What Earth honoring tradition and wisdom, that has been passed on to you, will you share with future generations? Indigenous mothers and matriarchs have the most responsibility in carrying and passing on ancient traditional knowledge to their youth. This transfer of knowledge ensures future generations can live sustainably and in harmony with each other. The women’s initiatives facilitate knowledge sharing around traditional values and skills. One such Indigenous project in Bhutan that highlights the Monpas’ interconnectedness with nature, is the Monpa Nettle Heritage Conservation Project.
For ten years, The Tribal Trust Foundation has supported the production, harvesting and weaving of the Monpa’s traditional nettle cloth dress, called a paagay. This ancient craft was almost lost when we first met with the Monpa in 2014. At that time, nettle was difficult to find and only a few women knew how to harvest and weave it. At the women’s request, TTF funded the production of 60 paagay to help reinstate their traditional dress. Now there are sixteen women who know how to weave the nettle.
Please join us in continuing to honor the Indigenous Monpa mothers and matriarchs by donating to the Monpa Nettle Heritage Conservation Project. Your donation will help preserve an ancient traditional women’s craft that is important to their cultural identity as the First peoples of their land. This initiative will be led by the Monpa community members who have learned the weaving skill. Technical support and project management will be coordinated by our partner, the Mountain Crafts, in collaboration with the Dzongkhag Administration, and the Tarayana Foundation. Our goal is to raise $2,000 specifically for a weaving and natural dying training workshop.
Our April TTF Donor trip to Bhutan was memorable for all participants. The landscape was spectacular! Rhododendron trees were in full bloom as well as many other spring flowers. Our journey to the Black Forest to meet with the Monpa was during the eclipse. Monpa Lama Dophu honored our group with an invitation to attend the unveiling ceremony of a sacred sculpture embodying the God of Wealth. Monpa villagers gathered on our final night to entertain us with traditional songs and dances, proudly wearing their nettle cloth attire. Another highlight of the trip was seeing the smiling faces of two Monpa students at the private mindfulness based boarding school ELC, (Educating for Life long citizenship), where they are attending on a Tribal Trust Foundation educational scholarship.
Monpa students attending private school on a TTF educational scholarship
I felt much more connected to [the work of] Tribal Trust after spending time with the Monpa in Bhutan. I feel that in supporting them in maintaining their cultural practices and their language, we amplify the wealth of knowledge Indigenous people hold about how we are going to stay here on this planet. Because at the rate we’re going in western culture, humans are on a fast track to extinction. What I have seen from my time in Bhutan and in learning from Indigenous people elsewhere, is that slowing down and having that connection and harmony with the earth is the future, if we want one. To me, supporting that is a humble realization that supporting these projects and these people is actually helping us protect our own global culture.~ Sam Davis, Artist & Philanthropist
First night in Monpaland
SAVE THE DATE!The Golden Eagle Festival
October 1-7, 2025 Mongolia
TRIBAL TRUST LEGACY SOCIETYYour investment in the TTF’s future empowers Indigenous peoples and helps ensure their cultural preservation for generations to come.
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
