Gore Ngawang on nomadic life in Helambu

Mingur: Tashi delek, Brother!
Nawang: Tashi delek!

Q: Let’s get started.
A: Yes, sure, please!

Q: Your good name, please?
A: My name is Ngawang Dorje Lama, but people know me as Gore Nawang.

Q: Why do people call you Gore Nawang?
A: I used to live in a gore (T. gor), but about four years ago, I stopped living there. I lived in a gore since childhood, so people began calling me Gore Nawang. There are other people named Ngawang, so to distinguish me, they use “Gore” before my name.

Q: How long did you live in a gore?
A: Since childhood, I lived in a gore with my parents. I spent two to three years in India, but then returned and lived in a gore again. Most of my life was spent in a gore, except for about three to four years when I didn’t stay there.

Q: Okay, so you lived like a nomad from childhood and only left that lifestyle three to four years ago. How many animals did you have when living in the gore?
A: We had around 30-35 sheep, 20-25 goats (goats were always fewer than sheep), and about 24-25 female yaks.

Q: Did you also herd cows?
A: No, dzomo (T. mdzo mo), which is a hybrid between a yak and a domestic cow, is much better. We didn’t have cows because the dzomo is stronger. About 15 years ago, we sold all our dzomo and replaced them with drimu (T. ’dri mo, female yak), which we brought from Langtang. I spent 12 years with drimus, but they weren’t as beneficial. I sold some yaks from the drimu herd to people in Bethang village. However, yaks weren’t very profitable, and people didn’t come to buy them. In the end, I sold all 42 animals for just one lakh. The following year, people from Khaser told me they would have bought them for 45 thousand each.

Q: What was the size of a gore in the past?
A: A gore is measured by thu nyipa (T. khru gnyis pa, “two cubits”), which is the distance from the elbow to the tips of the fingers. One gore consists of six bartshas (large bamboo or cane mats).

Q: When you moved your gore from one place to another, how long did you stay at one location?
A: It depended on the availability of grass. If there was enough grass for the animals, we stayed for one or two months. If there was less grass, we stayed for only a week or less before moving to another location.

Q: Do you know the names of the places where you moved your gore?
A: Yes.

Q: Would you mind sharing the names?
A: There are two seasons for gore: the rainy season and the winter season. During the rainy season, we would go to the mountains. First, we’d go to Kildangu, then to Charchar, then closer to Badasha, and from Badasha to Khakhare, and finally to Duphug. There are other karkhas (pastures) between these places that belong to other people. We preferred to stay at our own karkha, so we would only stop there for the night. Just as others cannot use your karkha, you shouldn’t use theirs. This system is still followed today.

Q: But you’re still allowed to spend the night in someone else’s karkha, right?
A: Yes, you can stay for a maximum of two nights in someone else’s karkha, just until you’ve finished transporting your belongings.

Q: And after that, where would you go?
A: From there, we would go directly to Jomothang. We’d stay there for two months, and in mid-November, we would move near Gangyul. We’d stay there for about three months and celebrate Losar. If there was good-quality grass (beli tsa) for the animals, we would stay there for the entire winter. In mid-April, we’d start climbing back up the hills and mountains, going to places like Fulungang, Nalakarkha, and then up to Jomothang, where we’d stay for two or three months because it had a large karkha. There are two Jomothangs: Hyolmo Jomothang and Sherpa Jomothang on the other side. We would stay at both. First, we’d stay in Sherpa Jomothang, and when the weather warmed up, we’d move to Hyolmo Jomothang. Then we’d go to Dhasinghang, Midhang, Fidhi, and finally back to Kildangu, as we couldn’t use any karkhas between these places.

Q: How do you choose which karkha to use?
A: We don’t choose karkhas freely. We can only use the ones our parents and grandparents used. Our grandparents paid taxes to the mijar (local ruler), and today, the National Park provides a six-month permit to stay in a gore in these areas. The permit states that whatever happens to the gore owner in that area is his responsibility.

Q: How do karkhas look?
A: Some karkhas are on slopes, and others are flat. Most of the lower hill karkhas are on slopes, but mountain karkhas are flat and look like plains.

Q: How many family members lived in a gore?
A: Initially, my entire family lived in the gore. My parents had seven children. As we grew older, some of my brothers became monks, and others went to India, so fewer people stayed in the gore. Two of my younger brothers became monks.

