CONTENTS List of Figures and Tables vii Foreword by Peter Ronald deSouza ix Introduction: Recognizing Himalayan Diversity 1 Chetan Singh Part 1 Environment and Human Response 1 Diverse Livelihood Strategies and the Changing Economy of Colonial Uttarakhand 17 Dhirendra Datt Dangwal 2 Diversity of Nature Conservation Practices in Himachal Pradesh 51 Sanjeeva Pandey Part 2 Gender, Society, and Ethnicity 3 Diversity as Counter-Hegemony: Reet and Gender Relations in Himachal Pradesh 75 Yogesh Snehi 4 Polyandry and Customary Rights in the Western Himalaya 98 Chetan Singh 5 The Subaltern Speak in the Bhutanese Lozey. A Critique of Two Indigenous DzongkkaTexts 121 Jaiwanti Dimri 6 Cultural Diversity, Social Exclusion, and Identity Politics in Nepal 137 Hart Prasad Bhattarai Part 3 The Many Ways of Religion 7 Archaeology of an Extinct Religious Tradition : Bonpos of the Western Himalaya 169 Laxman S. Thakur 8 Deep Ecology and Buddhism: Imperatives for the Himalayan Region 193 Bharati Puri Part 4 Expressions of Folk Tradition 9 Trie Diversity of the Ramayana Tradition in the Garhwal Himalaya 205 Dtnesh P. Saklani 10 Folk Expression and Imagination in a Himalayan Festival: Diversity as Reflected in Kumaoni Holi Festival 226 Girija Pande 11 The Changing Face of Banthda: Folk Drama of Mandi and Suket in Himachal Pradesh 246 Meenaksbi F. Paul Notes on Contributors 255