Ajay Immanuel Gonji Introduction   In the summer of 2025, my colleagues and I conducted fieldwork in the Yuksam district of western Sikkim, India. Chiefly, the inhabitants of our study site were engaged in farming, agro-pastoralism, and eco-tourism. We asked our interviewees questions about the nature of their relationship with the land, its living beings, its seasons, and the changes they have observed in recent years. Using a multimethod approach – primarily involving semi-