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	<title>The Holiday Scout Indigenous Knowledge | Tag | arunachal pradesh</title>
	<link>https://theholidayscout.com/indigenous-knowledge/</link>
	<description>The Holiday Scout</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Sun, 05 Apr 2026 17:26:12 +0530</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>Portrait of a Conservation Pioneer</title>
		<link>https://theholidayscout.com/indigenous-knowledge/plant-wisdom-and-medicine/portrait-of-a-conservation-pioneer/</link>
		<pubDate>Thu, 08 Jun 2017 00:00:00 +0530</pubDate>
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		<description><![CDATA[Located about 25 kilometers from Tawang near the Indo-Tibetan border, Gomkhang village is home to Tsering Topgey and his unique organic nursery. The 68-year-old dedicates himself full-time to cultivating wild medicinal plants, to practicing Tibetan medicine and to creating awareness about the need for conservation.As a young man working as a nurse in the Indian Army, Topgey accompanied Tibetan healer Tenzin Chotala on long treks in the Tawang hills to assess the availability of medicinal plants needed for Tibetan medicines. Chotala introduced Topgey to the notion that the forests of western Arunachal Pradesh are a store house of medicinal plants that contain the ultimate medical resources of the future.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;With great enthusiasm, Topgey showed us his two-acre garden and greenhouse where he currently grows more than 20 medicinal plant species, each in its own plot and carefully labeled. From these he prepares medicines to treat illnesses ranging from common cold and cough to diarrhea, viral infections, and asthma. Over the past several years Topgey has helped over 1500 local villagers.Topgey told us that local youths have expressed interest in learning his methods, but at present he lacks the infrastructure required to conduct such training in a systematic way. With support from the state government, for example, Topgey is sure that he could establish a traditional healing and Tibetan medicine training center in Tawang along with a rare and endangered plant garden to supply the raw materials needed for medicine preparation. We applaud Topgey&rsquo;s perseverance and share his hope that, with the upsurge in popularity of Men-Tse-Khang facilities for Tibetan medical treatment recently set up by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the concepts born in his organic garden in Gomkhang will take root on a larger scale across Arunachal Pradesh and beyond.<br>Original post at: <a href="https://theholidayscout.com/indigenous-knowledge/plant-wisdom-and-medicine/portrait-of-a-conservation-pioneer/">https://theholidayscout.com/indigenous-knowledge/plant-wisdom-and-medicine/portrait-of-a-conservation-pioneer/</a>]]></description>
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		<title>Preserving Heritage the Brokpa Way</title>
		<link>https://theholidayscout.com/indigenous-knowledge/gastronomy/preserving-heritage-the-brokpa-way/</link>
		<pubDate>Mon, 05 Jun 2017 00:00:00 +0530</pubDate>
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		<description><![CDATA[The craft of cheesemaking came to Arunachal Pradesh together with Tibetan Buddhist culture over 2000 years ago. Nomadic herdsmen once stored milk in animal skin bags where it was allowed to ferment, a step in the process which remains very similar today. Raw milk from animals that graze on pristine pastures and the seasoned hands of herdsmen or Brokpas are all that go into the making of &lsquo;Chhurpi&rsquo;, the ultimate organic cheese.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Many Brokpas are still semi-nomadic, moving with their herd across alpine meadows and taking shelter in simple huts. And the ones who make cheese often do so in cabins that are far away from the nearest village. So we were lucky to meet a cheesemaking Brokpa staying for the winter months in 4-Kilo, a hamlet located on the outskirts of Tawang. &nbsp;Sangey Norbu and his wife welcomed us warmly into their humble abode. An open hearth took up a large part of the single room where we sat on low stools and were served hot butter tea that was rich and sweet. Then after drinking his, the Brokpa began his story.&nbsp; &nbsp;For years, Sangey has been herding yaks and turning their milk into cheese by a method handed down in his family over the generations. He recalled how earlier, Chhurpi was like currency and was used to barter. And even today, the best cheese is gifted to Lamas as a sign of gratitude for their blessings.The Brokpa continued, telling us that while some now use a machine to make the cheese, Chhurpi made the traditional way is still widely deemed superior. He then described for us in detail how he goes about fermenting, scalding, draining and finally ripening the cheese, showing us all of the various utensils used. &nbsp;Ultimately, the cheese is wrapped in a skin where it stays for up to two years. But this amount of aging is very rare &ndash; because there are so many orders to be filled!Young Chhurpi is soft like ricotta while older Chhurpi is hard and has the consistency of parmesan. The more aged the cheese, the more odiferous it becomes. It would therefore never be found on a cheese board, but features very prominently in Arunachali cooking.<br>Original post at: <a href="https://theholidayscout.com/indigenous-knowledge/gastronomy/preserving-heritage-the-brokpa-way/">https://theholidayscout.com/indigenous-knowledge/gastronomy/preserving-heritage-the-brokpa-way/</a>]]></description>
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		<title>Tawang Focus &ndash; The Art of Making Paper</title>
		<link>https://theholidayscout.com/indigenous-knowledge/arts-and-crafts/tawang-focus-the-art-of-making-paper/</link>
		<pubDate>Sun, 04 Jun 2017 00:00:00 +0530</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="true">https://theholidayscout.com/indigenous-knowledge/arts-and-crafts/tawang-focus-the-art-of-making-paper/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It was a mild morning in May with barely a wisp of cloud in the cobalt sky over Tawang, a perfect day for our visit to Mukto, a village inhabited by Monpa tribals who are known for their traditional papermaking craft. When paper was first made in the Himalayas cannot be dated back exactly, but archaeological finds indicate that it has been used for writing Buddhist manuscripts for over a thousand years. This very art, handed down for generations, is what we hoped to witness.After 90 minutes drive on a rough road that transverses several mountainsides we arrived in Mukto, home to a population of around 700. We were warmly welcomed by Rinchin Gombu, former village Sarpanch and patron of the local NGO whose aim it is to preserve handmade paper production in Mukto. However, we quickly learned that this undertaking faces difficult odds, for as of today as few as 7 or 8 households still practice the art of shuk which means &lsquo;paper&rsquo; in the Tawang Monpa language. We went to view the paper making process and watched as an elderly woman showed us the steps.First, the bark of the indigenous shuk shang or paper tree is harvested and delivered to the paper maker for further processing. Those who harvest this all-important bark receive half of the finished paper as barter for their labor. It appears that only a handful of men still do the harvesting at all.The shuk shang bark is peeled and dried in the sun for 2 &ndash; 3 days. Then it is soaked in water, cut into pieces, boiled twice and made into a paste without any additives. Next, a fine screen is placed in a water bath over which the bark paste is expertly spread. The screen is then stood upright in the sun to dry and finally, the sheet of finished paper is removed.The manual process behind making this paper is very time consuming and cannot be replaced by machinery without sacrificing the unique and beautiful texture of the finished product. The paper is sold to local craft centers and to monasteries. But unlike weavers, for example, whose goods are finding their way into a blossoming market for boutique textiles, the paper makers of Mukto do not enjoy a channel of international demand. Ironically, it is the remoteness of Mukto which has helped preserve the indigenous knowledge of papermaking in this village over the eons; but the same isolation has also pushed the time-honored technique to the brink of extinction.<br>Original post at: <a href="https://theholidayscout.com/indigenous-knowledge/arts-and-crafts/tawang-focus-the-art-of-making-paper/">https://theholidayscout.com/indigenous-knowledge/arts-and-crafts/tawang-focus-the-art-of-making-paper/</a>]]></description>
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