High frontiers : Dolpo and the changing world of Himalayan pastoralists

Bibliographic Information

High frontiers : Dolpo and the changing world of Himalayan pastoralists

Kenneth M. Bauer

(The historical ecology series)

Columbia University Press, c2004

  • : pbk

Available at  / 6 libraries

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Note

Includes bibliographical references (p. 231-251) and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

Dolpo is a culturally Tibetan enclave in one of Nepal's most remote regions. The Dolpo-pa, or people of Dolpo, share language, religious and cultural practices, history, and a way of life. Agro-pastoralists who live in some of the highest villages in the world, the Dolpo-pa wrest survival from this inhospitable landscape through a creative combination of farming, animal husbandry, and trade. High Frontiers is an ethnography and ecological history of Dolpo tracing the dramatic transformations in the region's socioeconomic patterns. Once these traders passed freely between Tibet and Nepal with their caravans of yak to exchange salt and grains; they relied on winter pastures in Tibet to maintain their herds. After 1959, China assumed full control over Tibet and the border was closed, restricting livestock migrations and sharply curtailing trade. At the same time, increasing supplies of Indian salt reduced the value of Tibetan salt, undermining Dolpo's economic niche. Dolpo's agro-pastoralists were forced to reinvent their lives by changing their migration patterns, adopting new economic partnerships, and adapting to external agents of change. The region has been transformed as a result of the creation of Nepal's largest national park, the making of Himalaya, a major motion picture filmed on location, the increasing presence of nongovernmental organizations, and a booming trade in medicinal products. High Frontiers examines these transformations at the local level and speculates on the future of pastoralism in this region and across the Himalayas.

Table of Contents

Contents Abbreviations Acknowlegments A Note on Tibetan and Nepali Terms Introduction 1. Dolpo's Agro-Pastoral System 2. Pastoralism, in View and Review 3. A Sketch of Dolpo's History 4. A New World Order in Tibet 5. Nepal's Relations with Its Border Populations and the Case of Dolpo 6. The Wheel Is Broken: A Pastoral Exodus in the Himalayas 7. Visions of Dolpo: Conservation and Development 8. A Tsampa Western 9. Perspectives on Change Notes Works Cited Glossary Appendix 1: Pasture Toponomy Appendix 2: Dolpo Plant Species Index

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