Key Person of Kusunda Tribe 3 (Rajamama Kusunda)

Rajamama Kusunda

Date of birth: 2000 B.S.

Birthplace: Jungle, near Tanahau and Gorkha

Now: Damauli, Tanahau

Rajamama Kusunda, one of the few survivors of the Kusunda community in the country, living at Dihigaun of Byas Municipality in Tanahun district along with his wife and a daughter. He is 72 years and married at the age of 60. Rajamama married Indra Maya Tamang, who is half his age. Now, he has settled down with his family in Tanahu district in western Nepal.

Rajamama Kusunda used to roam the jungle with a bow and arrow and survived mostly on forest fowl and squirrels they hunted. He lived with his father and mother in very simple huts designed in a primitive way using no ropes and nails. He considers themselves the rulers of the jungle or king of the forest.

Rajamama has a nine-year-old daughter Simanta who studies in an English boarding school in the district. This is indeed a great leap forward from the tribal lifestyle of her forefathers in jungle huts. Government and non-governmental organizations have been providing 20 thousand rupees to the sole Kusunda family to arrange food and clothing. Funds have also been arranged for the education of the girl. Rajamama still carries his bow and arrow and likes to go hunting. His skills in archery distinguish him from other people. He is also a great lover of folk songs and an avid Madal player. As government officials are working to make Tanahu district is fully literate under an official campaign, they are giving extra attention to the Rajamama family. Enabling a man used to a bow and arrow in the jungle to read and write is naturally a challenge. Despite initial reluctance and refusal, the tribal couple was persuaded to hold a pen for the first time to prepare them to express their thoughts in writing.

Only Rajamama is believed to have the pure gene pool of the nomadic tribe that once used to dwell in the forests of the western hills and which had its own language but it is rejected by the Kusundas of Pyuthan, Dang and Surkhet. Kusundas lost their language and culture after living in the villages and marrying outside their tribe. He said to me he was born in the jungle. He doesn’t remember anything about his father. He was a lonely fellow. He told me he used to hunt jungle fowl, forage yam, tuber, and fruits. Nowadays, he doesn’t go for a hunt. He helps others in agriculture. He forgot his language and just gave me some  Kusunda words. Rajamama does not remember stories or even phrases or sentences. Among the words Rajamama remembers, it is only nouns that form the bulk of his memory, with some adjectives like "gigtan" ‘tasty’. Verbs are also missing. Nouns remembered by Rajmama include mainly names for animals, plants, and other words related to the jungle environment where he was born. He has one Ropini land and a house, both are bought by the help of NFID.

According to him, the Kusundas should not be neglected considering their minority status. He also said it is the State´s responsibility to protect the Kusunda people who are on the verge of disappearance. The Adibasi Janajati Utthan Rastriya Pratisthan (AJURP) said that Rajamama is the only one born to a Kusunda father and mother. So, he claimed the pure gene of Kusunda. Still, he is active and all the villagers called him Mama, and he called them Bhanja - Bhanji. He has one ropani land and a house provided by AJURP. He died at 2018.