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

migration, Those villages and families which have had members serving
in the British and Indian armies for the past one hundred and fifty
years would have a long tradition of migration, and probably highly
favorable at t it udes towards i t . Other vi 1 lages whose members have had
no military experience, because they were not from desirable ethnic
groups, would have no tradition of migration".
3. It is curious that so few of these shops and tea shops were run by
Yakha. A few wealthier Yakha men had constructed buildings in
Basantapur and Sansare Mude which they rented out to others for business
purposes. During our time in Tamaphok a Yakha primary school teacher
took over the small general store next to the panc6vat off ice which was
in competition with the Brahmin-operated tea shop. This, and the shop
in Ssnsare Mude, appeared to be notable except ions to what most people
agreed with me was the rule amongst Yakha of not liking to run shops.
Various possible ressons were given for this lack of interest: lack of
business sense was one, lsck of capital another. Neither of these
explanations seemed very plausible to us. We wondered whether there
could be s more deep-seated cultural prejudice against selling goods for
cash, or feeling a servant to one's shop (after the myth of Lalubha~ and
Palubhaq given in Chapter Five).
4, For diagrams of the layout of some markets in the eastern hills, see
Ssgan t (1968- 1969: 96).
5. According to Sagant (1968-9: 91), the distinguishing feature of a
mela is its religious pretext. However, while there probably had been a
religious element to the various local me16 at one time, it was not
known or commented on by our Yakha friends in Tamaphok.
6, The following story was re!ated to us to explain why there were very
few rice dance verses in Yakha. Once upon a time there was a
competition between the Yakhas and Limbus, held by the gods at the
bazaar, At a given moment, the gods threw all the possible verses from
the sky. The Limbu held out a thunse (a large, finely woven basket used
for washing millet, pronounced thumse in Yakha) and caught a large
number of verses. The Yakha held out a Doko (a large, loosely woven
open basket), and almost all their verses fell through the holes and
were lost.
7, Pokhrel et a1 (2040 V.S.: 1129) describe r6-ke as a traditional
festival and fair of the Tamang, Magar, Rsi and Limbu. It would be
useful to have comparative material on other similar fairs.
8. Cf. Allen (1987:26): "An almost proverbial comment made to outsiders
is that hill life is arduous (dukhi N.) because to eat one must plough
and carry losds; at the birth of a male child in Mukli a miniature
plough may be made to symbolise the life of toil that lies ahead".
9. Poffenberger concludes that "migration is a result primarily of
economic needs, particular!^ the need for cash which can purchase
consumer goods which, in turn, are a reflection of the rising standard
of living of hill people over the past one hundred years or so"
(1980:66). For Gurung, by contrast, "out-migration from rural areas