The term "Yolmo" or "Hyolmo" consists of two separate words — Hyul, which means "a place or area surrounded by high mountains", and Mo, which means "goddess", indicating a place under the protection of a female deity. For centuries, Tibetan Buddhists have referred to the Helambu region using the term "Yolmo". In recent years, most people, Yolmos and otherwise, seem to prefer the name "Helambu" itself. It is also often claimed that the name "Helambu" is derived from the Yolmo words for potatoes and radishes. This etymology, however, is disputed and often considered spurious. Some refuters of this explanation argue that "Helambu" is an ambiguation of the word "Yolmo" phonetically contoured by the speakers of Nepali. There is an ongoing discussion amongst Yolmo scholars regarding the spelling of "Yolmo" in the Latin script. Some favour "Yolmo" while others prefer "Hyolmo" or "Yholmo" wherein the presence of the letter "H" indicates that the first syllable of the word is spoken with a low, breathytone. It is worth noting that Robert R. Desjarlais and Graham E. Clarke both use "Yolmo", while the Nepal Aadivasi Janajati Mahasangh uses "Hyolmo".
Culture
Society
The Yolmo tribe is organised into several clans, viz. Dangsong, Sharma-Lama, Lhalungpa, Jyapa, Chujang and Yeba, all of which follow the patrilineal system of descent. "Bride-stealing" used to be a staple among their customs but it is no longer practiced or encouraged.
The Yolmo language shares high lexical similarities with Sherpa and Tibetan. It is traditionally transcribed in the Sambhoti script, but many modern academics use the Devanagari script as well. The Yolmo language is also very closely related to Kagate, another language of the Kyirong-Kagate language sub-group.
Economy
Essentially, the Yolmo people are agriculturalists. Potatoes, radishes, and some other crops constitute their primary sustenance, along with milk and flesh from the yak which the Yolmos are known to herd. In the last few decades, the Helambu region has also become a popular site for tourism and trekking, and many Yolmos are now employed in the tourism industry as tour-guides either in their own respective villages or in various other parts of Nepal.
The "Kagate"
An ethnic group related to the Yolmos are the Kagate who stem from the original Yolmo inhabitants of the Helambu, MelamchiNimadumbu valleys. What distinguishes them is that the Kagate began migrating southeast from Helambu, and eventually, into the Ramechhap District over 100 years ago, and that they practiced the craft of paper-making during their peregrinations in order to make a living — thereby earning themselves the moniker "Kagate". They have since developed certain characteristics in their speech that are distinct from traditional Yolmo. The Yolmo speaking groups in the Lamjung District and Ilam District have also historically been called "Kagate" although both groups claim a clear distinction between themselves and the Kagate of Ramechhap. However, "Yolmo" and "Kagate" are often used as terms for both the ethnic group and their dialect interchangeably.
Distribution
Nepal
According to the Nepal National Census of 2011, the population of the Yolmo people living within Nepal is 10,752, who are distributed over 11 districts of the country, and 99% of this population speak the Yolmo language. However, the number of monolingual Yolmo speakers is very low and on a gradual decline, as the number of monolingual Nepali-speaking Yolmos and bilingual Yolmos with English as their second language increases. The largest Yolmo settlements in Nepal are in the Helambu and Melamchi Valleys which are home to over 10,000 Yolmos. A separate group of about 700 reside in the Lamjung district while some have settled closer to Pokhara. There are also a number of villages in the Ilam district where Yolmo is spoken.
