Tibet Oral History Project: Interview with Karma Lhakyi on 4/14/2015

The interpreter's English translation provided during this interview is potentially incomplete and/or inaccurate. If you are not fluent in Tibetan, please refer to the interview transcript for the complete and correct English translation. Read the interview transcript in English at http://tibetoralhistory.org/Interview...

** This interview about life in Tibet was conducted by the Tibet Oral History Project. This non-profit organization aims to preserve the history and culture of the Tibetan people by interviewing elderly Tibetan refugees about life in Tibet before and after the Chinese invasion. Learn more at http://www.TibetOralHistory.org.

** Interview Summary: Karma Lhakyi was born in the nomadic region of Kyenyar in Ngari, Utsang Province. She grew up caring for goats, sheep and yaks and describes what life was like in this nomadic region. Their lives were completely dependent on their animals for food, clothing and shelter. She expresses her feelings about the difficult life that nomads led, especially when it rained during the summer. During winter everything lay covered in snow with hardly any grass to feed the animals. Water was difficult to find for animals and humans as well. Karma Lhakyi explains how the nomads survived during the harsh winter months like sleeping next to their animals for warmth. She describes the process of producing butter and cheese from milk and spinning and weaving wool. Her mother taught her to watch carefully over the animals and if a wolf came Karma Lahkyi would scream and use her slingshot. She tells how illness was rare and about the use of healing herbs. She also explains which animals were slaughtered for meat and how all parts were consumed except for the horns and hoofs. Karma Lhakyi's family heard stories about Chinese atrocities so her family left Tibet. Their goats and sheep perished in the heavy snowfall along the way. They suffered from the scarcity of food and were afflicted by various ailments that claimed the lives of her parents.