Kusunda (people)

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The Kusunda ( Ban Raja Kings of the Forest) are ethnically related to the Chepang tribe in Nepal , whose approximately 100 tribe members (the last census of 2001 gives their exact number as 164) do not live in mud houses like the latter, but in the forest. Their language was relatively poorly documented for a long time and was previously classified as belonging to Tibeto-Burmese , but is now mostly viewed as isolated and remnants of an old language family that was native there before the advance of Tibeto-Burmese.

Like the Nahali in their vicinity, the Kusunda are stereotypically viewed by many Nepali as barbaric cannibals, perhaps also reinforced by the view of the neighboring Chepang that the Kusunda want to kill them if they come into contact, which justifies the mutual aversion and avoidance of contact. On the other hand, it is precisely this rejection of other peoples around the Kusunda, unlike other "first peoples" in Eurasia (such as the Sri Lankan Weddas or the Filipino Negritos ) before the physical extinction and / or loss of their language and culture (see also the case of the Andamans ) have preserved.

However, this exclusion then regularly leads to the displacement of such remaining peoples, which are regarded as unequal to less productive and sought-after areas (such as jungles, deserts, islands or mountains), where their cultural identity is increasingly threatened today. However, it is precisely the linguistic and genetic relationships between such residual peoples that are important for research into early history, e.g. B. on the Indian peninsula or in the Indo-Pacific region, beyond purely linguistic clarifications, it is highly significant for the clarification of today's highly controversial historical discussions (e.g. on the origin of Indo-Iranian in India and the carriers of earlier culture).

Regarding religion, the Kusunda are followers of an animistic- ethnic religion , with influences from surrounding Hinduism in the religious rituals practiced.

literature

  • Sueyoshi Toba: The Kusunda language revisited after 30 years . Journal of Nationalities of Nepal 3 (5), 2000, pp. 92-94.
  • P. Whitehouse, T. Usher, M. Ruhlen & William S.-Y. Wang: Kusunda: An Indo-Pacific language in Nepal . 2004, PNAS 101: 5692-5695 online .
  • Uday Raj Aaley: Kusunda Jaati ra Sabdakos / Kusunda Tribe and Dictionary . 2017, ISBN 978-9937-0-1609-4 (in kusunda and English).

Web links

  • BK Rana: 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)