Who Are the Raute?
The Raute are Nepal's last nomadic hunter-gatherer community, numbering only approximately 150-170 people. They wander through the mid-hill forests of western Nepal, living in temporary leaf shelters and refusing to settle permanently despite government pressure. The Raute speak a Tibeto-Burman language called Raute (or Khamchi), though its precise classification remains debated. Unlike Nepal's other indigenous groups who practice agriculture, the Raute maintain a foraging lifestyle supplemented by trading wooden bowls and boxes they carve from forest trees. They represent one of South Asia's last truly nomadic peoples, their small numbers and resistance to settlement making them one of the world's most endangered indigenous groups.
Nomadic Way of Life
The Raute live in small bands, constantly moving through forests in search of game and forest products. They hunt langur monkeys, their primary protein source, using trained dogs and nets. Wild yams, roots, and other gathered foods supplement hunting. The Raute construct temporary shelters (khopani) from leaves and branches, abandoning them after a few days or weeks. A camp is always abandoned when someone dies there. Their profound reluctance to settle reflects deep cultural values; the Raute consider permanent houses and agriculture to be degrading. They maintain strict avoidance of certain foods (including fish and chicken) and practices associated with settled life. Traded wooden products provide goods they cannot produceāmetal tools, cloth, and grain.
Threatened Existence
The Raute way of life faces existential threats. Deforestation has drastically reduced their hunting grounds and raw materials for woodwork. Government settlement programs have repeatedly tried to convince Raute to accept houses and agriculture; some Raute have settled, but the core nomadic group refuses. Encounters with outsiders bring disease; lacking immunity to common illnesses, the Raute are vulnerable to epidemics. Their tiny population makes demographic survival precarious; marriages often require accepting outsiders, diluting cultural transmission. Media attention has brought both support and exploitation; some Raute groups have become dependent on donations. The Nepali government has provided some support while continuing to promote settlement. Their future remains uncertain.
Contemporary Raute
The modern Raute navigate an impossible situation: continuing traditional life in shrinking forests or abandoning the only way of life they know. Those who remain nomadic face increasing hardship; those who settle struggle to adapt. Young Raute increasingly learn Nepali and encounter modern technology, creating generational tensions. The Raute king (mukhiya) provides traditional leadership but has limited ability to address external threats. Advocacy organizations work to protect Raute rights and forest access. The Raute have become symbols of indigenous rights and cultural diversity in Nepal, though this attention brings its own problems. The Raute demonstrate both the remarkable persistence of foraging adaptations into the modern era and the extreme vulnerability of small indigenous populations to external pressures.
References
- Fortier, J. (2009). Kings of the Forest: The Cultural Resilience of Himalayan Hunter-Gatherers
- Reinhard, J. (1969). The Raute: Notes on a Nomadic Hunting and Gathering Tribe of Nepal
- Shrestha, T. K. (2011). The Raute: The Last Hunting Nomads of Nepal