides, we also had, in a moment of recklessness, included in our itinerary Upper Mustang, one of the two Tibetan provinces in Nepal, which stretched our trek to an insane 24 days: insane because none of us were habitual trekkers even if we were reasonably fit. This town, with a resident population of around 15,000, has a single high street that runs its entire length, a few hotels and the odd shop or two, all watched over by the magnificent Nilgiri and Dhaulagiri peaks. tight lower body and wrapped legs. The Loba live in the Mustang District of northern Nepal, at altitudes of between 11,000 and 13,000 feet. Annual Lhoba Ethnic Custom Festival of Nanyigou Township is the best way to experience Lhoba culture. Chief of Staff (Global Culture and Engagement) University of Southern California. They have historical contributions to promote the Nepali economy and sovereignty of the country. To receive the land, they fulfilled extensive obligations such as free labor of men and animals and contribution to the palace, both in cash and kind. Thus began the next leg of our journey. Hari Bahadur KC, then Head Teacher at Dibya Joyti High School Chhoser in Upper Mustang, an eyewitness of the Glacier Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) in 1984, described the situation in which a Lama led a ritual and walked in front of a ritual procession holding a golden Buddha idol, sprinkling the holy water, and chanting sacred mantaras for the peace and security of the people, plants, and livestock during the disastrous GLOF. This new phenomenon harms Lamaism and monastic life in Lo-manthang. This is happening despite the availability of all sorts of facilities at Gomba. In the land of the Loba On the treacherous high-altitude trail to Lo Manthang, the walled city that is the capital of Upper Mustang province in Nepal and whose denizens are true custodians of a. covered with heavy ornaments. This people group is only found in Nepal. Theory of culture change: The methodology of multilinear evolution. The ru-shya, cross-cousin marriage, is also a cultural identity of Lobas. precious and living historical data of life and culture for future generations. Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Loba The region shows evidence of agriculture prior to 1100 CE and involved the raising of such crops as red sorghum, millet, yams, bananas, beans, sugar-cane, and groundnuts. They had practiced polyandry marriage until the recent past. primitive religion of animism. The ghenba system in Lo-manthang is led by eight households from Bista/Kutak clan. When we were finally dropped off at Jomsom, our bodies felt like sacks of dislocated bones. j. anthropol. Gorgeous grey and brown cliffs, looking like exquisite shades of raw silk, shimmered in the backdrop. As we were nearing Chumrung, our group of three began to experience the first rumblings of a mutiny. Furthermore, external financial dependency is recognized as a sign of threats to the collapse of Gomba in Lo-manthang. This was to be the easiest part of the Mustang trek. They produce single seasonal crops of few varieties (wheat, naked barley, mustard, potatoes, buckwheat, vegetables). This practice was also a part of population control. After one beautiful legend after another, For Loba ru-shya, marriage relation is perfectly desired, similar to many Himalayan indigenous ethnic communities (Godlstein 1971; Levine 1981; Vinding 1979), including Magar, Gurung, Thakali. Please. Polyandrous brothers share a wife by turn, as managed by the wife. They fish the Congo River and its main tributaries intensively. chili paste and cheese while it is hot is very sweet and delicious. The traditional role of the Gomba in the Loba community, as described above, is an institution that maintains a peaceful and just society, as per the values of Tibetan Buddhism. Both men and women do not wear shoe ware. The Lama, as the chief of spiritual/religious works for the individual, household, and community, also plays a role in the sphere of education and ritual activities. The Loba people practice polyandry, where a woman marries multiple men. Macao is located at the junction of saltwater and fresh water, and the crab produced is delicious. The Loba livelihood includes agriculture, livestock management, trade/seasonal, tourism, and labor migration. Only when we marched to the Yeti Airlines office to buy our tickets to Jomsom did we find out, to our dismay, that all flights were fully booked for the next eight weeks. Ancient Nepal 148: 3037. the folk singer usually touches the scene in the traditional tune, has the This is done because the Loba believe that there is less chance of a woman becoming a widow if she has many husbands. culture of Loba, and more conducive to the inheritance and development of the Known as Donggeng Gurumu (meaning something like congratulate the safety of the current year and look forward to a bumper harvest in the coming year), the festival witnesses Lhoba people butchering cattle and pigs to be given as presents to the maternal relatives. Mustang is a windy, arid, high altitude desert. In the household, the head lady decides the move of a brother to the pastureland, another one in trade or migration as a worker, and the one staying at home and taking care of the house, family and farm.
