IDENTITY NEGOTIATION AND SELF CONSTRUCTION: A CASE STUDY OF BERICHO COMMUNITY IN HUNZA

Abstract

For a very long time, a small community in Hunza, in the extreme north region, Gilgit-Baltistan in Pakistan which borders with the Xingjian province of China. The Bericho community resides in a small village called Berishal. It is referred to as the ‘heart’ of Hunza because of its strategic location and famous craftsmanship of various agricultural materials. As this community is on the verge of extinction, the author undertook an oral history research by collecting oral stories from the local community members. Berichos were highly skilled blacksmiths, craftsmen and artisans. Over the passage of time, this community had undergone geo-spatial movements in terms while bearing biased attitudes from the wider communities of Hunza and forsaking their traditional, highly skilled blacksmith trade and craftsmanship of musical instruments in favour of modern professions such as government and armed services. The skilled musical 'ustaads' disappeared and were replaced by Brushaski speaking (Brusho) young talented locals of Hunza. Furthermore, the unique language of this community, Beriski (Doomaki in Shina) slowly faded in favour of Brushaski language. The people of Hunza often quoted Bericho for their artwork who used to prepare musical instruments, weapons for warfare, and were strong blacksmiths without the use of any machinery. Given the nature of their job, it can be said that the Bericho formed the silent yet strongest foundation for the community of Hunza. Despite the critical importance of the Bericho community, they were not treated and regarded equally in Hunza. To say that the Berichos were not treated fairly would be an understatement. Why were they considered as the lowest caste? To understand this question, the author dives deeper into this region’s history and culture. Keywords: Migration, Geo-spatiality, Language, Oral history, Hunza, Pakistan.