In Nepal, an indigenous tribe’s land-worship ceremony offers lessons on agriculture and conservation

It was 8pm and everyone in the house was preparing to sleep after dinner, but the fire was still flickering in one corner of the kitchen. Sambarman Okhati, a 66-year-old elder of the family, bore a hint of concern while hunching over a boiling pot. “The maize for tomorrow’s tos hasn’t cooked properly,” he murmured.

Tos is a land-worshipping ritual of Nepal’s Kulung community, during which locals pray for a good harvest and are advised on what crops to plant by a shaman. Okhati’s maize, one of the ritual’s offerings, was still too firm. “Without a pressure cooker, it won’t soften as it should,” he sighed.

The Indigenous Kulung people are part of the Himalayas’ larger Kirat community. They have their own language, culture, history, tradition and ancestral homeland – Mahakulung (“Greater