Faith in the Floodplain Environmental and Religious Change in the Bön Village of Lubra, Mustang

In the Nepali Himalayas, the village of Lubra, Mustang is contending with how to adapt to intensifying flash floods. Lubra is a religiously and culturally unique village, as it is the only village in Mustang entirely practicing the Tibetan indigenous religion of Bön and contains multiple well-preserved old Bön monasteries. The people of Lubra have a strong historical and spiritual connection to their village and this connection is increasingly being strained by the effects of climate change, development of infrastructure, and outmigration. Residents are looking for ways to adapt to change, and wondering how they will keep their culture and religion alive while protecting their livelihoods. Many are relocating homes and crops to higher land, but are at a loss for what to do when the flooding begins to affect their monastery. Additionally, elder religious leaders do not know to whom they will pass the torch of their teachings, creating concern that the highly localized religious knowledge will disappear when village religious leaders pass. This paper focuses on the effect of climate change on religious practice and thought in Lubra, as well as how religion shapes residents’ stories of climate change.