•  
  •  
 

Author ORCID Identifier

http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3325-3410

Abstract

This paper brings into conversation two Newa cultural traditions to articulate notions of climate adaptation, resilience, and mitigation, to illustrate how ways of knowing, ways of being, and ways of governing are inherently linked. These articulations offer a framework for developing what the author calls an Indigenous Climate Epistemology. The two cultural traditions reviewed include: a 17th century Newa literary tradition that advocates for keeping oil in the ground, and that instructs ordinary people to engage in ritual acts seemingly designed to develop personal and community resilience; and a 1700 year old annual community festival designed to avert catastrophes and to cater to the well-being of the global community. The discussion of the Swasthani Vrata Katha is based the author’s autoethnographical account of the tradition as well as textual analysis of the Brihad Swasthani text in Devanagari from annual readings completed during 2020-2024; the analysis of the Machchhindra Nath Jatra is based on ethnographic research conducted by the author in 2024. It is argued that the two traditions are linked and that the sustenance of the public facing tradition depends on the survival of a resource governance institution called the guthi.

The cultural, ecological, and spatial knowledge practiced within this South Asian linguistic and place-based community are significant from the point of view of climate mitigation, adaptation, and resilience. Given the lingering presence and commemoration of historic climatic events in their cultural practices and narratives, understanding the traditional knowledge systems and practices of the ancient Newa civilization of the Kathmandu valley may offer lessons for ecological resilience and sustainability that would complement a largely Eurocentric paradigm of climate adaptation and resilience that is on offer today.

Download

Share

COinS