Living with Mirg: The Gaddi Shepherds who Share the Landscape with Leopards
by
Dhee
I was in a small village in the Hamirpur district of Himachal Pradesh to understand people’s perceptions towards leopards and learn about leopards as seen through the eyes of the local people. Many people in the landscape had told me that if I want to hear about leopards I should definitely talk to the Gaddi shepherds; they encounter leopards regularly as they live in the forest rather than within houses and besides, leopards frequently prey on their sheep.
Gaddi Shepherds in the Alpine Pasture
Gaddi Shepherds in
the Alpine Pasture
The Arrival of Gaddi
The first gaddi person that I met in Himachal Pradesh was a sweet old man “Dadaji” in his 70s who frequented the same “dhaba” like me. The Gaddi people are a migratory shepherding community who spend their summers in the upper Himalayan regions such as Kinnaur and Chamba and winters in relatively lower elevation areas such as Hamirpur and Bilaspur. Dadaji had arrived in Hamirpur long before the herd of sheep to secure his claim over the area of reserve forest allotted to him by the government. This would ensure that he and his family of humans, sheep, and dogs would have sufficient land and resources to be well situated through the upcoming winter.
Entwined life of Gaddi Shepherds
As my interaction with Dadaji grew, it turned out that he was a great storyteller and we quickly became friends. Over time, through bits and pieces of stories, experiences, and metaphors, he shared with me what his lived life was like. I had many questions to ask him about leopards, but I quickly learned that there was so much about his life that was novel to me that I would need to understand before I could begin to comprehend the role that leopards play in his life.
The Gaddi shepherds travel down for the summer in units consisting of 4-5 people, 2-3 shepherding dogs, and 200-300 goats and sheep. From the shepherds, I learned that families can be populated with not only humans but many different kinds of beings. They described how their lives are intertwined with the lives of their dogs, their sheep, and goats. They all depend and lean on each other, entwined into a single standing existence. I once naively asked Dadaji if and how he could distinguish between one sheep and another within his herd. He looked at me with an all-knowing smile and a twinkle in his eye. Then he pointed at the book in which I was taking notes and he said,
The Gaddi shepherds travel down for the summer in units consisting of 4-5 people, 2-3 shepherding dogs, and 200-300 goats and sheep. From the shepherds, I learned that families can be populated with not only humans but many different kinds of beings. They described how their lives are intertwined with the lives of their dogs, their sheep, and goats. They all depend and lean on each other, entwined into a single standing existence. I once naively asked Dadaji if and how he could distinguish between one sheep and another within his herd. He looked at me with an all-knowing smile and a twinkle in his eye. Then he pointed at the book in which I was taking notes and he said,
You are literate, so for you, this page and that page are as different as the earth and the sky. I am illiterate, so for me, these pages don’t have meaning. It’s the same with sheep.”
None of the gaddi people that I met had houses in the Hamirpur district and lived out in the forested region beside their livestock. They did not stay at any location for more than a few days and moved through the landscape to ensure sufficient feed for their livestock. Until then I only knew of the world as having clear demarcations of indoor and outdoor spaces, but the gaddi people introduced me to a lifestyle where there are no doors to distinguish human homes from spaces that other animals inhabit.
Though different, every animal in the herd is part of the Gaddi Family, Image Credits - Dhee
Sharing the Landscape with Leopards
The shepherds I interviewed described leopards (Gaddi referred them as Mirg) as not an unusual distant presence but as a part of their everyday reality. Leopards they said are sighted on a frequent, if not daily basis, and that it is an animal whose presence they are constantly aware of and thinking about, even when it is not present in front of their eyes. Partly because they have to constantly and actively protect their sheep from these leopards. Due to frequent interactions with leopards and their curiosity, they had observed and learned a great deal about the ecology and behavior of leopards. Their descriptions resonated with many insights explained in research papers such as leopards always stalking their prey and attacking at the neck, dragging away the prey and eat it somewhere else, and not having a specific home/den where they live.
“Everyone fears humans. Everyone is careful about their safety. If he is eating something and we interfere, we will get attacked by the leopard” one of the shepherds told me while conversing about their observation about leopards.
The leopard also has a strong presence in the myth and stories of the Himalayas. The villagers, as well as Gaddis, have their tales to tell about them. From “Billi Uski Masi Hai” to “Vehicle of the Devi Maa”, the leopard has been part of the folklore as well as the religious belief of the villagers in the Himachal Pradesh. Through these stories, leopards have captured the attention of people for decades, and have become an integral part of their landscape. On one fine day as I sat down with Dadaji, he told me a story that echoed some of these observed behaviors.
“When Lord Shiva was distributing food to all the different organisms in the world, the leopard hid behind the yam leaf (arbi). He can be very small when he wants, but when he is about to attack, he can become very big as well. After Shiva distributed food to all the living creatures, the leopard came out from hiding and complained to Lord Shiva that he did not get any food. To appease the leopard’s complaint, Lord Shiva generously made all the best food in the world available to him. So, he can eat whatever he wishes to eat, but he is very protective of all that he manages to catch.”
Though an outsider could easily presume that they have more reason than most people to severely dislike leopards, as their lives and lives of all their (human and non-human) family members are constantly vulnerable to leopards, their perceptions of leopards are far more complex and multifaceted. Their descriptions and stories portrayed leopards as not just bloodthirsty man-eaters but as beings possessing long histories and several characteristics.
Perhaps we should be looking to the Gaddi people to learn how it is possible to live alongside even those animals that we consider as potentially dangerous.
Read the full research paper: The leopard that learnt from the cat and other narratives of carnivore–human coexistence in northern India
Acknowledgment: The article and the research project owes everything to the incredible people of Himachal Pradesh who opened up their houses, their hearts, and their lives for the sake of our curiosity. I would like to particularly thank the Gaddi people, especially Dadaji, who conversed with me for hours and shared their stories, experiences, and ways of thinking. I would also like to thank Vijay Kumar Dhiman, Shweta Shivkumar, Vidya Athreya, and John Linnell for being on this project with me.
06/09/2020
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Dhee | Researcher |
She is an independent researcher interested in learning about the human dimensions of wildlife conservation. Specifically, her work focuses on the psychological and socio-cultural factors that shape people's perceptions towards wild animals. She holds an MSc in Conservation Biology from the University of Kent and a BA in Psychology from Ambedkar University, Delhi. The article is based on the ethnographic research she conducted in Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh in collaboration with the Wildlife Conservation Society-India, Centre for Wildlife Studies, Himachal Pradesh Forest Department, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research.
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