Photographer documents the last nomadic people of Nepal

The Raute are Nepal’s last nomadic people nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas. This photo series captures their resistance to the modern word.

Ram Paudel, a Nepalese documentary photographer based in Germany, has released a photographic series that documents Nepal’s last nomadic people, the Raute. The “Kings of the Forest” as they call themselves are holding tight to their old ways despite multiple threats to their way of life.

With a dwindling population of around 150, the Raute survive on monkey meat and trade their simple wooden wares for vegetables and grain. “Among themselves they speak a kind of non-written tibeto-Burman language,” writes Paudel.

Climate change has drastically affected their way of life. The forests they call home are fast declining and with it, the monkey population, which they rely on for meat. This has forced them to rely on government funding and non-profit organisations, stripping them of the independence.