Hill tribe (Duran)

Elderly Hua people in traditional dress.

Hill tribe (Namkha: རི་འབུར Riburpa "hill people") is a term used to designate the various ethnic groups of Duran who primarily inhabit the upper reaches of the Beishan Mountains and North Duranian Highlands, and is sometimes extended to the related peoples who inhabit northern Shangea and other surrounding nations. Comparable with the term Vanavasi in neighbouring Satria, the various ethnic groups which fall under the umbrella of the hill tribe label are diverse and share few concrete relations, being composed of a range of different language groups and families. Instead, they are associated due to their similar lifestyles based upon slash-and-burn agriculture, pastoralism, and resistance to central authority under the Nampa dominated valley states. These characteristics are shared with other upland peoples who inhabit the South Coian Massif, which has formed a key aspect of the Kussuria theory, which posits a shared resistance to central state control as the shaping factor in such societies

In Duran, the term has an official political dimension as scheduled hill tribes are granted special protections under the Dratsung system. This system arose as a compromise between autonomist militias and the Chenpodrang government, and allows tribes to maintain their own local customs and governance with state assistance. The system allows for hill tribes to decide on the nature of development aid and infrastructure in their communities, so that it does not infringe on local beliefs. Despite this accord, there have been numerous incidents of forced land siezure and cultural erasure by the Duranian government, which has resulted in political turmoil and low level insurgency. Hill tribes remain behind urbanised populations in most metrics of living standards, and complain of less access to education and healthcare.

Issues faced by hill tribes

Tensions with government

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