Mythologies of the Layap Tribe
The Layap (Dzongkha: ལ་ཡཔ་) are an indigenous people inhabiting the high mountains of northwest Bhutan in the village of Laya, in the Gasa District, at an altitude of 3,850 metres (12,630 ft), just below the Tsendagang peak. Their population in 2003 stood at 1,100. They speak Layakha, a Tibeto-Burman language. Layaps refer to their homeland as Be-yul – "the hidden land." Men wear the Bhutanese costume, which consists of a silk or linen garment that is typically colored saffron and red (cf. gho), the women wear black woolen jackets, which reach right down to the ankles. A blue pattern band may also be found at the bottom of their long sleeves. The Layap practice a mixture of Bon and Tibetan Buddhism. According to legend, Laya village is the spot where Ngawang Namgyal, the founder of Bhutan, first entered the country. Particularly unique among the Layap is the extensive tradition of "living defilements" (Dzongkha: soen drep), whereby a ritually impure person is ostracized from social activities. The Layap shun "living defilements" in order not to anger deities, and to avoid physical maladies and livestock plagues. Among ritually impure acts are birth, divorce, and death, including the death of a horse.
The villages of Laya and Lunana in the Bhutanese Himalayas are some of the highest and most remote human settlements on earth. The people who live there, the Layaps and the Lunaps, are semi-nomadic yak herders who spend time between the villages and the high altitude yak herding camps. The villages and yak camps cling to the sides of immense river valleys and reach altitudes of 6,000m where resources are few and hardiness is a pre-requisite for survival. In Lunana the people have no contact with the outside world for seven months of the year, isolated by a combination of impenetrable harsh winter weather and treacherous high mountain passes. The Lunap and Layap people number around 3,000. Just over 50% of these are Lunaps. The villages are made up of simple painted wood and stone houses with the wealthier families owning the bigger houses. In Laya some of the larger houses have two storeys, the ground floor used as stables for their animals, who act as a central heating system for the living quarters above. There is obviously a clear wealth gap between the poorer Lunaps and the wealthier Layaps, with Layaps often having rice supplies piled high in their homes as a symbol of wealth. Layaps have been known to look down on Lunaps for this reason and there has been hostility between the two groups in the past. Travellers' tales often tell of the Lunaps giving a frosty reception to outsiders, others tell of a welcoming people who are proud of their culture but secretive about its processes.
The Layaps called their home Bayu, the hidden land, with good reasons. The cluster of villages is completely hidden by ridges and appears suddenly when the travelers reaches the first houses. The people believe that they are protected by an ancient gate leading to the main village. It was here that their guardian deities kept a Tibetan invasion at bay. In an important annual ceremony, the Layaps pay homage to the protective forces which turned all the stones and trees around the gate into soldiers to repel the invaders. But if such legend is history in Laya, history is also Legend. This was the place where Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal entered Bhutan. In a journey which resounds with conquest of human and supernatural dimensions the Shabdrung crossed a chain of Mighty Himalayan ridges and entered Laya from Tibet. In a small meadow below the villages, called Taje-kha a chorten shelters the footprints of the shabdrung and his horse.
Layaps sell their highland products, like yak meat, hide, dried cheese, and incense, and take back rice, salt, sugar and oil, among others. Winter is a time when Layaps come to lower dzongkhags for holidays. Pay, 68, is a Layap woman. When she was a kid, her parents would take her from village to village in Punakha. In the evenings, they would have collected bags of rice and other necessities to take back to Laya. “When we ran short of things to barter, we used to beg. Sometimes, our hosts wouldn’t let us stay inside. We’d have to pitch tents in the fields.” said Pay. “Things have changed now, of course. People have money and that has made all the difference.” Laya is a village that is prospering on cordyceps money. It was Wangdue they travelled farthest from their homes to not so many years ago. Layaps today can be seen even in one of hottest and humid places like Phuentsholing, where they go to buy a year’s stock from the border town. “The greatest and the most important thing that happened to the Layaps was the Royal Kasho (edict) that allowed the highlanders to harvest cordyceps. Life has become so much easier.”
