Sherpa People

Solokhumbu, located at eastern hill region of Nepal, is the homeland of the Sherpas. They are known as the mountain people as they are involved in trekking. Because of their success to climb-up the Mount Everest, they are well known in the world. They communicate in their own dialect. They are Buddhist by their religious belief. Lhosar, celebrated as the New Year, is the main festival of the Sherpa. In addition, Dumjee, Fangi, Yarchyang are other festivals. The main food item of the Sherpa community is made from uwa-a wheat variety. However, liquor consumption and food prepared from potato are very famous among the Sherpas.

According to linguists, the word sherpa means easterner, and this work comes from the Tibetan language. The ancestral place of these famous mountaineers is northern side of the Solukhumbu district. The traditional habitat of the Sherpas also lies in the valley between the Dudh Koshi and Sun Koshi rivers. The Sherpa language and script are derived from Tibetan. Sherpas are Buddhist. Lhosar is their major festival. They cremate their dead. They greet their guests with khada scarfs, Chhewa is performed for the dead. Tourism, trade and farming are the major occupation of the Sherpas.

The Helambu Sherpa are believed to have migrated from Tibet to Nepal around the 15th century.  The Helambu Sherpa are often confused with the Solokumbu Sherpa because both groups are referred to only as "Sherpa."  However, each group is totally distinct from the other, with different cultures and languages.

The language of the Helambu Sherpa is very similar to Tibetan and they can often understand a simple form of the Tibetan language.  Their primary occupation is farming, but much of their income also comes from tourism because of the many trekkers that come through their area.

They observe all the Tibetan festivals and follow the religion of Tibetan Buddhism, but also put much faith in Shamans (witch doctors).  One of their festivals is called Gyawa and it occurs 49 days after a person dies.  They gather together and everyone eats as much as they can because they believe that all the food eaten at the festival will go directly to the dead person for him or her to eat.

Economy and trade
 

The economy of the Sherpas, is related directly to the mountain environment. They primarily live on field agriculture, animal husbandry, trade and mountaineering. The people of Solu (relatively in the lower and warmer region compared to Khumbu) grow potato, barley, wheat , maize and others and trade them in the nearby areas. The Khumbu Sherpas have limited pasture of arable land and they primarily depend upon animal husbandry, yak and sheep breeding. They produce different Yak derivatives; including butter, cheese etc. Yak butter is used in making the traditional salted Tibetan tea. Khumbu lies in an important trade route to Tibet through Nangpa La (Nangpa Pass). Namche bazaar is the main trading center in this region. This gateway to Mt. Everest is prosperous and it bustles with activities in the mountaineering and trekking seasons. Its numerous hotels provide modern facilities including various Satellite TV channels, public telephone services and different culinary delicacies; the traditional and continental. As the number of tourists and expedition increases, the scope of these highlanders for the employment as guides, and high altitude porters gradually increases. This has helped quite a lot in their living standards.

Traditions and Culture

There are two distinct castes in the Sherpa society; the Khadev and Khamedu, the former having a higher social status. There are several clans eg Chhusherwa, Chiawa Gardza, Gole, Goparma, Hirgoma, Lakshindu, Lama, Mende, Mipa, Ngawa, Paldorje, Pankarma, Pinasa, Salaka, Shargup, Sherwa, Shine, Thaktu and others. Sherpa society is exogamous. i.e. a person must marry outside his or her clan. Fraternal polyandry is found among the Sherpas, that is two brothers may marry one common wife. However, if there are three brothers in a Sherpa family, the middle brother has to serve the monastery as a monk and for a family with four brothers, the group of two may marry two common wives. The polyandry which is also found in the most of the northern Himalayan ethnic groups, could have a common reasoning of the limited arable land available to them. This may restrain the family land being sub- divided into smaller units. The attitude towards is also relaxed in general. Polygamy, i.e., marrying more than one wife is rare.

Sherpas observe a number of festivals during the year. The important ones are losar and dumze. Losar is the new year 's celebration according to the Tibetan calendar. It occurs sometimes in the end of February. This singing, dancing, feasting time is rejoiced by all families. Dumze is interesting festival observed in the village ' gomba' or the monastery for seven days, sometimes during the month of July. The village lama conducts the rituals by worshipping Guru Rimpoche, Phawa Cheresi, Tsanba and other deities. While the villagers gather in the evenings at the gomba and enjoy eateries and drinks. Singing, dancing , and merry making being always the part of the occasion. Khumbu- hyulla, a local deity is always worshipped on every occasion. There is one occasion , Nungne, when people take solemn fasting or partial fasting for three days by laymen and for a fortnight by the nuns and lamas. People gather in gomba and recite the sacred texts. Those who can not recite the texts, they chant; "Om Mani padme hum". This is marked as a kind of penitence.

These famous highlanders of Nepal are always on the move; sometimes to the greener and warmer pastures southwards; sometimes to trade and sometimes to climb the mountain as a guide, a leader or simply a porter. There are many of Sherpas who have set records in the mountaineering world. Tenzing Norgay Sherpa with Sir Edmund Hillary, was the first to climb the highest mountain of the world in 1953. Ang Rita Sherpa, nicknamed ' the snow leopard' climbed the highest mountains for the 10th time in 1996, an astonishing feat for any human being that too without oxygen mask. Even collectively , this ethnic group has the most climbers and record holders atop the highest mountain.

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