Q: What kind of work did you do while living in the gore?
A: The head of the family, my father, was responsible for managing the food supply for us. He would go to sell mar(butter) and churpi (dry cheese) and then return to the gore. The children, including myself, would take care of the cattle early in the morning. At around 11 a.m., we would gather the animals for milking, which would finish by noon. Then we’d take the herd back to the jungle to graze.

Q: Did you also have a house in the village?
A: Yes, but the house in the village was used only for storing grains.

Q: You didn’t have anyone staying in the house to look after it?
A: No, the house was just for storing grains. All the family members lived in the gore. We didn’t grow anything in the village. Gore people don’t have farmland, just a house in the village.

Q: What about the thal (village membership tax)?
A: Yes, we had to pay the thal. When it was time to pay, the head of the family—my father—would go to the village to pay it. The mother couldn’t attend those events because she had to stay behind to milk the animals.

Q: Was the gore a family business when you were young?
A: Yes. The gore was our whole livelihood. When an animal died, we felt the loss and had to buy another one. Our expected annual income at that time was about 30-40 thousand. We spent 15-16 thousand of that to buy dzomos to replace the ones that died, so we could continue taking care of the children.

Q: Which animal was the most valuable or important?
A: The most important animals were the goma (T. g.yag po’i rnga ma, head yak) and the goyang. A large dzomo was highly prized, especially a completely white one, called dzomo nurpu. Its horns gleamed in the dark. I’ve never seen one, but older people used to tell stories about it.

Q: How much did a large dzomo cost?
A: The first time I remember, a dzomo cost around 4-5 thousand NRs wholesale. Later, the price doubled to 10 thousand.

Q: When was that?
A: About 16-17 years ago. Now, a large dzomo would cost around 80-90 thousand NRs. The price difference is significant—now, a small one might cost about 35 thousand.

Q: How long would you stay in one karkha?
A: As I mentioned earlier, in large karkhas, we could stay for one or two months. If the grass was insufficient, we had to leave sooner. In the rainy season, we would move to places with grass, and in winter, we stayed where the grass was best. If there was beli tsa (a particular plant with huge leaves), it was a relief to find a place with it. Without beli tsa, there was nothing for the animals to eat.

Q: How far apart were the karkhas, and how long did it take to move between them?
A: In lower areas, the karkhas were two or three hours apart, but in the mountains, it could take an entire day to reach the next one. We would start at 5 a.m. and arrive by 6 p.m.

Q: What did you do with your belongings when moving?
A: We needed four or five porters to carry our belongings, known as keba (T. gore keba). A big family could carry a lot—food, clothes, blankets, everything.

Q: People must live in a gore for some income. What was the main source of income for gore people?
A: The main sources of income for gore people were selling mar (butter), churpi (dry cheese), and some also made sosha(sour cream).

Q: Did you go to the village to sell these, or did people come to you?
A: We had to go to the villages to sell our products. In the old days, I would go to Sermathang, Tapkakharka, and Jalsa to sell them.

Q: I heard that yak tails and horns are important.
A: I’m not sure why yak horns are considered important, but yak tails are used in festivals like silu cham (a dance performed during marriage ceremonies).

Q: How were yak tails sold in the past?
A: In the past, yak tails were very cheap, around 500-600 NRs. Now, they can cost 3-4 thousand NRs, and a white one might go for 5 thousand.

Q: How do you take a yak’s tail?
A: You can only take the tail after the yak has died; it’s not possible to take it while it’s alive.

Q: Why do animals sometimes disappear or get lost?
A: Animals sometimes run off looking for an old karkha. They can also get eaten by wild animals like leopards. When that happens, only the horn and hair remain, and you realize your animal is gone when you see them.

Q: What did you eat while living in a gore?
A: We ate sho lalo (T. zho la lo), which is tsampa mixed with yogurt.

Q: What’s the difference between living in a gore in the past and now?
A: It was hard work then, and it’s still hard now. The main difference is that earnings are better now. If we could have earned as much before, we would have made 8 lakhs annually from selling churpi from our 20 dzomos and other products. That would be a good income today.

Q: Are fewer people living in gore these days?
A: Yes, gore living has almost disappeared. Now there are only one or two gores remaining.

Mingur: Okay, thank you!
Nawang: Thank you, too.