Ritayan Mukherjee

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The Brokpa of West Kameng and Tawang
districts in Arunachal Pradesh are a community of reclusive herders of the
Monpa tribe. They are nomadic, move around in fixed patterns, and live in the mountains
at altitudes ranging from 9,000 to 15,000 feet. They migrate to lower areas
during the long winters from October to April, and move to the higher ranges
during the summer and rainy seasons, from May to September.
 
 One morning in November 2016, I started on
a journey to Thembang
village in West Kameng. Thembang
 
 
 is
located at an altitude of around 7,500 feet. It is an entirely Monpa village of
some 60 occupied houses. The nearest town, Dirang, is 26 kilometres away.
 
 The next day I went to Lagam,
a winter settlement of a group of Brokpa.
 
 
 To reach Lagam, located at 8,100 feet, I walked for around 11 kilometres
for more than eight hours through dense forest. When I reached at 6 p.m., Pem
Tsering, a 27-year-old Brokpa herdsman, welcomed me with a warm a smile.
 
 The next day morning, I saw that Lagam is
actually a tiny winter-time hamlet of Brokpa pastoralists. It has one small monastery.
Around 40-45 people live here in 8 to 10 stone-and-bamboo houses with tin
roofs. In November, the hamlet is full as the herders descend to this lower
pastureland. From May to September, Lagam stays mostly empty as the young
herders move out with their herds of yaks and horses to higher ground, such as
Mago village.  The elders usually stay
back.
 
 I
spent a few days with Tsering and other Brokpa. “It’s always a long walk for
us. We walk up to Mago through the jungle every year for summer pastures. It’s
4-5 days of constant walking. We take a break only for the night,” Pem says.
 
 Mago,
at 11,800 feet, is located along the disputed McMahon Line which demarcates
northeast India and Tibet. To reach Mago
in the summers, the Brokpa walk through mountain ranges and passes that are
even higher – their route includes Lagam, Thungri, Chang La, Nyang, Potok, Lurthim, and then Mago.
 
 Others
can reach the area by road only from Tawang. Indian nationals from outside the
region are allowed to stay here for just one night with special permission from
the Indian Army.  Because
of the border dispute, even Brokpa who migrate to Mago have to carry
government-issued identity cards
 
 The daily lives of Brokpa centre around simple rhythms.
Their major source of income is the yak. They collect its milk for cheese and
butter, and sell these items in the local market. A barter system also exists
within the community.  “They exchange yak and milk products with the people staying
in lowland areas, where agriculture is the prime occupation,” says Bapu Pema
Wange, a Monpa from Thembang village, and a project
officer with WWF-India’s Western Arunachal Landscape Programme. “We [his clan, the Bapu] barter trade with them; we exchange
our maize, barley, buckwheat and dry red chilly for their butter,
 
 chhurpi
 
 and yak meat. Basically, they depend on us for food and we depend on them
for food.”
 
 The royal Bapu clan owns large tracts of inherited land, and charges a
tax (usually in kind – sheep or butter) from other clans for grazing rights.
But, Wange says, the Brokpa of Lagam have been exempted from the tax because “they
take care of our god, Lagam Lama (a statue of natural rock).”
 
 Later this year, by mid-October, the
Brokpa will make the descent from their summer pasture. “We walk through
the jungle, find resources for grazing and firewood from the jungle,” Pem says.
“This jungle is our mother.”

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Brokpa: ‘The jungle is our mother'

ব্রোকপা: ‘জঙ্গল আমাদের মা’

‘കാടാണ് ഞങ്ങളുടെ മാതാവ്,' ബ്രോക്പകള്‍ പറയുന്നു

'जंगल हमारी मां है'

بروکپا: ’جنگل ہماری ماں ہے‘

ப்ரோப்கா: வனம் எங்களின் அன்னை

ବ୍ରୋକ୍ପା: ‘ଜଙ୍ଗଲ ଆମର ମାଆ’

Tawang

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Brokpa: ‘The jungle is our mother'

The Brokpa of West Kameng and Tawang districts of Arunachal Pradesh are reclusive herders who migrate in fixed seasonal patterns at high altitudes. A photo story depicting their daily rhythms

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