Sherpa people

The Sherpa people (Standard Tibetan: ཤར་པ།, romanized: shar pa) are one of the Tibetan ethnic groups native to the most mountainous regions of Nepal, India and the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China.
The majority of Sherpas live in the eastern regions of Nepal, namely the Solukhumbu (Khumbu and Pharak), Khatra, Kama, Rolwaling and Barun Valley. Although, some live north of Kathmandu, Nepal in the Bigu and Helambu regions. They can also be found in Tingri County, Bhutan, the Indian states of Sikkim, and northern portions of West Bengal, specifically the Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts.
In these regions, Sherpas establish monasteries called gompas where they practice their local traditions. Tengboche was the first celibate monastery in Solu-Khumbu.
The Sherpa language belongs to the southern branch of the Tibeto-Burman languages, mixed with Eastern Tibetan (Khams Tibetan) and central Tibetan dialects. However, this language is separate from Lhasa Tibetan and is unintelligible to Lhasa speakers.
Sherpa migration has significantly increased in recent years, especially in the United States. New York City has the largest Sherpa community with a population of approximately 16,000 people. Contrastingly, the 2011 Nepal census recorded 512,946 Sherpas within its borders.
Members of the Sherpa nation are known for their skills in mountaineering as a livelihood.
Sherpas descend from nomadic progenitors who first settled in the Himalayas on the Tibetan Plateau, namely the Khumbu and Solu regions of Mahālangūr Himāl. This area is situated along the border dividing the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal from the People's Republic of China. It is found in the Solukhumbu District in Koshi which is the easternmost province of Nepali and to the south of the Tibet Autonomous Region in China.
Sherpa's oral history recounts four fundamental Sherpa clan groups migrating from Kham to Solukhumbu: Minyakpa, Thimmi, Lamasherwa, and Chawa. These four groups gradually split into more than 20 different clans that exist today. In the 13th and 14th centuries, religious conflict with Mahayana Buddhism may have contributed to the Sherpa's migration out of Tibet into the Khumbu regions of Nepal. