The dro goey system

 

How yak herders in Nubri, Paro divide pastures

Nubri (Bhutan), September 26, 2007 – “Get me a 12, let me get a 12 or at least 11,” Ap Gyep prays as he rolls the dice on a tarpaulin spread for the purpose. Nubri village in Paro has 11 demarcated pastures numbered from 2 to 12. The one who throws 12, the highest, gets the best pasture and the one who throws 2 gets pasture number 2, the smallest.

Ahhh! Ap Gyep exclaims. He gets a six. The year is 1963. With Jhomolhari towering from the north, yak herders gather in the mountains of Nubri after 11 years to decide and to divide the pasture by rolling the dice.

The number that comes up determines the pasture their yaks will graze on for the next 11 years.

“We obviously wanted and hoped for the best pasture for our yaks. We debated, disagreed and argued but dividing pastures was made easier with the system of ‘dro goey’ (pasture dividing),” said Ap Gyep, 77. “All herders would come together and take turns to roll the dice, it was a system our forefathers and ancestors had established. If two people got the same number, we would discuss among ourselves if that pasture could accommodate two herders and, if not, the second person had to roll the dice again,” he explained. Last week, representatives of the 17 semi-pastoral nomadic families of Nubri gathered again but this time, the oldest herder, Ap Gyep, sat and watched a different method of dividing and re-allocating pasture land.

Penjo, 26, said that they did not roll the dice but had an open discussion instead, then divided the pastures on mutual understanding. “Some herders wanted the same pasture as the previous year and some herders swapped pastures among themselves,” he said. Yak herder Dorji, 27, was satisfied with his old pasture, which according to him was a number 7. “When we gathered, I requested the community for the same pasture as before and they agreed,” said Dorji, who owns 120 yaks.

It is a unique system among a unique population, according to Paro’s livestock officer, Younten Dorji, who has been traveling to Nubri once a month. “Their live- lihood depends on these pastures and it is important that the herders gather to make their own decisions on how to re-allocate the pasture land. They debate and argue but come to a consensus that will benefit the community,” he said.

The mountains of Nubri, at elevations between 3,500 and 4,600 metres above sea level, are home to 2,135 of Bhutan’s 45,538 yak population. At a 13-hour rigorous climb uphill, north from Paro town, through alpine forest, is Mulung and Chumukarm, the two mountains where most yak herders in Nubri live. The herders, following the seasons and the grass, move as often as six times a year. With the warm weather they move up the mountain sides, reaching the highest pastures in the summer, also sometimes grazing with Tibetan herders.

Ap Gyep recalls an arrangement with the Tibetan herders some forty years ago when they had to leave anju (dried dung) behind as a gesture for grazing with the Tibetan herders during the summer season. “Dried dung is still used as a substitute for firewood in the mountains,” said Ap Gyep, who now enjoys sitting at home in the lower valley while his children look after the yaks in the mountains.

With a total of 160 people living in Nubri village, some in the mountains and some in the valley, any observer visiting Nubri can sense the strong community spirit that binds them. The community built a lhakhang in 2005, realising the need to have one, particularly to perform rimdros and other religious rituals. But to their disappointment, they have not been able to get a koenyer (lhakhang care-taker) yet and the only lhakhang remains closed to this day.

The herders travel at least once a month down to Paro valley to sell their animal produce or to barter animal products like chugo (dried cheese), butter and sometimes yak meat for food grain and other edibles. They are often called Paro bjobs, the nomadic community of western Bhutan, and they speak Dzongkha with a slight Tibetan accent.

After a day of hard work, the herders like to sit inside their yak hair tents and drink beer. The herders frequently cross over to the Chinese border town, Phari, which is a two-hour walk from the mountain, for basic supplies such as torch batteries, hot water flasks, clothes and, particularly, beer.

At night solar power lights, supplied by the government last year, brighten their lives. Livestock officials have been supplying fodder seeds and training them on how and when to sow the seeds for the past seven years. “It has made life much easier as our lives revolve around pastures and yaks,” said Ap Gyep.