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       Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Shneiderman, Sara.

      Rituals of ethnicity : Thangmi identities between Nepal and India / Sara Shneiderman. — 1st ed.

      p. cm. — (Contemporary ethnography)

      Includes bibliographical references and index.

      ISBN 978-0-8122-4683-4 (hardcover : alk. paper)

      1. Thami (Nepalese people) 2. Thami (Nepalese people)—Ethnic identity. 3. Thami (Nepalese people)—Migrations. 4. Thami (Nepalese people)—Government relations—Nepal. 5. Thami (Nepalese people)—Government relations—India, Northeastern. 6. Tribes—Government policy—Nepal. 7. Tribes—Government policy—India, Northeastern. 8. Ethnicity—Political aspects—Himalaya Mountains Region. 9. Emigration and immigration—Political aspects—Himalaya Mountains Region. I. Title. II. Series: Contemporary ethnography.

      DS493.9.T46S56 2015

      305.80095496—dc23

      2014028283

       Ama apa, bubu pairi, tete jarphu, hu wari, humi damari, ca camaica! Sakale kai seva!

      Mother and father, older brother and sister-in-law, older sister and brother-in-law, younger brother and sister-in-law, younger sister and brother-in-law, son and daughter!

      I offer service to all of you!

      * * *

      With this Thangmi greeting that recognizes all present with invocations of kinship, I dedicate this book to those who contributed to this project but did not live to see its end: Rana Bahadur and Maili of Balasode; Ram Bahadur of Kodari; Maili and Jyakha Bhojyu (Buddha Laxmi) of Pashelung; Junkiri of Suspa; Dalaman of Alampu; Singha Bahadur and Khumbalal of Kathmandu; and Basant, Gopal Singh, and Latte Apa (Man Bahadur) of Darjeeling

       Contents

       List of Abbreviations

       Preface

       1. Of Rocks and Rivers—Being Both at Once

       2. Framing, Practicing, and Performing Ethnicity

       3. Origin Myths and Myths of Originality

       4. Circular Economies of Migration, Belonging, and Citizenship

       5. Developing Associations of Ethnicity and Class

       6. Transcendent Territory, Portable Deities, and the Problem of Indigeneity

       7. The Work of Life-Cycle Rituals and the Power of Parallel Descent

       8. Resisting the End of a Ritual

       Epilogue: Thami ke ho?—What Is Thami?

       Glossary

       Notes

       Bibliography

       Index

       Acknowledgments