On the Edge of the World
On the Edge of the World
This chapter examines how indigenous notions of space and place are structured by focusing on the people living in the village of Shimshal. It studies how the Shimshali act and perceive their geographical remoteness. The Shimshali seasonal migration of yaks creates zones of remoteness within their own cosmologies. Here remote space is constructed through internal mobility that is a function of the location of grazing areas and migration routes and the behavior of the yaks. From this, the Shimshalis construct an indigenous sense of remoteness through discourses of separation and integration in the socio-spatial domain of transhumance migration and pastoralism, which forms the basis of their subsistence and hunting practices. The chapter describes what the Shimshalis feel that despite the lack of connectivity from the outside world, they have become increasingly vulnerable to the flow of ideas and material from the outside.
Keywords: space, place, Shimshal, remoteness, Shimshali, separation, integration, transhumance migration, pastoralism
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