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

is ...p rimarily due to the growth of the local population beyond the
carrying capacity of the land" (1987:94). However, the surveys he cites
which record the numbers of people said to have migrated due to
inadequate land and economic hardship at their place of origin give
figures ranging from 39#2% to 6802% of the total, which is hardly
conclusive for his argument that "migrants in Nepal are mainly of the
subsistence' category rather than the 'betterment' ones" (1987:95).
The problem surely derives partly from trying to generalize about what
for its size is one of the most geographically and culturally varied
country on earth. This leads to confusion and uncertainty about what
facts can be ascertained and what they really are (Thompson, Warburton
and Hatley 1986).
10, Cf. Chapter Three on caste notions regarding other ethnic groups
which relate to Yakha inter-ethnic marriage choices.
11, For a more detailed analysis of the atitudes and processes involved
in cross-cultural marriage amongst the Yakha, see Kohn (in press).
12, Between 1970/1 and 1950/1, only 259,600 of the 678,178 people (i.e.
38%) calculated to have moved to the Tarai from the Hills did so under
the aegis of the Resettlement Department (ERL, 1988:A42). The
department was dissolved in 1988, The three districts of the far
eastern Tarai (Sunsari, Morang and Jhapa) are said to have increased
their population by 59% (from 665,593 to 1,055,242) in this period
(Gurung, 1987:112): only a proportion of this increase can have come
from hill-to-plains migration, however,
13, Cf, Eades (1987:ll): "migration patterns may initially be shaped by
gender roles and ideologies, but may eventually lead to their
modification",