HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies Volume 19 Number 1 Himalayan Research Bulletin Article 9 1999 "Excess Women": Non-Marriage and Reproduction in Two Ethnic Tibetan Communities of Humal, Nepal Kimber A. Haddix University of California, Berkeley Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/himalaya Recommended Citation Haddix, Kimber A.. 1999. "Excess Women": Non-Marriage and Reproduction in Two Ethnic Tibetan Communities of Humal, Nepal. HIMALAYA 19(1). Available at: https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/himalaya/vol19/iss1/9 This Research Report is brought to you for free and open access by the DigitalCommons@Macalester College at DigitalCommons@Macalester College. It has been accepted for inclusion in HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Macalester College. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 56 HIMALAYAN RESEARCH BULLETIN XIX ( 1) 1999 Research Report . "Excess Women": Non-Marriage and Reproduction zn Two Ethnic Tibetan Communities of Humla, Nepal Kimber A. Haddix Department of Demography University of California, Berkeley Jit Bahadur Gurung Kathmandu, Nepal In marital systems with any flexibility, it is Polyandry was widespread in Tibet before the important to understand the association between marital Chinese occupation, and continues to be prevalent in type and reproduction. This association can drive many ethnic Tibetan communities of Nepal and India. marital decisions and shapes broader marriage patterns, Though polyandry is otherwise rare across the globe, it thus affecting aggregate fertility levels. In this report I has been noted in other places, including in focus on the reproductive outcomes associated with communities of Nigeria and Northern Cameroon, in polyandry and one of its by-products: high rates of non­ many parts of India, and among a number of hunter marriage for women. I demonstrate that a holistic gatherer populations in the New World, including the approach to documenting and analyzing the factors Inuit, Paiute, Shoshoni, Ache, and Yanomamo. Only associated with marriage and fertility in this system among the Tibetans, however, did polyandry achieve the reveals patterns that may interest Himalayan scholars, status of a cultural "ideal", reified in tax and social anthropologists and demographers alike. structures and buttressed by a culture supporting and advocating its benefits. One of those benefits, Polyandry and non-marriage articulated by Tibetans and researchers alike, is population regulation, though the rationale most The phenomenon of non-marriage of women among commonly heard is economic-that ecological the ethnic Tibetan communities of the Himalaya is a conditions in these Himalayan conditions necessitate subject that has received surprisingly little attention in multiple adult males per household for economic studies of marriage in the region. In this paper, I argue viability. that in order to understand non-marriage one must take into account the types of marriage open to women, the Marriage is universal for men but not for women in reproductive prospects associated with them, economic these communities, a sharp contrast to most of South and ecological factors, and clan affiliation. The mix of Asia. Polyandry allows married women to "remove" those factors creates social communities of women that multiple men from the marriage market and prevents are characterized by sharp social stratification, with over 30% of women in some communities from ever unmarried women occupying the position at the bottom marrying. The reproductive rates of never-married of the social hierarchy. To date, the only study women are very low, and their virtual exclusion from focusing on this issue is Schuler's (1987) study of the sexually reproductive population keeps population women of Chumik, in which she challenged stereotypes growth rates at a relatively low level. about the incidence of non-marriage in polyandrous communities, and about the 'high status" of Tibetan Ethnic Tibetans of Humla: Upper Karnali and women in relation to men. Schuler's study of these Limi Valleys issues showed how institutional factors such as access This on-going research is being conducted in si x to property, clan hierarchies, and. prestige of natal village can affect both a woman's marriages prospects polyandrous Tibetan villages of two valleys in and her position in society. In the villages of the upper Northwest Nepal (Figure 1). Included in the study are Humla Karnali Valley and Limi Valley, non-marriage is approximately 1500 individuals , in 239 households and affected by some of the same factors. 