Karna Bahadur Shahi, the senior-most member of the Raute community, passed away on Tuesday. He was 92.

Shahi, the eldest member of Nepal’s last surviving nomadic tribe, had been living in Dareghat of Bhairavi Rural Municipality.

He is survived by a son.

According to Lal Bahadur Khatri, a social worker who has been following the Raute community in Karnali province since June 2018, Shahi’s funeral rites were performed as per Raute rituals on Wednesday morning.

As per their rituals, the body of the deceased is buried wrapped in a net that the community members use to trap monkeys. Each member of the community presents wheat, rice and pieces of new clothing, among other things, during the funeral.

With Shahi’s demise, only 141 members of the nomadic tribe remain.

The nomadic tribe, indigenous to Nepal, are found in Salyan, Surkhet and Dailekh districts. They are known to barter wooden utensils for food.