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The Community of Ngangla Trong

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The Community of Ngangla Trong Françoise Pommaret Introduction This project was conceived around three main ideas: the preservation of traditions is strengthened through the generation of employment and economic benefits from leveraging cultural heritage. Access to information on cultural diversity in Bhutan is widened along with the promotion of intercultural dialogue. Capacity- building in the local cultural/anthropological sector provides necessary skills for valorisation and preservation of Bhutanese cultural diversity. Its specific objectives were to encourage local Bhutanese scholarship and generate a source of local literature in the fields of anthropology, sociology, history, folklore, indigenous knowledge and archaeology; to document distinct lifestyles, customs and traditions of the target communities; and finally to generate input for further research and documentation activities, which was very important in this case as lecturers from the Institute of Language and Culture Studies (ILCS) were associated with the fieldtrip and the data collection. Françoise Pommaret and an ILCS team1 were assigned to cover Ngangla Trong (Zhemgang district), one of the most remote and poorest gewog (county) 1 This article was initially written as a project report by Françoise Pommaret with additional input from Sonam Nyenda. Yannick Jooris was the videographer and Kinzang Dorji the sound specialist on the ILCS research team which carried out the field research that resulted in this article. The ILCS team would like to thank Kunzang Dorji and Kezang Choden of the Helvetas LCD office in Thimphu, for their assistance during this study. The team would also like to express their gratitude to the RNR staff and Kunzang Dorji in Goshing, to Kezang Gyeltshen, headmaster, and Prakash Gurung, teacher of the Kagtong Community School, and to the people of Ngangla Trong for their kindness and cooperation during the fieldtrip. In Ngangla Trong, a very special thanks and immense gratitude go to Gelong Kesang Choeki, assistant coordinator Sangay Koncho, and to Phurpa Wangchuk, coordinator of the Helvetas projects in Ngangla Trong and his wife Choeni Wangmo. Beside being wonderful hosts and looking after us so well in Ngangla Trong, they provided invaluable information with utmost kindness and patience and assisted the team in every way they could. This study is dedicated to all these people and the team apologizes for any mistake or misrepresentation which may appear in this study due to ignorance and misunderstanding. Ngangla trong community of Bhutan but with a specific lifestyle and ecology which had not yet been documented. With the arrival of electricity and road, it was felt that this unique cultural entity would experience tremendous changes in the following years and had to be documented. Because of their training in cultural anthropology which is reflected in this article, the team followed the methodology used in this discipline. - Materials and data including publications as well as relevant websites on the area were collected by the researchers ahead of the field trip. - Participant observation played a great part in the data collection with a written diary being maintained, and audio-visual recording (photos & audio & video recording) on all activities which were classified by topics as reflected in the report below. - Interviews with local leaders, religious figures, and villagers of all age groups and both sexes were conducted. Interviews were conducted with a semi-structured questionnaire, which is the norm in cultural anthropology. - Languages used for the interviews were Khengkha, Dzongkha and English. - All interviews were conducted with the approval of the concerned persons. - A short reconnaissance trip was conducted in January 2012 in order to inform the villagers about the study and its purpose. We liaised through the Helvetas office in Thimphu for this. For Ngangla Trong, this project achieved the following: - The first study on the tangible and intangible culture of Ngangla Trong (history, lifestyle, customs and traditions, food, architecture and archaeology) and its unique social structure as well as it geographical set- up and its challenges. - 28 video clips and 500 photos on different cultural and daily life aspects of Ngangla Trong. - Sketch and topographical maps of the area with elevations. - Suggestions for different studies and activities which could be undertaken to sustain the villagers and give them opportunities to earn income in order to alleviate poverty and prevent rural-urban migration. - Description of possible eco-tourism trekking routes with timings. - Awareness raising among the villagers on the importance of their tangible and intangible cultures and their eco-system. - On-site training of two Bhutanese assistant lecturers of Institute of Languague and Cultural Studies, Royal University of Bhutan in interviewing, audio-video recording and documentation in order to improve their methodology and enhance the Bhutanese scholarship. - Identification of further research areas in Ngangla Trong such as detailed documentation of festivals, history of migration and settlement, ethno- botany and children with special needs. 