THE YAKHA: CULTURE, ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT IN ...

to find out more about it, 1 wondered if there was any link between
this spirit and the Limbu spirit TBmpuAm.4, said to be a divinity of the
forest, described by Sagant (19691, cf. Allen (1976:534f),
Thus if Yakha attitudes to their phar-b6ri were basically positive,
and to their kheT and &ri resigned but neutral, their attitude to the
forests and rivers was generally negative, Their practices with regard
to these latter domains, while based on need for the products they
provided, also acknowledged that dangerous e!ements in these
environments could harm them, and sought to minimise this risk. If
there was any concern for protecting necessary forest resources such as
firewoad and fodder. it was balanced by a competing cancern to avoid the
dangers that lurked in forests. According to Vandana Shiva, forests
throughout South Asia are viewed by the people that use them as "the
highest expression of the earth's fertility and productivity" (1989:561,
She cites Myers' statement that traditional perceptions of forests
"convey a sense of intimate harmony, with people and forests equal
occupants of a communal habitat, a primary source of congruity between
man and nature'' (ibid). For the Yakha of Tamaphok this was simply not
an accurate reflection of the lived relationship of most people with the
main forests of their valley.
This might seem doubly strange since, as was mentioned in Chapter 3,
before the introduction of rice cultivation the Yakha had undoubtedly
been more dependent on the forests for sustenance than was the case
during our fieldwork period. However, while some shifting cultivators
exhibit a sense of harmony with their forest environment, I would argue,
as have other recent commentators (e.g. Rambo 19851, that rather than an
adaptive necessity, such ideologies operate independently of the