In Nepal, an indigenous tribe’s land-worship ceremony offers lessons on agriculture and conservation

It was 8pm and everyone in the house was preparing to sleep after dinner, but the fire was still flickering in one corner of the kitchen. Sambarman Okhati, a 66-year-old elder of the family, bore a hint of concern while hunching over a boiling pot. “The maize for tomorrow’s tos hasn’t cooked properly,” he murmured.

Tos is a land-worshipping ritual of Nepal’s Kulung community, during which locals pray for a good harvest and are advised on what crops to plant by a shaman. Okhati’s maize, one of the ritual’s offerings, was still too firm. “Without a pressure cooker, it won’t soften as it should,” he sighed.

The Indigenous Kulung people are part of the Himalayas’ larger Kirat community. They have their own language, culture, history, tradition and ancestral homeland – Mahakulung (“Greater Kulung”), located in Solukhumbu District in the eastern part of Nepal. Solukhumbu is known for being home to Mount Everest – which the Kulung and other groups call Chomolungma (“Goddess Mother of the World”) – and other high Himalayan mountains.

Yet few are aware of the ancient settlements nestled below these snow-capped peaks. In Mahakulung, they sit at elevations ranging from 1,800 to 3,000 metres, surrounded by rugged hills and dense green forest.

Being from the Kulung community,...

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