Paper short abstract:

Applying a detailed ethnographic approach, this paper examines the relation between the meaning of food in the everyday life of the Rai in Eastern Nepal and its relation to the meaning of food in their mythology.

Paper long abstract:

In the steep valleys of Eastern Nepal, producing and consuming food is a central theme in everyday life throughout the year and determines a large part of each day through work, conversation, and ritual. The attitudes of the indigenous peoples of the region, the Rai, towards their food and the way they handle it, is mirrored in their mythology. This paper examines the relation between the meaning of food in Rai mythology and its meaning in everyday life.

Delving into one of the major Rai myths - the establishing of society through the cultural heroes - the food related topics and sequences will be carved out and compared to their relevance in everyday life: Reaching from the experience of hunger, the punishment for spilling food, the ripening of wild fruit through magical power, hunting and gathering, the discovery of farming and fishing, the magical pestle-stone bride, the feeding of the ancestors, as well as ritual feasting.

Applying thus a detailed ethnographic approach, it will be shown step by step how and in what way the process of food production, the outcome of specific dishes and drinks, and the manners of and attitudes towards eating and drinking among the Rai of Eastern Nepal are rooted in their ancient mythology, and therefore in a deep-time memory and knowledge of the landscape and the natural habitat and its utilisation and transformation though man.