Project Video and Audio Recordings

In this section you'll find video and audio clips from the project.  Click on a link to watch videos or listen to field recordings with photo slide shows via YouTube.  You can also download a broader selection of field recording song segments in the next section - MP3 Downloads.

Video Clips:

Because We Were Born Here . . . is an ethnographic project currently underway in northeastern Nepal. Initiated in 2000, this 30 year project seeks to document, in sound and images, the living history of one Himalayan village as it struggles to 'develop' itself and join the 'modern' world. With the full co-operation of the community, documentary video, photographs, interviews, diaries and other primary source material is being compiled every six years in an effort to promote cultural understanding and education.  This preview introduces some of the characters in the village and shows scenes from a typical "day in the life" of the community.

Audio Field Recordings:

This excerpt from Nagi Puja house blessing field recording in northeastern Nepal was collected in 2001.  The shaman (mohp) sits before the family hearth at the center of the home, singing, shaking his body and rattling his sword to communicate with Nagi and protect the family and home.

The ritual lasts many hours and includes a retracing of the landmarks - in song - along the Kulung's path from the homeland to the village location where the ceremony is conducted. Offerings include millet, ginger and alcohol.  Photos of a similar ceremony with the same shaman are included to illustrate the recording.

This excerpt from healing ceremony field recording in northeastern Nepal was collected in 2006.  Using offerings of rice, ginger and gentle words, the healer is coaxing the negative spirits to leave his patient alone.  Photos of a similar ceremony with the same healer are included to illustrate the recording.