Bönism, Environment and Healing in Far Northeastern Bhutan

Brief description

Indigenous practices of Bönism are unofficially banned in Bhutan, and appear to be destined for extinction. Yet for now, at least, people in at least some parts of Bhutan continue to retain knowledge of traditional Bön practices. In this project, Tashi Tshewang – a native speaker of Dakpa language – spent 3 months audio-visually documenting traditional Bön healing practices and learning about their relationship with the local environment. In addition, he has collected a number of vernacular autobiographical stories of village people, and has made use of incidental opportunities to audio-visually document traditional preparations of wild mushrooms and lichens for consumption as food, as well as traditional hillside grain cultivation. Images of local religious sites and practices complement Tashi Tshewang’s collection, which includes texts in both Dakpa and Tshangla languages. This project was mentored by Yankee Modi, and funded by a 2022 FLICR Fellowship awarded to the collector by the Centre for Cultural-Linguistic Diversity (Eastern Himalaya) (Co-Directors Mark W. Post and Yankee Modi, Associate Directors Kellen Parker Van Dam and Zilpha Modi). Financial support for the 2022 FLICR Fellowship program was provided by the Firebird Foundation for Anthropological Research, through a grant administered by the University of Sydney.