340 conjugal units of varying types and marital NON-MARRIAGE AND REPRODUCTION IN HUMLA/Haddix and Gurung 57 histories. Data collection from the Karnali Valley is In this paper I contrast marital patterns -in the two complete, while data from Limi Valley are still being valleys in the study, and isolate some of the economic, coll ected. Data coll ected included complete marital, social and ecological factors that are associated with the fertility, contraceptiv e and economic histories, as well proportions of never-married women and their as qualitative, ethnographic and attitudinal information. reproductive fates in the two locales. The Two Valleys Differ Along These Lines: KARNALI LIMI • Relatively forgiving ecology-steep but well-irrigated • Relatively unforgiving ecology- hi gh, arid and cold • Vi ll ages at - 10,000' • Villages at - 13,000' • Per capita inheritance for males • De facto primogeniture inheritance for males • High rate of partitioning among polyandrous • Low rate of partitioning among polyandrous marriages marriages • No monastic tradition allowing nuns • Monastic tradition (Tibetan Buddhi sm) that allows nuns conjoint polygynous conjoint polygynous 1.3% 2.5% 1% 1% monogamous polyandrous monogamous polyandrous 62.8% 33.5% 53.5% 44.4% Figure 2. Distribution of conjugal units Figure 3. Distribution of conjugal units across marital types: Karnali. across marital types: Limi. magpa other 5.7% 12.8% no brothers formerly 52.8% polyandrous 26.4% no brothers 29.1% form e rly polya ndrous magpa15.1% 41.9% Figure 4. Types of monogamy among Figure 5. Types of monogamy among monogamous conjugal uriits: Karnali. -monogamous conjugal units: Limi. 58 HIMALAYAN RESEARCH BULLETIN XVIX (I) 1999 male/household ratio in Limi increase the pressure on Marriage patterns across two valleys polyandrous marriages to remain polyandrous. The In these polyandrous communities, marriage is a start-up costs associated with a new household are flexible institution. Fraternal polyandry, in which prohibitive in Limi Valley, and few junior brothers can brothers share a single wife, is the norm for any man afford them. During the Tibetan exodus in the late 50s with brothers. However, other marital types are and 60s villagers of Limi Valley were enriched by an permitted and accepted, including monogamy, influx of yaks, dzos, horses and other possessions left polygyny, and polygyandry (a.k.a., "conjoint" marriage, by Tibetans leaving Western Tibet. This caused a shift involving multiple husbands and multiple wives [sensu in production and subsistence and led Goldstein in his Levine 1987]). Figures 2 and 3 show a snapshot of the fieldwork there in the 1970s to predict that fewer men .distribution of conjugal units across marital types in would be economically necessary in polyandrous 1995. In Karnali Valley, monogamous marriages are marriages (1975). Goldstein predicted that this latitude most numerous (63%), followed by polyandrous in marriage would allow more men to marry marriages (34%). Polygynous and conjoint marriages monogamously and for population growth rates to rise are the least common (3%). In the more remote Limi accordingly. However, in the late 1990s, start-up costs Valley, polyandry is more common, accounting for associated with new households still appear to be 44% of all marriages in 1995. Monogamous marriages prohibitively high. Rates of polyandry and non­ are still more numerous (54%), however , and marriage are very similar to those noted by Goldstein in polygynous and conjoint marriages rare (2%). the 1970s, and the stability of polyandry is relatively high as well. In both valleys, competition for husbands is stiff. Women without husbands are invariably poor, In Karnali Valley, by contrast, ecological and stigmatized and cannot enjoy the material and social economic conditions are more forgiving. Polyandrous status brought by motherhood. Bearing sons is marriages partition at a higher rate, drawing more particularly important in this patrilineal society, and women (eventually) into reproductive roles. Though most women want as many children as they can the topography in the upper Karnali Valley is steep, successfully raise. Women recognize the tension land is relatively well-irrigated, as well as available for between the expense of children in this environment and more extensification. Villagers were actively clearing their desire to marry and bear them. new fields during all of my field seasons (1995-1998) and new households, though markedly poorer than Snapshots in time are not as informative as marital stable, unpartitioned ones, were sustainable. histories in marriage systems as flexible as this one. It Nonetheless, the lot of a new wife to a formerly is therefore important to distinguish among the different polyandrous man was well-known to