page_title: Chepang people
hierarchical_section_title: Chepang people
caption_attribution_description: English: Chepang Man with a divice used to extract oil from Diploknema butyracea seeds.
context_page_description: The Chepang, also known as Chewang, are an indigenous Tibeto-Burman ethnic group mainly inhabiting the rugged ridges of the Mahabharat mountain range of central Nepal.
  Over the past two or three generations, the Chepang have begun to slowly shift from a semi-nomadic lifestyle to a more settled way of life, relying increasingly upon the production of permanent fields of maize, millet and bananas. The severe topography, however, has made permanent farming difficult, and the forest has remained an important source of food for the Chepang. Historically, the collection of wild yams and tubers, fish caught from nearby rivers, bats and wild birds, and periodically wild deer hunted from nearby forests, have supplemented their need for carbohydrates and protein. With increasing populations, lack of arable land and few irrigation options, malnutrition has been a historic problem for the Chepang despite forest supplements. The Chepang have often been characterized as the poorest of Nepal's poor. Forced teenage pregnancies are common. Chepang men and women are basically egalitarian and no social ranking exists as it does in caste Nepalese society.
context_section_description: The Chepang, also known as Chewang, are an indigenous Tibeto-Burman ethnic group mainly inhabiting the rugged ridges of the Mahabharat mountain range of central Nepal.
  Over the past two or three generations, the Chepang have begun to slowly shift from a semi-nomadic (slash-and-burn) lifestyle to a more settled way of life, relying increasingly upon the production of permanent fields of maize, millet and bananas.  The severe topography, however, has made permanent farming difficult (and usually insufficient), and the forest has remained an important (although decreasingly so) source of food for the Chepang. Historically, the collection of wild yams and tubers, fish caught from nearby rivers, bats and wild birds, and periodically wild deer hunted from nearby forests, have supplemented their need for carbohydrates and protein.  With increasing populations, lack of arable land and few irrigation options, malnutrition has been a historic problem for the Chepang despite forest supplements. The Chepang have often been characterized as the poorest of Nepal's poor.  Forced teenage pregnancies are common. Chepang men and women are basically egalitarian and no social ranking exists as it does in caste Nepalese society.  Many Chepang cannot read and write due to a lack of education beyond elementary school, and this illiteracy stands in contrast to the great gains Nepal has been making in reducing illiteracy.  According to the 2001 Nepal Census, there are 52,237 Chepang in the country, of which 67.63% were Hindu, 23.38% were Buddhists, 7.74% were Christians, and 1.25% others.   They are mostly located in Dhading District, Chitwan District, Gorkha District, Makwanpur District, and Tanahu District.
caption: A traditional device used by Chepang to extract oil from Chiuri seeds
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