Emiline Smith — Research Blog — Heritage as Placemaking: The Politics of Solidarity and Erasure in South Asia

Zinpa Gyaltsen Budha is a researcher, translator, and trekking guide from Dolpa, Nepal. He is working with Dr. Emiline Smith on various projects in the Himalaya. The following reflective blog post recounts his experiences doing research with Emiline and presenting their work at the Asian Criminology Conference in Sri Lanka.

Zinpa Gyaltsen Budha at the 14th Asian Criminology Conference. Photo: Emiline Smith

I moved to Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal, in the late 1990s. I was approximately 8 years old. Like many parents from Nepal’s remote areas, mine sent me to Kathmandu for a better education. Although it is now a long time ago, I remember all the emotions I felt, for example, the excitement of seeing big houses, big buses, and planes for the first time. It was just like the stories that the older people in the village used to tell us. There were so many things I had never seen before, everywhere I looked. Now it is 2023 and I took my first international flight alone, which brought back all the memories of excitement that I had when I was moving to Kathmandu.

My name is Zinpa Gyaltsen Budha and I am a trekking guide, translator, and a research assistant in my homeland Dolpa, Nepal. In October 2023, with the help of Dr. Emiline Smith, I got the chance to participate in the 14th Asian Criminology Conference at the General Sir John Kotelawala Defense University in Colombo, Sri Lanka, to give a presentation on the topic “Equitable Cross-Cultural Knowledge Exchange in Research on Sensitive Topic in the Trans-Himalayan Region of Dolpa, Nepal.”

Emiline had told me about the opportunity to participate in the conference during fieldwork in the Himalayas earlier that year, but I did not pay much attention at the time because, for me, it was beyond my imagination to travel abroad. However, even with our limited internet connection, we applied for it, and to my surprise our abstract was accepted. Still, I did not want to get my hopes up, until a few weeks later when Emiline asked me what dates I wanted to fly. Only when I received the visa for Sri Lanka, did I start to believe I would actually get to go. I got very motivated to present about our experience of doing research in the Himalayas. Being able to travel abroad for the first time in my life is something I had never expected would happen. There are of course people from my village that travelled abroad for education or work, but I just never thought this could happen to me. I was so excited that I immediately started to prepare for the presentation and also did research about Sri Lanka and the trip practicalities: for example, I asked some of my friends about their airport experience and travelling abroad because I wanted to be prepared for everything.

Although there were some initial hiccups at Kathmandu airport, I finally was on my way. This was a much bigger plane than I usually travel with to my home in Dolpa. They even served us food! I had a window seat, and it was fantastic to see the world from this angle. It was the first time I saw the ocean. I got through the immigration check in Sri Lanka, and when they stamped my passport was when I got more excited and nervous at the same time. I was actually in a different country. Luckily, I can read and speak English, which made immigration much easier, but it took a while to get my luggage because I have never been to such a big airport before. Kind strangers helped me out – it is important to ask when you do not know and you’re in a new environment.

After leaving the airport, the first thing I was impressed by were the cars that they drive and the road that they drive on. Most of the cars that I saw were from Japan and they were hybrid cars that can run both on electricity and diesel – something that is very rare to see in Nepal. Sri Lankan roads and highways are so clean, paved and very wide, and no one was honking. I wanted to see as much as possible of Sri Lanka and to make the most of this opportunity. Although the conference took 3 days, we were also able to travel around a bit to see some of the country. Emiline and I have done months of fieldwork together in the Himalayas, but this was a whole new experience for me because the roles were reversed: now she was the guide and I was the one discovering new things.

We were able to visit the Nine Arch Bridge which I liked so much because it was my first time seeing a train in real life. I really enjoyed just seeing the train moving on the bridge. This might sound weird to some people, but for me it was one of the highlights of this trip. On my 3rd day in Sri Lanka, we travelled from Ella to Kandy by train in the early morning. This was an unforgettable experience for me, I will never forget it in my life. The train journey and the landscape along with tea farms were amazing. The train is such a cheap and convenient way to travel, with beautiful views – I wish Nepal had more trains. When we finally arrived to Kandy, this beautiful city, it gave so much of a homely feeling, like a city in Nepal. I like it there: the lake at the city center, the architecture, and all the nature surrounding the city.

