Melemchi Village, Nepal
odd: label: Local Numbers
content: HSFA 1990.5.1
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Bishop, Naomi Hawes
label: Collection Creator
content: Bishop, John Melville
setName: label: See more items in
content: John and Naomi Bishop collection
physdesc: label: Extent
content: Film reels (6 hours 5 minutes, color silent sound; 13,000 feet, 16mm)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1989
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Human Studies Film Archives
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Film reels
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Full film record depicting life in the Sherpa village of Melemchi at the head of the Helembu Valley, Nepal. Footage complements Melemchi Village, 1986.

Filmed in the winter of 1989, the project was conceived to document the cultural ecology of Melemchi with the focus on the interactions between herd management, Sherpa cyclical wage labor and migration to India. Footage featuring holidays and religious ceremonies include: preparations made for Losar, Tibetan New Year which include pounding rice for rice flour (samba), baking "gipattis," (fried bread), the mounting of a new prayer flag, burning incense, villagers receiving blessings from their elders, gambling and cardplaying activities traditionally played on Losar; Yung,Buddhist ceremony where lamas read sacred texts in honor of Buddha's birthday; prostrations at Buddhist shrine. Footage of subsistance activities include: digging compost; the "Lari" system of farming where family and friends exchange help in reaping the crops; various kinds of work associated with transhumant zomo herds including the collection of fodder, milking and cheese making; building a new roof on a cow shed; women using sheeps wool to weave material for Sherpa jackets; men plowing fields using two bulls; cutting firewood and stockpiling for upcoming year. Footage relating to the seasons and climate include: snowball fights, children building snowmen, the seasonal migration to to lower winter pastures. ; Landscape and wildlife shots include the Yangrigang mountain where goddess Amachabriagi dwells across from Helembu valley, scenes of Ganesh Himal on the edge of Kathmandu valley, plateau farming, Rhesus monkeys around village temple, scenes of village fields in snow. Other events featured included: men congretating at a village forum to discuss issues such as the coming of electricity to Melemchi; picnic for the dedication of a new school; the distilling of Sherpa beer (chang) to make liquor (rakshi); rope handmade from nettle fibers; male sheep sold at Dasain festival; men using two-man saw to cut planks for new house. Also featured is a traditional Sherpa marriage "gapte kyungen" involving symbolic bride capture followed by the wedding celebration. Various interviews with Melemchi men and women with different social experiences and generational backgrounds included.

Collection is annotated by John Bishop, documentary filmmaker, Naomi Bishop, anthropologist, John Homiak, Human Studies Film Archives, and Nogabu, cultural informant from Melemchi.

Legacy Keywords: Language and culture ; Temples prayer wheels Nepal ; Harvests barley Nepal ; Barley method of harvest Nepal ; Animal husbandry milking cows Nepal ; Seances spirit mediums ritual Nepal ; Mediums ritual spirit communication Nepal ; Spirits mediums communication with Nepal ; Ritual spirit mediums seances Nepal ; Chanting as part of ritual Nepal ; Musical instruments drums cymbals horns bells Nepal ; Agriculture corn barley grains Nepal ; Food preparation churning butter cheese Nepal ; Altars seances Nepal ; Animal sacrifice as part of ritual Nepal ; Purification ritual Nepal ; Mills grinding flour water driven Nepal ; Weaving wool looms Nepal ; Pastoral activities herding miling grazing Nepal ; Bells for keeping birds from crops Nepal ; Quarrying boulders for building stones Nepal ; Mortuary practices pallequin procession cremation Nepal ; Funerals cremation Nepal ; Priest lama chanting Nepal ; Temple gompa ceremony Nepal ; Bread ceremonial Nara bread gompa Nepal ; Dancing ritual social Nepal ; Woodworking carving Nepal ; Altars gompa Nepal ; Flags prayer flags raising of Nepal ; Potatoes cultivation of Nepal ; Shrines gompa Nepal