We’re happy to announce the Tribal Trust Foundation (TTF) has successfully funded a grassroots cultural revitalization and research initiative for the Monpa, a tribe of Indigenous hunter gatherers who live in the Black Forest, a remote area in Central Bhutan. The Monpa community is rich in culture and they recognize “it is on the verge of disappearing”. This funding will empower the community Elders, including the shamans and Lama, to document and revive their culture by teaching their children about the Monpa lineage, religious activities, traditional foods, crafts and dress using nettle cloth, songs, ceremonies, and medicine. Also, they are beginning to translate the Monpa language into dzongka (Bhutanese national language) and English so it will be preserved forever.
Image: Pamos Nguntimo by Karma Jamtsho
The Monpa are a shamanic hunter-gatherer culture. However, as told in their own words, the youth are not learning from the Pamos, the female shamans, who live in the most remote area of the Black Forest without electricity. This spiritual tradition is at risk of disappearing, as you will learn in our latest documentary film project. Our intrepid donors and film crew who traveled to Bhutan with the Tribal Trust Foundation last year were the first people the Pamos had ever met outside of their small community. Our visit encouraged Monpa youth to learn from the Pamos Elders and Ap Tawla, the Monpa natural healer, who recruited two new apprentices.
Please consider making a donation to support this film project & the Pamos.
The Tribal Trust partners with businesses and NGOs who are on the ground working directly with the Indigenous peoples we support. In Bhutan, we align with the Tarayana Foundation, Yangphel Travel, and Mountain Crafts. Anthropologist Seeta Giri is the owner of Mountain Crafts. Her business was created to empower local communities through the preservation and marketing of Indigenous arts and crafts. The Tribal Trust Foundation’s support of the revitalization of Monpa traditional dress made with nettle cloth has enabled their expansion to produce handcrafted woven products for sale. You can purchase them here and learn more by visiting @mountaincrafts_bhutan on social media.
If you would like to learn more about the history of the Monpa culture, we encourage you to read Seeta’s book, “The Vital Link: Monpas and their Forests“. We will inform you when her next book about the Monpa is published later this year.
Image: Pamos by Karma Jamtsho
TRAVEL WITH US!
Please consider joining us on a unique trip to visit Bhutan and its Indigenous people. Your participation provides direct support for our projects there. You may choose from two trips; one led by Dr. Dawn Murray, Tribal Trust’s Director of International Education & Research (August), or travel with Tribal Trust’s Founder & Executive Director Barbara Savage (September). Final deposits for both trips are due by April 15, 2023.
Image: Tiger’s Nest by Karma Jamtsho
Tashi delek (Bhutanese blessing & thanks),
Barbara
Barbara Savage
Founder & Executive Director
Tribal Trust Foundation
The Tribal Trust Foundation is located in the unceded homelands of the Chumash People and the Seminole Tribe of Florida. By recognizing these communities, we attempt to honor their legacies, their lives, and descendants. To learn more about the Indigenous People’s land on which your home or work sits, visit: native-land.ca