A train running over the Nine Arch Bridge. Photo: Zinpa Gyaltsen Budha

The Sri Lankan people are so friendly, they smile all the time. I felt safe to travel alone on a bus and train to visit some more sights while Dr Smith had to go back to Colombo. This was pretty exciting and challenging at the same time, as I was still by myself in an unknown country, but I managed somehow and at some point I didn’t even feel like I was a tourist unless someone asked me for my passport. I felt like a local, I just had to speak English instead of Nepali. That day I visited Sigiriya, Dambulla caves and the Golden Temple, all places which I have seen in pictures but was actually able to experience in person. I absolutely loved travelling around Sri Lanka, especially because of its natural beauty: everything is so green. One thing I noticed was that people always have nature close to them: instead of having to go look for it during a hiking trip for example, they can just come our of their house and it’s there. Even the University where the conference took place had a garden, which is so important for students to think and enjoy and have some food. This also means there is so much wood for construction available, which is much scarcer where I come from. The only thing that was difficult to get used to were the bugs: Dolpa is part of the Himalayan region, and it is too high above sea level for many insects to survive, but Sri Lanka has many insects I had never seen or felt before.

Traveling by train in Sri Lanka. Photo: Zinpa Gyaltsen Budha

Then the conference started, my first academic conference. Our presentation was only on day 2, so I was able to first visit the University and get used to how a conference works. It was nice to see so many people from different Asian countries and different backgrounds. I had a chat with some of the participants and it was wonderful, as most of them were highly educated, whereas I am a farmer from the Himalayas, but still our conversations flowed. I was the only person representing Nepal, and I was proud to be there. On our presentation day, I wore a traditional Dolpa outfit, and it felt really good to be there. Many people asked me about Dolpa and about Nepal. I felt nervous but was well-prepared for our presentation, and it went well. I was happy I did it, because it allowed me to share my experiences about the fieldwork we did for the Heritage as Placemaking research on yartsa gunbhu and the trafficking of Dolpa’s cultural heritage, as well as the children’s book ‘Pema and the Stolen Statue from Dolpa’ that I helped Emiline with. This fieldwork allowed me to reflect more on my people, culture and the region I am from, so it was nice to share this with such a diverse audience.

During our presentation, titled “Equitable Cross-Cultural Knowledge Exchange in Research on Sensitive Topic in the Trans-Himalayan Region of Dolpa, Nepal,” I discussed what it was like to work as research facilitator for a foreign project. Being a research facilitator in Dolpa means that I get to share, learn, and help people experience our culture, religion and tradition. They would not be able to do this without coming to the region. The fieldwork itself is physically demanding: foreign researchers are not used to crossed 5000+m snowy passes or crossing the same river 13 times per day. Dolpa is the biggest district of Nepal yet the most remote, so field sites are difficult to reach. This means that facilitating logistical arrangements is challenging, for example, a usual trekking day includes 6 to 10 hours of walking across different Himalayan passes, and at the end of the day we must either camp or stay in guesthouses while arranging our own food. But what is extra important during a research trip is of course the arrangement of interviews and connecting with people, which is not needed during a commercial trip. As a research facilitator, I take care of the researcher’s safety and facilitate the logistical aspects of the fieldwork, as well as translating and connecting to participants.

That means that sometimes I am an outsider working on a foreign project, and sometimes I am an insider with expert knowledge. In a way, Dr Emiline and I helped each other: my access and experience certainly were invaluable for the project, but it also gave me a chance to expand my knowledge on topics that I have not studied, such as criminology, and be part of research projects that I cannot do by myself even if I wish to do so. It's rare to have a chance to participate in an academic project, but what I appreciated about working with Emiline is that she treated me as an expert about the region and the trek. It made me more aware that other projects have stereotyped Dolpa and Dolpopa, which does not help our region – instead, more community collaboration in academic projects is necessary to help both the communities and the researchers. Our region is so underrepresented in every aspect of Nepal, including the political landscape. Projects like this one help draw attention to our problems and needs.

