ABSTRACT
If people in Nepal think about, and symbolize, their forests in culturally distinctive ways, then precisely what are these distinctions? And why are different visions of nature important? In this chapter, I conclude that there are fascinating and multiple meanings assigned to forests and forest spaces by the foragers and farmers living in the Himalayan foothills of western Nepal. Specifically, the forest-dwelling Raute (pronounced “Rao-tey”) conceive of forested places as a home, a domestic environs, in which live the children of God: the beings living in the forests. A society of hunter-gatherers, the Raute specialize in hunting langur and macaque monkeys while foraging for about one hundred varieties of edible plants through each gathering season. These food collectors live in the Karnali River watershed of Nepal and along the Maha Kali River bordering India. Their Tibetic language is closely related to that of other local part-time hunter-gatherers, the Ban Raji who specialize in porcupine hunting, the Raji who favor fishing, and the Chepang who are renowned for their bat hunting skills. Rautes also share many cultural practices with other regional hunter-gatherers, such as the Birhor and Hill Kharia of northern India (Fortier 2009a, 2009b). According to census figures, the population of the Raute groups includes about 700 Rautes, 2,500 Ban Rajis, and 2,500 Rajis. In addition, there are about 15,000 people known as “Raut” who have assimilated into Nepalese caste society in the last few generations but who are descendants of forest foragers.
