Publisher's Synopsis
This volume is a collection of essays on the Limbus of eastern Nepal, a Tibeto-Burmese speaking group who live in the valleys located between Mount Everest and Mount Kanchenjunga. The book revolves around two main subjects. The first concerns the shamans-their healing power, their command over the elements, and their power to legitimize local headmen. The second theme deals with the residues of traditional political organization which, until recent times, were characterized by a system of 'great men' chosen by the gods and recognized by the community. A number of themes concerning traditional life are also dealt with in this book such as children's independence, 'marriage by abduction', and integration within the Nepali nation. The book also questions certain notions of ethnography such as the cultural conditioning of the observer, and the relation between myth and reality.