14 Ngangla trong community Geography and Demography Ngangla gewog lies in the southernmost part of the Zhemgang dzongkhag or district covering an area of 312 sq. km. Both gewog and dungkhag (sub-district) headquarters are in Pangbang, the main commercial hub for Lower Kheng. The gewog is accessible by a feeder road from Assam in India, running through Manas to Panbang, and in 2012 when the research was conducted, most of the villages were accessible only by foot. The gewog has a lower secondary school, two community primary schools, an agricultural extension centre and a livestock extension centre. Over 63% of the population has access to potable water supply. In 1997, the gewog was divided into two: Ngangla gewog and Goshing gewog. It seems that Goshing was largely populated by people originally from Ngangla Trong. Ngangla gewog consists of eight main villages, namely Sonamthang, Thinleygang, Rebati, Marangdut, Pongchaling, Ngangla Trong, Kagtong and Chutoe with 549 households in all. Zhemgang district statistics with details taken from Census of Bhutan 20052 * Population below total poverty line: 52.9% * Households below total poverty line: 44% * Population below food poverty line: 18% * Households below food poverty line: 13% * Migration rate: 14.80% (one of the highest in Bhutan) * Illiteracy: 43.70% * Unemployement: 4.67% Ngangla Gewog * Population (2005): 2017 (male 1029, female 988). * Female heads of households: 49; male heads of households: 319. * Households: 334; households without land: 34. Two routes to Ngangla Trong Because of the remoteness of the place and the difficulties in obtaining accurate information on the routes, it was strongly felt that a description should be provided here. 1. From India and Manas Gelephu - Pangbang via Manas (India & Bhutan): 7 hour drive. Pangbang - Zero Point, the road head: 1 hour drive. 2 Unfortunately the National Statistics Bureau (NSB) 2010 figures for Zhemgang have not been updated, and give statistics dating from 2005. 15 Ngangla trong community Zero Point - Ngangla Trong: 2.5 hour walk through thick jungle. 2. From Bhutan Zhemgang - Tingtibi: 1 hour drive Tingtibi - Pangthang/Pangkhar (alt. 250m): 3-4 hour drive Pangthang - Goshing/Limapong (alt. 635m) via Budashi: 6 hour walk Overnight in Goshing/Limapong Goshing - Kagtong (alt. 580m): 6-7 hour walk Kagtong - Ngangla Trong (alt. 1190m): 1.5 hour walk. Short Description From Tingtibi, the feeder road goes through a dense tropical forest with an undergrowth of ferns, bamboos and orchids and passes through the small settlement of Dunmang Tshachu (hot spring) and Rindibi. It takes around two hours by car to reach Panthang/Pangkhar village in 2012 at the end of the newly constructed road on the right bank of the Pangkhar Chu (alt. 250m). The new road ends on the right bank of the Pangkhar Chu. (The Mangde Chu and the Moree Chu, which comes from Bumthang, join together at Dungmang to make the Pangkhar Chu). The journey continues from here either by crossing the Pangkhar Zam on foot via the long suspension bridge, or by crossing the river by boat by the motorable bridge over the Pangkhar Chu, which was being built when this research was being conducted. On the other side of the river is Goshing gewog. After an hour or more of walking along the new road under construction on the left bank of the river, there is a short uphill climb of about 45 minutes to get to the Budashi community school. Then, one treks down the hill for a while to cross a small river in a narrow valley before climbing up again. After climbing up for over an hour, the small village of Lamtang appears, and from there it is a few minute walk to reach the Lamtang pass. From here, the trail is even until it reaches Goshing Lhakhang. From Goshing Lhakhang a half hour descent and then a half hour ascent brings one to Lingmapong (635m), where the Goshing gewog office and community school are located. The next morning, the Dondula pass is reached after a steep climb up Ngangla Trong on the ridge through two villages, 16 Ngangla trong community Samsheling and Lichibi and their orange orchards. The view from Dondula pass (1100m) allows a bird-eye view of Lower Kheng and the daunting landscape covered with jungle. From the Dondula pass, a very steep climb brings one down to Lamling and then a little down from there the trail levels out. From Dondula it takes around two hours to reach Jandapong Chorten and then one has to go through a pristine, dense jungle to reach the small settlement of Amdar. The path down from Amdar leads to a big stream known to the locals as Dairang Chu. From here it is a short walk to Kagtong (585m) on an alluvial plateau where the community school is located. From Kagtong a steep climb of one to one and half hour through dense jungle takes one to the top of the mountain dominating Kagtong.
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