Following up on the preliminary fieldwork carried out by Prof. Heidi Fjeld, I revisited the South-Western part of Haa district between March and May 2024. Here, together with research assistants Karma Choki Dhema and Mon Kumar Rai, I have been using ethnographic research methods to explore the local food system in more depth. During my first days travelling around the field site, I was immediately struck by the unique features of the local cattle “Bos Indicus”, characterised by a protuberant hump on their backs and pendulous dewlaps under their chins. Nublang (local name for the ox) and Thrabum (local name for the female cow) are clearly an important part of daily village life and mythological past, as well as national concerns over the decline of this species. Focusing on these indigenous cattle and their role in the local food system emphases the more-than-human health side of the EATWELL project, which – up until now – has mostly looked at food for people. Taking inspiration from anthropologist Appadurai’s method of “following the thing” (1986), I have therefore been following the Nublang and their story, trying to understand more about their entanglements with food and other beings.
Nublang, Bhutan's indigenous ox breed
Many people from this community of villages have grown up surrounded by these local cows, attending to their needs and following their daily rhythms. Most of their routines and movements are in fact dictated by their cattle, from the time they wake up (early in the morning, to milk the cows), to their daily trips and activities (most of which involve cleaning cowsheds and searching for fodder), to their rest time (which initiates only after making sure that all the cattle are safe in the cowsheds). Cattle are essential to villagers for many reasons: they are needed for ploughing fields, their dung is used as manure, and the dairy products obtained from them are an important part of the local diet. Tea made with fresh milk is in fact drunk several times per day, while local cheese is used in most dishes (usually cooked together with chillies and seasonal vegetables to make a variety of curries). Cows often share the same food as the humans, as they are fed with the leftovers from daily household meals (e.g. rice, vegetables, fruits, dairy products). Beyond this, their fodder is made up of cultivated crops such as sweet and bitter buckwheat, millet and maize, as well as local plants such as Bidap (Ficus Auriculata) and Om shing (Ficus Nemoralis), which grow naturally in the forest but are also planted by villagers near their houses. Leaves are carried to herding camps and cow sheds in bundles and handwoven baskets.
Cattle "salad bowl" made with figs, Woman carrying a bundle of fodder
banana leaves and leftover rice from the forest to her home
However, most of the food is found by the Nublang and Thrabum themselves, which spend their days grazing in the jungle, and independently come back to their calves and owners at sunset time. Many people speak with affection about their local cows, considered “easy to look after” and “low-maintenance”, compared to imported breeds such as Jersey, which require much more attention, get lost and injured easily, and are believed to need specifically formulated feed – such as Karma Feeds – to be “productive” in terms of milk. Jersey cows have started to become prominent in the area only since the advent of the newly constructed road in the past decade. They were in fact supplied to the villagers by the livestock department, together with new non-native fodder for them (e.g. clovers, specific types of grass). Since then, villagers have progressively started owning fewer local cattle, as, despite the additional work, Jerseys are believed to provide them with a much higher yield and income. Native and imported breeds have also mixed with each other to the point that it has become quite hard to find “pure” Nublang and Thrabam - which also threatens the existence of other breeds such as Jatsham and Yankum (specific mixes between Nublang/Thrabam and other non-Jersey cattle). Some of the questions that come up at this point of the research are the following: beyond variations in quantity, what are the perceived sensory quality differences of dairy products coming from these types of cows? What are the agricultural and microbial consequences of using different kinds of manure? How does the fodder used for different breeds (native plants vs imported crops vs Karma Feeds) affect dairy products and ultimately human health?
Despite initiatives to protect the villages’ indigenous breed have been implemenented amongst some farmers, Nublang and Thrabam seem to be progressively declining. This matter has been on the radar of the government and royal family for some time now and different preservation projects are in place, such as the development of a Nublang conservation farm. During my time in Haa, some Nublang and Thrabum were in fact collected on behalf of the King in order to be added to the farm, while others were transported to Ha town, in order to be showcased and promoted to locals and tourists during the latest Ha Spring Festival.
From my observations, many villagers still own some local cattle as well as Jersey. While most of them own only a few cows for personal consumption, there are still some herders who own large quantities of them, and sell their local cheese and butter to bigger markets in Ha, Paro and Thimphu. While staying in local herding camps, I had the opportunity to taste many of their dairy products, such as fresh milk (which in some of the villages is heated up and offered to guests), milk tea and cheese (consumed by all villagers on a daily basis), butter (which is often eaten with buckwheat and millet pancakes called khuley), curd and buttermilk. Butter used to be made in manual wooden churners, but nowadays most people in the area use electric ones. The leftover liquid is drunken as buttermilk or used to make cheese, by adding boiling hot water, and then squeezing into fist size balls by hand. The income from selling such products varies depending on the time of the year and the rates of the markets and transportation (e.g. the price for one fist-sized ball of cheese can range between 15-45 ngultrum). During one of my visits to Thimpu’s main farmer’s market, I found a stall selling cheese from this area, which I bought at around 50 ngultrum per piece. It is extremely rare for owners to kill their cows. Although beef is eaten in most of the villages, it is bought from markets, or obtained from cows that have died for natural reasons. According to one of the research participants, when eaten, Nublang’s meat is believed to be much tastier than the one of imported cows such as Jersey.
Local butter and cheese
Herders often have very close relationships with their cattle, with whom they spend most of their time. One of them told me that, despite the hardships of his isolated herding life, which involves sleeping in a shed and waking up very early in the morning, he enjoyed the connection with his cows, which he “took care of as if they were small babies”. I watched another herder as he gently applied an ointment all over one of his is Thrabum’s skin. He had made it himself with tobacco and salt, to keep away the leeches which kept sucking on his cattle while they grazed in the forest. Villagers also care for their cows by sharing local medicines that they also use for themselves, such as kakhti – a bitter root that grows in the forest and that is believed to cure fever, coughs and colds – and nu-gi men (literally, “cow’s medicine”), which grows on trees and is believed to heal human back and joint pain as well as cattle’s fractures.
Kakthi, local medicinal plant Cooking maize for the cattle
used for people and cows in a shed in the herding camp
Beyond entangling with the lives of humans, plants and wildlife, these cows have also a close relationship with local deities. Some of the villagers told me Nublang’s story, which narrates how the cattle originated from two mermaid deitites living in a local lake. Still to this day, when villagers perform rituals for spirits and deities – once during summer and once during the winter - they usually pray for their cattle’s health and safety from wild animals such as black bears, tigers and wild dogs. Ritual cakes made of rice called tormas and small structures made with twigs, seeds, leaves as well as fresh fruits and other foods are offered in the altar room, while monks play ritual instruments and recite mantras. The rituals end when the tormas and statues are placed in the garden, becoming feed for the cows themselves. This is an example of how food brings together different beings – such as humans, cows, plants and deities - in complex ways.
Tormas and other offerings to deities are eaten by cattle after rituals have ended
Nublang and Thrabam are an extremely important part of this fieldsite’s past, present and plans for the future. Although this species seems to be in decline, it is still deeply entrenched in village life and local food systems, and inextricably entangled with the lives of other species. According to an elderly farmer: “Nublang is the identity of the village and the country as a whole. It is unique and not found in any other place, so it is very important to preserve it”.
When I go back to Ha district, I will continue to observe how the rhythms and movements of this species have changed in relation to the construction of new roads and other transformations. How are local dairy products being affected by the changes that are taking place in this area? What does it mean for local diets and economies? How does it affect other more-than-human ecosystems? And what can Nublang’s entanglements with humans and other beings tell us about multispecies health?
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