Film footage shot by Barbara Johnson among the Jyapu subcaste of the Newars of Tawnany Tole, Thecho village in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal; CR22, August l6, 3PM, shots of courtyard activity in Tawnany Tole; a long sequence of a father playing with his toddler son, pretending to chase him with a scythe when the boy tries to take a basket of chillies. The boy goes to his mother, who is tossing dry chillies on a winnowing basket, and then runs out of courtyard, chased by his father, who then leaves courtyard. The boy calls to his father to return, then gets involved in taking a big square can over to the Buddha statue in the courtyard, and then starts to engage his older sister in a chase game, and joins in a circle game with his sister, cousin and other courtyard girls. Play continues in the courtyard, while in front of a house across the courtyard two women talk as they pound rice together for budji, a common snackfood. CR 23, August 16, 4PM, children play with cut branches in a corner of the courtyard while off camera the voice of the oldest grandfather in the courtyard unsuccessfully tries to discourage them. The branches are probably related to the upcoming celebration of Gai Jattra festival. Children from one courtyard family, a young teenage girl, Ram Devi, her 7 - 9 year old sister and brother, and 1 - 2 year old brother share a snack in the courtyard. The 7 year old sister swings her younger brother. Other girls play a stone toss game, with some of the younger children trying to get involved. One girl has a boquet of leaves from the cut branches in the courtyard. Ram Devi watches and holds her young brother. Off camera, Nakali, the filmmaker's "mother", calls to Mayle, her 7 year old neice who lives next door, but Mayle, engrossed in play ignores her. In the courtyard wayhouse the mother of a new baby covers a wooden tripod with a piece of cloth to shade the infant. Girls play a hopping game, younger children mingle. One year old Kysangopynda lies on his back while his 12 year old sister engages him by leaning over and playfully squeezing his legs. Early morning August 17, Yele (the nickname of a woman from Yele or Patan, who married a man from the courtyard in Thecho) coats the outside of her house with a mixture of cow dung, water and mud. As her daughter starts to get into the wet area she somewhat roughly (more than most parents from Thecho) removes her to sit on a nearby mat with her brother. Brief shots of another daily morning ritual, in which villagers use libations (water) at the courtyard Buddha statue (also called Chaittya); They sprinkle water on the Buddha image on each of the four sides of the statue, touching their forehead at each side also. In the third floor kitchen of Nakali's house, where the filmmaker stayed, the youngest daughter of Nakali's nephew, who lives in the connecting house, plays while tea is cooking on the filmmaker's kerosene stove. CR24, August l8, 7AM, a group of men are shown playing drums and cymbols in the small open temple overlooking the Naku River valley SW of the Tawnany courtyard, in prayer for the beginning of the Gai Jattra festival. Women and girls come and offer libations and touch their heads to the stone representation of god or gods inside the temple. Other music groups go in procession around the temple and then back towards Thecho. Godi's father, one of the wealthier older men from the Tawnany courtyard is seated next to a Buddhist priest, or Gubaju, with another group of musicians in the temple. As their song finishes all touch the Gubaju's cymbols, and Godi's father says "Bayde" and all do the same. Later that morning the roll ends in the kitchen of Nakali's house. Nakali's Bho (female relative by marriage) holds their nephew's son, the only son of Juguta who lives next door. The baby's next to oldest sister, Mayle, spoon feeds her brother buffalo milk from a cup. The kerosene stove makes noise in the background. The baby plays with the top of a peanut butter jar brought into the house by the filmmaker.
General:
Local Numbers: HSFA 1986.13.1-8
Sponsor:
Cataloging supported by Smithsonian Institution Women's Committee.
