Origin of Namuyi

The Namuyi number 5,000 (Gordon 2005) and are classified as Tibetan but speak a language within the Qiangic Branch of the Tibeto-Burman Language Family (Sun 2001:160). Older, more traditional Namuyi believe in a pantheon of local deities, have great faith in a local religious practitioner known as p^ha⁵³ tsə⁵³, and wear distinctive clothing.

 

Many elder generations (born before 1959) hold a traditional view that Namuyi are from the sky: A local creation account describes a flood that drowned everyone except for a boy and his sister. The boy then goes to the sky, marries a sky maiden, and returns to earth. The human generation is thus saved; meanwhile, Namuyi is one of three brothers who lived at the foot of the Himalaya. Later they had disagreements and then departed from each other.

 

Location and geography

Namuyi people live in Mianning 冕宁, Muli 木里, and Yanyuan 盐源 counties and Xichang City of Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture 凉山彝族自治州, as well as Jiulong County 九龙县, Ganzi 甘孜 Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan 四川 Province.

 

Religion and Beliefs

Namuyi people believe in local mountain deities. Usually, people regard themselves as ‘the generations of the mountain god.’ On special days such as the New Year and during weddings, the mountain god must be respected and offered the freshest and tastiest food, such as rice and animal blood. People believe if they do not offer these sacrifices, people and livestock may become ill and there will be no harvest or the harvest will be very limited. A few old men pray to mountain gods during such times as when children become ill and when livestock get sick and die. They might say, “Protect all the members of our family and let our livestock increase in number.”

pʰa⁵³ tsə⁵³. Religious practitioners known as pʰa⁵³ tsə⁵³ hear what ɕi⁵³ vi⁵³ have to tell family members during rituals. The sole pʰa⁵³ tsə⁵³ in dʐә¹¹ qu¹¹ in 2007 was born around 1945.

The pʰa⁵³ tsə⁵³ is a highly respected religious specialist who performs religious activities in na⁵³ mʑi⁵³ daily life, for example, during death rituals, sickness and at such times of misfortune as when livestock become ill or when a family has a poor harvest. Villagers frequently invite him into their homes to perform religious activities when family members are sick or when they encounter trouble.

The People and clothing

People born before 1965 often wear a hũ⁵³ ndzə⁵³ ba¹¹ tsʰə⁴⁴ ‘knee-length white robe made from the skin of thin hemp plants’ (sa¹¹ qʰӕ¹¹) that grow as tall as a person. When the plant turns yellow in summer, people cut the plant, remove the skin and roll it on their thigh until it forms a string about one meter long. They then weave the strings into a fabric (hũ⁵³ ndzə⁵³) from which they make the robes. Old people wrap a long strip of black cloth around their heads to make a ʁu⁵³jy^{44 ‘}turban’. Today, most young people wear traditional clothing only during festivals.

 

Farming and herding

In Namuyi area, people lead life in a semi-nomadic way. Almost every family will herd and farm. People herd yak, water buffalo, goat, sheep, horse, pig and so on while cultivating rice, wheat, potatoes, beans, and buckwheat in the fields.