Name: Dawa Palmo
(Alias: No)
Gender: Female
Interview Age: 73
Date of Birth: 1942
Birthplace: Tathun, Utsang, Tibet
Year Left Tibet: 1959
Profession: Nomad
Monk/Nun: No
Political Prisoner: No
Interview No.: 33N
Date: 2015-04-13
Language: Tibetan
Location: Tashiling, Pokhara, Gandaki, Nepal
Categories: Culture and History
Keywords: childhood memories, Chinese -- first appearance of, houses/villages, nomadic life, refugee in Nepal -- life as, Utsang
Summary:
Dawa Palmo grew up in a place called Tathun with around 10-15 nomadic families. Their livelihood was herding animals, milking and making various dairy products and selling them to procure grain and rice. She loved the animals because the nomads depended upon them for food and clothing.
Dawa Palmo describes how her house was built of mud with only a cloth to cover the floor and cooking stove with a chimney, fueled by yak dung. They slept on raised platforms covered with sheepskins. Her mother did the cooking and her father went to trade dairy products for grains, while Dawa Palmo tended the animals.
A Chinese man came to Dawa Palmo's village and he stayed by himself for a month. Later when her parents heard about the next appearance of the Chinese, they fled their home in fear and left everything behind. Dawa Palmo recounts the escape journey to Nepal and how she had to work as farmhand.
Interview Team:
- Katharine Davies Samway (Interviewer)
- Henry Tenenbaum (Videographer)
- Palden Tsering (Interpreter)
