神霊ルーをめぐるローカリティの再編 --インド北東部モンパ社会の事例から--

Abstract

This paper aims to clarify negotiations involved in the reconfiguration of locality in the contemporary Himalayas by focusing on the interaction between deities called "kLus" and the Monpas through an anthropological perspective. The Monpas, a Tibetan Buddhist community living in a border area of northeast India called their land "Mon yul" or Mon region which is located in the Tawang and West Kameng districts in Arunachal Pradesh. The Monpas used to go across the Himalayas for trans-Himalayan trade, taxation, Buddhism training and pilgrimage to Tibet. But this mobility was ruptured by the Indian practical control in 1951 and the closure of border by the India- China War in 1962. Mon region became a geo-politically important "national frontier" for the Indian government and the government began a military buildup and accelerated the incorporation of the Monpas into the Indian regime without enough concern about the local context. This paper describes various interactions between kLus living under lands and watering places and the people in the local context. A kLu is thought to be protective deity of the house, field and village for the Monpas. They understand conditions of living environment and their health through their interaction with kLus. In the modern situation of the region, the paper clarifies destructions of lands by the border war and recent development projects of constructing roads and buildings increase Monpa's anxiety about growing bad affection to kLus deeply linked to the people's life. In this way, they began to negotiate with others to keep good relationship with kLus. Their practices are motivated also by the recent social movement by the Monpa elites for preservation of their "culture" and "identity" based on Buddhism. But the paper argues that the reconfiguration of locality is conducted not only by the elites and government but also by the lay people through their practices and negotiations for concerned with how to live with kLus.