Indigenous Lepcha People of Ilam

Lepcha are indigenous people of Nepal.. Lepcha are also found in western the Ilam District of eastern Nepal. The word Lepcha is considered to be the anglicized version of the Nepalese word lepche meaning "vile speakers" or "inarticulate speech". This was at first a derogatory nickname but is no longer seen as negative.

The origin of the Lepcha is unknown. They may have originated in Myanmar, Tibet or Mongolia but the Lepcha people themselves firmly believe that they did not migrate to the current location from anywhere and are indigenous to the region.[7]They speak a Tibeto-Burman language which some classify as Himalayish.