Zinpa Gyaltsen Budha walking on the beach.

We ended the conference in Galle, which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site as it is famous for its colonial buildings. It was there where I first experienced being in the ocean. Walking around these colorful alleyways in the fort, enjoying the beach and the Sri Lankan food were also a crucial part of the trip which I will never forget in my life. So many fresh fruits and vegetables and seafood, it seemed like an endless supply.

As a guy from the Himalayas who had never thought of travelling abroad (and whose parents have never travelled abroad), I was able to visit Sri Lanka on my first international trip. I was able to see and do so many exciting things for the first time: eating soft ice cream, seeing a turtle, swim in the ocean, seeing where tea comes from, fly on a big plane, ride a train, present at an international conference, walking on the beach. It inspired me to work harder to be able to travel and discover more. I am very grateful for Dr Smith and the Heritage as Placemaking project for making these experiences happen. I hope that our cultural heritage and artifacts will be respected and kept where they belong. I also hope that Dolpopa will be included more in political matters within the country, so that they have better access to education and health care and a chance to increase their standard of living.

Dr. Emiline Smith reflects on her experience presenting and working with Zinpa and on exploitation of Dolpa knowledge:

“What a privilege it was to witness Zinpa discover some of these new experiences while attending the ACC in Sri Lanka. He presented flawlessly on cross-cultural research on sensitive topics in front of a diverse audience of academics, law enforcement & practitioners, being the only attendee from Nepal, let alone from his region, Dolpa.

When Zinpa and I first started working together for a range of projects in 2020, he immediately asked me how my research could benefit the local community; if it was yet another exploitative project that would demand time, food, and knowledge from his community without gaining anything in return. Dolpa communities have long been exploited for their knowledge regarding the unique Dolpa landscape, its ecosystems and their culture and religion. As a result, much research has been done on the Dolpa region, but not by Dolpopa (people from Dolpa). In addition, Dolpopa are not well-represented in Nepal’s central government, meaning that policies and practice are rarely locally appropriate. It offered me the opportunity to reshape my research and prioritize more collaborative, equitable knowledge creation processes, foregrounding local expert perspectives.

It was fantastic to see Zinpa present at this international conference, but disappointing to know he was the only research facilitator there. Indigenous and local knowledge (ILK) is often used in academic research. It is instrumental in all facets of research, including translation, documentation, facilitation, classification, dissemination, etc. Yet it is rarely credited. Criminology has only recently started to address its colonial and exploitative foundations, and there is much room for improvement when it comes to platforming the ILK that it builds on. This includes the knowledge of those that facilitate our research. Interlocutors, guides, gatekeepers, and other research facilitators are rarely named or credited within criminology, and it is even rarer to see them as co-authors or co-presenters. Much more collaborative knowledge creation, including collaborative output development, is needed to promote inclusive and equitable research frameworks within criminology and academia as a whole.”

By Dr. Emiline Smith

Snow-capped mountains and green hills covered in pastureland surround us at about 4800m amsl. When looking very closely, one might distinguish tiny, colourful dots on those green hills: it is so-called 'yartsa season' for the people of Dho. Every year in May and June, thousands of people climb several hundreds of metres up the hills and mountains that surround them, in search of a tiny fungus-caterpillar called yartsa gunbu. This Himalayan caterpillar is in big demand internationally because of its aphrodisiac and medicinal qualities. This demand has changed the living standard for those who are able to find it, but recently, overharvesting in combination with climate change is taking its toll on this very valuable, niche resource.

Figure 2. Four Buddhist chortens (stupas) in front of a gompa in Dho valley (E. Smith, 2022).

