Nepal – Tamang Indigenous Women & Girls

Tamangs
are mainly found in the districts of Rasuwa, Sindhupalchok, Kavrepalanchok,
Makwanpur, Nuwakot, Dhading, Ramechhap, Dolkha and Sindhuli. The census
places their population at 4.9% of the national total. The Tamang language,
culture and traditions are rich. They were already described as a powerful
nation in historic inscriptions going as far back as the 3rd century,
attesting to their ancient civilization. They are Buddhists, and their script
originates from Tibetan. Their language belongs to the Tibeto-Burman family.
The archives of Tamang religious scriptures are rich, varied and vast. Their
intellectual hierarchy had categorizations of royal priests, raconteur of
history and other scholastic divisions of labor. They celebrate with equal
fervor such diverse religious occasions as Lhosar, Maghe Sankranti, Baisakh
Purnima and Shravan Purnima. They are fond of buckwheat delicacies. Their
dance culture is equally rich and varied. There are many Tamang sub clans.
Their population, according to Census 2001, is 1,282,304.

The Tamangs are an ancient and major indigenous people of Nepal. Their
traditional area is the hilly region between the Budhigandaki river and the
Likhu river. At present, they live in large numbers in the districts of
Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading, Makawanpur, Sindhuli, Ramechhap, Dolakha, Lalitpur,
Sindhupalchok and Kavrepalanchok in the Central Development Region. They are
also scattered all over the country, and outside Nepal they are found in
large numbers in Darjeling, Sikkim, Asam and Nagaland of India and in Burma
and Bhutan. The total population of Tamang in Nepal, according to the census
of 2001, is 1,282,304, ie 5.6 per cent of the total population of the
country. The Tamang language occupies fifth place in the country in terms of
the number of speakers speaking any one language and first place among the
Tibeto-Burman languages.

The word Tamang has been found to be used in a document of the thirteenth
century. That document found by David Jackson (2976:53) mentions that King
Bumlde Mgon built the Shrin fortress in Mustang to suppress the ethnic group
Tamang of Lower Glo (Mustang). Although the word Tamang was used as early as
the thirteenth century to denote an ethnic group, following the expansion of
the Gorkhali kingdom the use of the word was prohibited. The Tamang were
addressed in a derogatory manner as ‘Bhote’ and ‘Murmi’. The Tamangs have,
however, continued to call themselves Tamang.

The Tamangs have a system of six types of societal leaders: Tamba, Ganba,
Bonbo, Labonbo, Lama and Choho–to keep the Tamang society continuously alive
and dynamic. The six have their respective and important roles to play in the
development of Tamang society. The Tamba looks after the cultural aspect and
has a very important role to play in marriage ceremonies. The Lama carries
out death rites (Ghewa) and undertakes activities related to the Buddhist
religion. The Bonbo propitiates the local gods and goddesses and assists by
providing treatment to the sick and needy in the village. The Labonbo
(Laptaba) keeps alive the history of the clan and lineage through the worship
of clan deities. As each thar, or subgroup, has its own Phola or clan deity,
there are different Labonbos for each and every subgroup. The Choho looks
into cases and dispenses justice and maintains peace, security and wellbeing
in society. The Ganba participates in all types of social, political and
religious activities. He observes the various activities of society,
including whether the Tamba, Bonbo, Lama, Labtaba, Choho, etc have fulfilled
their functions as prescribed by rituals and to the best of their ability or
not, and evaluates the activities and gives his suggestions. Thus, the six
societal leaders or actors continue to make the Tamang society aware of its
duties and responsibilities. There are also in Tamang society traditional
institutions like Nhangkhor active to undertake socio-cultural activities.

There are more than 70 subgroups (thar and sahathar) within the Tamang,
and inter-marriage does not occur within the same subgroup (thar as well as
sahathar). Although inter-marriage can occur between a boy, say belonging to
the Yonjan subgroup and a girl belonging to the Moktan subgroup, if the
mother of both the boy and girl belong to the same subgroup, however,
marriage between them is not possible since they are socially recognized as
the son and daughter of the same mother. There is the practice of marrying
one’s maternal uncle’s and aunt’s daughter. Unlike in Hindu society, Tamang
women do not adopt the last name of their husbands following marriage. Their
thar or subgroup does not change, the woman remains in the same subgroup her
entire life. When she dies, the body cannot be disposed without the presence
and permission of her relatives. There is the traditional practice among
Tamang daughters of undertaking small economic activities (Pewa) like keeping
goats, chicken, etc. This enables the daughter to learn to stand on her feet
and makes her self-reliant.

On the occasion of various festival and ceremonies, pujas (worshipping
activities) are performed at Gumbas according to Buddhist rituals and
injunctions. Along these rituals, Tamangs perform various forms of ancient
worships also. They perform Phola venerating the contributions of their
ancestors and the history of their earth. Ancestral history is narrated
during Phola worship. Similarly the worship of Neda Sipda (deities of land
and water) to revere earth as a source of sustenance, worship of Yhulla
(Goddess of village) for the prosperity of the villages and the worship of
Jyojyomo (most favoured family deity) are also ubiquitous in Tamang
societies. Life cycle rituals such as naming ceremony, rice-feeding ceremony,
tonsure ceremony, ceremony of giving Nepali Sari (Guniu), marriage ceremony
and funeral rite are still prevailing in society. Different ritual experts
have different roles in these rituals. A lot of indigenous as well as foreign
scholars have conducted research studies on Tamang language and culture.