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Heart and Soul: Future shaman

Future shaman

14/07/2023 GMT

BBC World Service - Heart and Soul, Future shaman

In a remote corner of north-east India, Sipa Melo tries to keep his culture alive

Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent follows Sipa Melo, a shaman in a remote corner of north-east India, as he tries to keep his culture alive in the shadow of the Himalayas.

As a shaman, Sipa Melo is the beating heart of tribal faith and culture in a remote corner of north-east India, tucked in the shadow of the Himalayan mountains. He's a healer, a story-teller and a protector of the natural world.  Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent joins Sipa for a week of ritual, performing ceremonies to mark deaths and births and maintaining taboos that help preserve this mountainous region's indigenous culture and its rich wildlife.  She hears about his determined efforts to encourage a new generation of trainee shamans and his worries about the changing values of the region as roads and hydro-electric dams end its isolation from the booming cities to the south.

Presenter: Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent
Producer: Alasdair Cross

(Photo: Shaman Sipa Melo: Credit: Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent)

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