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Raute - The Emperor of Jungles

“We would love to die rather than giving up our Nomadic Life.” We are the King of Jungle; we are the persons who love the nature. It’s a common statement that is used by Raute community. This ethnic community is officially announced as Nomadic community by Government of Nepal.

According to census held in 2001, about 660 persons of this community were found in limited settlements in Karnali and Mahakali region of western Nepal. This community regularly hunts for Monkeys and Langurs for survive and it is also one of their well known characteristics to make them popular. At the same time they gather edible wild forest products, fruits and other greens which are found in Jungle.

Raute are artist by birth. Their beautiful wooden Kosi(bowls) and boxes are very famous and are in demand. Being a fantastic artist they never sell their handmade products for money. For clothes, jewelries and other requirements they use barter system and trade with local farmers. The most appreciating thing about the Raute community is that, they never sell forest product.
Surkhet and Dailekh are those places where the member of this community can be seen. They suddenly appear to reachable locality (less crowded) or any local resident’s house and ask person to exchange paddy, maize and other commodities with their handmade Bowls and Boxes. They are quite silent and behave as an observer while exchanging the things.
They claim themselves as Thakuri’s (ruler’s communities in Nepal) ancestors and love to be called Ban Ko Raja (King of Forests). According to evidence a Raji community is also in existence in India (Uttar Pradesh).

Short height, dark skin, flat abdomen, short hairs and shy nature are the basic physical appearances of Raute. They always try to avoid the other people in their residence which are built by leaves and branches of tree to protect them by sunlight and rain.

Their language is currently classified as Tibeto-Burman. It is called "Raute" in most studies and sometimes "Khamci," meaning "our talk" in a few other studies. The Raute use this name for their autonym, their own name for themselves, as well as their exonym , the name used by outsiders to refer to them. It is closely related to the language spoken by two related ethnic groups, the Ban Raji ("Little Rulers of the Forest") and Raji ("Little Rulers") of the same region.

All over the world, hunter-gatherer societies are disappearing and similar is happening with this ethnic community of Nepal. They are perfect hunter-gatherers. They hunt in group with axes and their traditional nets. Raute share their food and property with other members. It is heard that they go to exchange their handmade products to village and came back with their earnings, their earnings are collected in front of their chief (Mukhiya), afterward everything is equally shared in the community. It really shows the love, respect and duty towards kids, ladies, old members and leaders. Socialism is very strong in this community and they feel proud on their activities.

Due to many diseases like malaria, diarrhea and other communicable disease lots of deaths are occurs because they roam in forest (rainy) western part of Nepal and these disease are common in such moist places.  Government is trying to protect them for their rich culture and old tradition. Many programs are being conducted to assist them but they want to be happy in a natural environment. Many families are settled permanently at Dadeldhura and other parts but these families are not happy to live permanently at one place.

It doesn’t matter how much developments are achieved, they are born to roam, they are born to explore and born to struggle.  They want to continue their nomadic way of life. They wish to travel freely and want no harassment in community or government controlled forests. According to some strict law to protect jungle, Raute community is not allowed to cut tress and utilize them for making the things for their survival. It sounds little pity but it is also necessary to protect the jungle for future. The Raute demand is that they should be able to exploit the forest resources free of interference because they have been doing so since time immemorial.

Government is in dilemma. What to do or what not to do? If government supports Raute community to preserve this ethnic community which is a matter of proud and allow them to destroy jungle, it will be a major environmental problem for us all. Similarly if government makes strict rules and regulations which will not allow them to utilize jungle resources, this community will be certainly disappear.   

A mutual understanding between government, NGOs and with Raute will be the best option to solve this problem. If these three will come together, our upcoming generation can certainly see and explore our old and ethnic community.

Government  has better resources and NGOs has better experience as well as fund to contribute but the only factor that can force Raute community to take part in this mission is EDUCATION.  

Written By: Suman B. Singh