The Layap are an indigenous minority roughly 3000 in number. They only inhabit this small part of the country. Most of the people still live as semi-nomadic yak herders, spending time between the villages and the high altitude yak herding camps. However, these days a lot of the young men are also engaged in illegal trade with Tibet, noticeable beer sold in Laya is “Lhasa beer”. Most of the candy and other products here are Chinese. Due to this illegal trade, Laya is said to be one of the wealthiest villages in Bhutan. It is said that the Layaps have lived here since they were banished from Tibet in the 15th century and that the Layap women have used their distinctive hat, made of darkened bamboo strips woven together with a pointed top, even longer.
At 3800 meters, the small settlement of Laya can only be reached by foot, as there are no roads leading to the village. It is a muddy multi-day trek from the nearest town. The Layap people and their animals carry everything that is needed in the roughly 100-house-big village up through the mountainsides. The Layap is small indigenous group of about 3000 people and their ancestors were displaced to Bhutan from Tibet in the 1500-century. Today, many are semi-nomadic yak herders or collect the high-value cordyceps, a fungus that lives on certain caterpillars in the high mountain regions of East Asia. The Layap women wear a distinctive hat that is made from woven-bamboo strips with a pointed and painted colorful wooden top. There is only one hat maker left among the Layaps.
Recent developmental activities in Laya and change in lifestyle of Layaps have not changed its age-old practice of migrating to the lowlands in winter and returning home by spring. More than a decade ago, Layaps depended on yaks to move to the lower lands. Many made sure to travel before monsoon. Pem Tshewang, 50, from Laya said that not many Layaps owned horses then. “We depended on yaks for migration.” He said there were also times when they had to carry their loads, as only people could pass through some stretches of the trail. Rearing yaks was the main occupation of Layaps then. “It was the only source of livelihood we inherited.”
Even though they share the northeastern region of Bhutan, the Layaps and the Lunaps may still not know how they may be similar, aside from referring themselves as female (layaps) and male (lunaps) communities. Nevertheless, a foreigner visiting the groups’ homes will be welcomed with friendly people who would be happy to show and share their cultures. The Layap women are known for their beauty, which is further enhanced by their conical hats made of bamboo strips that lend an air of mystery. These hats are not to simply showcase their beauty but also to demonstrate their beliefs and to appease village spirits. Aside from the people’s distinct attire when greeting guests, they are also known to live a semi-nomadic life. The Layap families have a particular system wherein they tend to their yak herds in the summer then later trade in the winter. With this, the male members of the community have to be away for long periods and the females stay in their village to help grow barley, mustard, and other farm goods. Though the land for this is small, they still keep themselves busy with such practice.
“Laya was remote, detached and remained hidden in the mountains. Marrying an outsider was looked down upon. As a small and independent community, trust was important. People also preferred to live together as not many could afford to build a house of their own, so the custom of marrying more than one husband was common.” An age-old practice that has gradually disappeared in some parts of the world, polyandry which means ‘many’ (poly) and ‘man’ (andros) in Greek, literally refers to a woman taking two or more husbands.
This rare and unique form of marriage custom existed in some communities for centuries but has mostly faded in the past few decades. However, polyandry is still practised in Bhutan, Tibet, Nepal and pockets of India, particularly amongst the minority tribes living in the Himalaya region. A system of union which most likely arose in populations where resources such as land and food were scarce, it could also possibly have been adopted as a way to address the issue of gender imbalance, that is, when there were more males than females.
Some Layaps still practice polyandry. Zann Huizhen Huang wrote in the Daily Bhutan: “Zam, a Layap from Thongra chiwog married her first husband at the age of 19. After two years, she married his younger brother and they have three children together. “I love them both equally. Our secret of happiness is that I do not differentiate between my husbands. At one given time, one of my husbands will be with the yaks in the mountains while my other husband stays with me at home and helps with the household chores.” The Layaps live in the extreme north of Bhutan and speak layapkha, a Tibeto-Burman language. Like the Brokpas, they are semi-nomadic and their livelihood is dependent upon yaks and sheep. Casual sex has traditionally been commonplace and accepted among both male and female Layaps, for both unmarried and married alike. One consequence of this is high rates of sexually-transmitted diseases among the Layap, a problem being addressed with condoms. The Layap have traditionally practiced polyandry (wives with multiple husbands) to keep families and property together. This and custom of child marriage — also once common — are now in decline. In the old days Layup girls were as young as 10 years old when they got married. Increased schooling for girls has contributed to the decline in child marriages. Due to their isolation many Layap don’t have access to good medical care.
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