SOAS Research Online

Abstract

Hyolmo communities have been residing in the Lamjung and Ramechhap districts of Nepal for at least a century, and are part of a historical trend of group migration away from the Hyolmo homelands. These communities have taken different approaches to constructing their identities as belonging to the Hyolmo diaspora; in Lamjung, people readily identify as Hyolmo, while in Ramechhap people accept their Hyolmo history, but also have developed an identity as Kagate (and now Syuba). In this paper I trace the history of migration for these groups. I then look at the variety of names used in reference to these communities, which helps us understand their historical and contemporary relationship with Hyolmo. Finally, I examine contemporary cultural and linguistic practices in Ramechhap and Lamjung, to see how they perform their identity as Kagate or Hyolmo, and as modern Buddhists of Tibetan origin in Nepal.