The Kusunda or Ban Raja ("people of the forest"), known to themselves as the Mihaq or Myahq (< *Myahak),[1] are a tribe of former hunter-gatherers of the forests of western Nepal, who are now intermarried with neighboring peoples and settled in villages.
In 1968 American anthropologist Johan Reinhard located a few of the last surviving Kusunda near Gorkha in Central Nepal, and in 1969 and 1975 he found further members in Dang and Surkhet valleys in western Nepal, collecting basic linguistic and ethnographic data (see references below). Shortly earlier, in about 1956, René Nebesky-Wojokowitz wrote a report after he was told by villagers of Kusundas conducting silent trade with Nepali farmers. The Kusunda were said to have brought a deer hunted recently and left it for a farm household with the unspoken expectation that the farmers would give the Kusunda farm goods.[2]
The Kusunda mainly hunted birds resting in trees at night with bows and exceptionally long (ca. 160 cm) unfeathered arrows, which were poorly suited for the hunting of land animals. Their custom of eating only the meat of wild animals extended until recent times. The Kusunda are followers of animism, though Hindu overtones may be seen in their religious rituals. According to the 2011 Nepal census, there are a total of 273 ethnic Kusunda.[3] In 2001 Census, there were 164 Kusunda of whom 160 were Hindus and 4 were Buddhists. The Nepali word Kusunda originally meant "savage", as the neighboring Chepang and other groups traditionally thought of them as savages.[citation needed]
Watters (2005) published a mid-sized grammatical description of the Kusunda language, plus vocabulary, which shows that Kusunda is indeed a language isolate. Nepali is now their language of everyday communication. The language is almost moribund, with no children learning it, as all Kusunda speakers have married outside their ethnicity. Only one speaker survives in Nepal, an elderly woman.[4]
Notes
^B. K. Rana (Linguistic Society of Nepal), "New Materials on Kusunda Language" (Presented to the Fourth Round Table International Conference on Ethnogenesis of South and Central Asia, Harvard University, Cambridge MA, USA. May 11–13, 2002)
^Nebesky-Wojkowitz, René. 1959. Kusunda and Chepang: Notes on Two Little-Known Tribes of Nepal. Bulletin of the International Committee on Urgent Anthropological and Ethnological Research 2: 77-84.
^"National Population and Housing Census 2011" (PDF). 2021-11-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
^Gautam, Bimal (May 12, 2012). "Nepal's mystery language on the verge of extinction". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
References
Reinhard, Johan (1968) “The Kusunda: Ethnographic Notes on a Hunting Tribe of Nepal.” Bulletin of the International Committee on Urgent Anthropological Ethnological Research 10:95-110, Vienna.
Reinhard, Johan (1969) "Aperçu sur les Kusunda: Peuple Chasseur du Népal." Objets et Mondes 9(1):89-106, Paris.
Reinhard, Johan (1976) “The Bana Rajas: A Vanishing Himalayan Tribe.” Contributions to Nepalese Studies 4(1):1-22, Kathmandu.
Reinhard, Johan and Sueyoshi Toba (1970) A Preliminary Linguistic Analysis and Vocabulary of the Kusunda Language. Kathmandu: Summer Institute of Linguistics/Tribhuvan University.
Genetic evidence for origins of Ban Rajas (Kusundas) of Nepal
Ethnologue reports the Kusunda language to be extinct.
P. Whitehouse, T. Usher, M. Ruhlen & William S-Y. Wang (2004): Kusunda: An Indo-Pacific language in Nepal, PNAS 101:5692–5695 (free access) attempts to link Kusunda to other languages, using old data.
BBC News: Nepal's mystery language on the verge of extinction
kusunda, people, kusunda, raja, people, forest, known, themselves, mihaq, myahq, myahak, tribe, former, hunter, gatherers, forests, western, nepal, intermarried, with, neighboring, peoples, settled, villages, 1968, american, anthropologist, johan, reinhard, lo. The Kusunda or Ban Raja people of the forest known to themselves as the Mihaq or Myahq lt Myahak 1 are a tribe of former hunter gatherers of the forests of western Nepal who are now intermarried with neighboring peoples and settled in villages In 1968 American anthropologist Johan Reinhard located a few of the last surviving Kusunda near Gorkha in Central Nepal and in 1969 and 1975 he found further members in Dang and Surkhet valleys in western Nepal collecting basic linguistic and ethnographic data see references below Shortly earlier in about 1956 Rene Nebesky Wojokowitz wrote a report after he was told by villagers of Kusundas conducting silent trade with Nepali farmers The Kusunda were said to have brought a deer hunted recently and left it for a farm household with the unspoken expectation that the farmers would give the Kusunda farm goods 2 The Kusunda mainly hunted birds resting in trees at night with bows and exceptionally long ca 160 cm unfeathered arrows which were poorly suited for the hunting of land animals Their custom of eating only the meat of wild animals extended until recent times The Kusunda are followers of animism though Hindu overtones may be seen in their religious rituals According to the 2011 Nepal census there are a total of 273 ethnic Kusunda 3 In 2001 Census there were 164 Kusunda of whom 160 were Hindus and 4 were Buddhists The Nepali word Kusunda originally meant savage as the neighboring Chepang and other groups traditionally thought of them as savages citation needed Contents 1 Kusunda language 2 Notes 3 References 4 External linksKusunda language EditMain article Kusunda language Watters 2005 published a mid sized grammatical description of the Kusunda language plus vocabulary which shows that Kusunda is indeed a language isolate Nepali is now their language of everyday communication The language is almost moribund with no children learning it as all Kusunda speakers have married outside their ethnicity Only one speaker survives in Nepal an elderly woman 4 Notes Edit B K Rana Linguistic Society of Nepal New Materials on Kusunda Language Presented to the Fourth Round Table International Conference on Ethnogenesis of South and Central Asia Harvard University Cambridge MA USA May 11 13 2002 Nebesky Wojkowitz Rene 1959 Kusunda and Chepang Notes on Two Little Known Tribes of Nepal Bulletin of the International Committee on Urgent Anthropological and Ethnological Research 2 77 84 National Population and Housing Census 2011 PDF 2021 11 01 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint url status link Gautam Bimal May 12 2012 Nepal s mystery language on the verge of extinction BBC News BBC Retrieved 30 September 2012 References EditReinhard Johan 1968 The Kusunda Ethnographic Notes on a Hunting Tribe of Nepal Bulletin of the International Committee on Urgent Anthropological Ethnological Research 10 95 110 Vienna Reinhard Johan 1969 Apercu sur les Kusunda Peuple Chasseur du Nepal Objets et Mondes 9 1 89 106 Paris Reinhard Johan 1976 The Bana Rajas A Vanishing Himalayan Tribe Contributions to Nepalese Studies 4 1 1 22 Kathmandu Reinhard Johan and Sueyoshi Toba 1970 A Preliminary Linguistic Analysis and Vocabulary of the Kusunda Language Kathmandu Summer Institute of Linguistics Tribhuvan University D E Watters 2005 Notes on Kusunda Grammar A language isolate of Nepal Himalayan Linguistics Archive 3 1 182 NFDIN Katmandu ISBN 99946 35 35 2 External links EditGenetic evidence for origins of Ban Rajas Kusundas of Nepal Ethnologue reports the Kusunda language to be extinct P Whitehouse T Usher M Ruhlen amp William S Y Wang 2004 Kusunda An Indo Pacific language in Nepal PNAS 101 5692 5695 free access attempts to link Kusunda to other languages using old data BBC News Nepal s mystery language on the verge of extinction 2011 Nepal s Census 1 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Kusunda people amp oldid 1038124230, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
