Above the Mukpa: The Shifting Ground of Khumbu's Sacred Geography

The Himalayan region is suffering from global warming, and the effects are felt at all scales, from the local to the global. Himalayan glaciers feed ten major Asian rivers, and 1.3 billion people in southern and southeast Asia reside in those river basins (Eriksson, et al. 2009:1). Global warming is melting these glaciers at a rapid rate, with retreat ranging from 10 to 60 meters per year on average, and many smaller glaciers already disappearing (Mool, Bajracharya and Shrestha 2008:1). This research is a study of local perceptions of global warming and glacial melt among the Sherpas of Khumbu, Nepal. Field research was carried out in a two and a half week trip to Khumbu, and in Kathmandu before and after the trip. The Khumbu valley is a sacred landscape, and the concepts of sacred valleys and mountains play important roles in the Sherpa Buddhist tradition and religious practice. The rapid glacial melt in the region not only endangers the water security, climate regularity, and physical stability, it also is changing the landscape considered sacred by the local inhabitants. The findings of this research suggest that Sherpa perspectives vary greatly depending on age, education level, and occupation. A large part of the variety in perspectives is due to the rise in tourism to Khumbu since the middle of the 20 century. The direct and indirect effects of the tourism industry has made the Sherpa population incredibly dynamic. Their values, perceptions, and priorities are necessarily shifting as their horizons extend beyond the nearest mountain range and the next harvest. Acknowledgments Firstly, I want to thank Dendi Sherpa for his incredibly generous help in getting me to Khumbu in the first place, and in providing contacts for me once there. Also, a great thank you to Pasang Tashi and Kelsang for welcoming me back from the mountains and nursing me back to health after a challenging illness. I would like to thank the many Sherpas I met along the way for their kindness and willingness to share themselves, their values, and their religious beliefs with me. Particularly the help of Phudorjee Lama Sherpa, Pemba Nuru Sherpa, and Laxman Adhikari was indispensable. They always answered my questions, no matter how many times I asked them. Also, I will never forget the kindness of Samden Ongmu Sherpa, who fed me and treated me like her own son. Although I was backpacking alone in Khumbu, I was never lonely thanks to the company of a number of other travellers and guides, who were always willing to help me even though I was not their responsibility. Special thanks to Phurba Sherpa and Tony Banks, who kept me company over the high passes of Khumbu. A huge thank you to my Tibetan teachers Mingyur la, Rinzin la, and Thupten la – the Tibetan language opened many doors for me in Khumbu, and without it my research and my experience there would have been much less rich. And of course, thank you to the SIT personnel in Kathmandu for watching my back and keeping me honest. 2 I choose to use the term “global warming” in this research, despite the more acceptable bureaucratic term “climate change” being in vogue in the majority of research on the subject. My reason is simple: “climate change” is a passive term, and is also used to refer to the long-term natural shifts in climate, such as ice ages, etc. “Global warming,” though controversial for some, is an active term, and implies the anthropogenic impact on the climate. Anyone who has viewed repeat photography of Himalayan glaciers over the past 50 years cannot deny the active nature of their change.