God said to
set the screaming
monkey free –
Text and Photos Ram Paudel
at least, that’s what the Raute hunters believe.
Though the men have gone to great lengths
to capture the day’s hard-won dinner, it is
customary (and arguably rather forward-
thinking) to release a male-female pair to
ensure the langur population’s sustainability.
After all, it is to Dade Masto, the Raute’s pagan
god, that they owe the success of their hunt,
and to whom they sacrifice a chick to pacify
him for their primate hunting lest he let the
sky fall down upon the Earth.
“If we don’t keep God happy, he will say
that monkeys are like our own children, and
we can’t kill and eat them,” says Raute leader
Mahin Bahadur Shahi. “That would be a
disaster. If we can’t hunt langurs, what will our
people eat?”
Deity satisfied, the hunters walk the
long route back to camp at the foot of the
Himalayas. In the evening, they will distribute
the pickings equally among the villagers. If a
stranger arrives at mealtime, they hide their
dinner: Outsiders must never lay eyes on it –
nor see the Raute hunting – or it will mean
immense bad luck on everyone’s heads.
feature | raute
RighT Young Raute
cut trees to make
woodcrafts like bowls
and trays. Males in the
tribe learn to use tools
and hunt monkeys,
skills passed down
the generations