The Chile is my uncle: Spicy kinship between humans and more-than-humans in the Sikkimese Himalayas

Abstract

The eastern Himalayan red and green round chiles, known as akubari in the Sikkimese Bhutia Lhokyed language and dalle khorsani in Nepali language, have recently become popular commodities across India. However, they are not only commodities. This article contributes to Indigenous and posthuman approaches to food studies by interrogating the ways that akubari function as kin in rural west Sikkimese cultural contexts. Akubari is a grown from the land and seen as a family member that provides nourishment, sustenance, healing, and flavor for human and more-than-human beings in the region. Even the name “akubari” invokes kinship as a spicy uncle. This article draws on ethnographic research from west Sikkim, local medical and folklore traditions, and textual research into Buddhist and Indigenous ritual texts to demonstrate the many layers of being that akubari invokes beyond its status as a commodity. This demonstrates how local ways of knowing food contribute to food sovereignty in Himalayan, Northeast Indian, and global settings.