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<p>The Sikkimese are a multi-ethnic community in a Himalayan sub-region in India. Even though the majority of the population is Hindu and Nepalese, the minority Buddhist and Bhutia/Lepcha communities are very strong. Death by poisoning is a common occurrence among the Sikkimese, and it is often ambiguous and subject to suspicion. Narrated initially as traditional cautionary tales, these belief narratives have been used against the multi-ethnic communities that reside in Sikkim, leading to real-world accusations. The article explores how belief in, and narratives related to, poison, poisoning, poison keepers and the poison deity are used to justify the demonisation and othering of a community.</p>
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The Sikkimese are a multi-ethnic community in a Himalayan sub-region in India. Even though the majority of the population is Hindu and Nepalese, the minority Buddhist and Bhutia/Lepcha communities are very strong. Death by poisoning is a common occurrence among the Sikkimese, and it is often ambiguous and subject to suspicion. Narrated initially as traditional cautionary tales, these belief narratives have been used against the multi-ethnic communities that reside in Sikkim, leading to real-world accusations. The article explores how belief in, and narratives related to, poison, poisoning, poison keepers and the poison deity are used to justify the demonisation and othering of a community.

Death by Poisoning: Cautionary Narratives and Inter-Ethnic Accusations in Contemporary Sikkim

Junior Research Fellow in Folkloristics, Department of Estonian and Comparative Folklore

Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The Sikkimese are a multi-ethnic community in a Himalayan sub-region in India. Even though the majority of the population is Hindu and Nepalese, the minority...

Death by Poisoning: Cautionary Narratives and Inter-Ethnic Accusations in Contemporary Sikkim

Published Online: Jun 12, 2021

Page range: 65 - 84

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jef-2021-0005

Keywords
death by poisoning, ethnicity, belief narratives, demonization, Buddhism, accusations, Sikkim

© 2021 Kikee D. Bhutia, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Death by Poisoning: Cautionary Narratives and Inter-Ethnic Accusations in Contemporary Sikkim

Published Online: Jun 12, 2021

Page range: 65 - 84

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jef-2021-0005

Keywordsdeath by poisoning, ethnicity, belief narratives, demonization, Buddhism, accusations, Sikkim

© 2021 Kikee D. Bhutia, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
death by poisoning, ethnicity, belief narratives, demonization, Buddhism, accusations, Sikkim