Dolpa's landscapes, cultures, language and people are distinctly separate from the rest of Nepal; rather, they are closer related to Tibet. Its stunning landscapes have inspired internationally renowned books and movies including Nepal’s first Oscar-nominated film ‘Caravan’ (shot exclusively in Dolpa). But despite international attention, Dolpa is still largely ignored by central government, and the region is often exploited for its medicinal plants (including wild cannabis, a large variety of orchids and mushrooms, etc), pasturelands, and indigenous knowledge by outsiders.

Dolpa is Nepal's largest and remotest district. It is the district of yaks, snow leopards, eagles, musk deer and blue sheep (which are accidentally not blue in colour). It is also the district of nomads and living with the seasons: moving from higher to lower grounds and vice versa is part of a yearly cycle. But Dolpa is currently at a crossroads. Limited 'development' as driven by central government and foreign stakeholders has reached the region selectively, resulting in half-finished roads and other infrastructure projects scattered around the landscape. As a result, mules and horses are still the main form of transportation for anything from tin roofs and flatscreen TVs to food supplies and mattresses.

Figure 4. A hotel tent surrounded by extensive vegetable gardens. Some valleys are more conducive to crop production and gardening than others (E. Smith, 2022).

Social media access provides information about what is available outside the Dolpa bubble but does not make this attainable or accessible. Roads, electricity, heating, stable internet access and other basic amenities, let alone luxuries such as varied foods and methods of transportation, are still primarily experienced through a phone screen. So, although phones have brought the globalized 'outside' in, it requires a lot of mental gymnastics for the people of Dolpa to consolidate local reality with globalized digital experiences. Dolpopa selectively balance their need to participate in the global market economy with a focus on localization and placemaking out of necessity due to their isolation.

Modernization therefore comes with mixed, and sometimes unexpected, consequences for Dolpa. For example, Dolpa's children are often sent to Kathmandu, India, or further afield to gain what is considered better quality education, for which they are separated from their family for years. During that time, they often forget Dolpa's people, villages, landscape, culture and religion - instead, they become accustomed to city life. A reverse culture shock happens when they return to their village and reunite with their family. Yet most of the younger generation I speak to has found ways to express and celebrate their Dolpa origins while also tapping into cosmopolitanism through e.g. clothing, accessorizing, vocabulary, behaviour etc. For example, one of my interviewees proudly shows me her see-through smartphone case, covered in stickers with quotes from popular Korean drama series, combined with dried yartsa gunbu squeezed between her phone and the case: the perfect tribute to a life lived between worlds.

Figure 1. A typical tent camp for yartsa gunbu collectors in Dho valley (E. Smith, 2022).

I am in this remote region of Nepal for fieldwork for three different projects. This morning, my research assistant/trekking guide Zinpa and I are interviewing yartsa harvesters about the criminogenic potential of this Himalayan caterpillar. In the afternoon, we are visiting one of the nearby gompas (monasteries) to speak to the local monks about inventorying their monastery's religious artefacts. Nepal's religious and cultural objects have been the victims of looting and trafficking for the past seventy years, and the Dolpa region is no exception to this. Every monastery we have visited so far has been the target of thieves responding to ongoing market demand for Dolpa's cultural heritage. It is devastating to hear monks accounts of the thefts and their consequences, all because foreign demand has put a price on living heritage.

Figure 3. Dolpa’s stunning landscapes never fail to impress (E. Smith, 2022).

Placemaking in Dolpa has become a continuous navigation of selectively letting 'machines' and other modernization in, while maintaining the structure of its society through customs, traditions, beliefs and public spaces. Greenhouses are becoming more critical to food security, diversifying diets consisting primarily of crops from the field (potatoes, buckwheat, barley, rice) and extending the vegetable growing season. This has not yet impacted the popularity of instant noodles though, which together with dal bhat and yak butter tea gets most of the Dolpopa (people from Dolpa) through the day. Affordable products from China have become easily available in Dolpa, especially as much is traded in exchange for the aforementioned yartsa gunbu. As a result, traditional dress (tsuba) is making way for tracksuits and jeans. Chinese- imported motorbikes are an increasingly popular way of transportation and status signalling in some of the valleys. Solar panels don every house and tent to ensure phones and power banks are continuously charged.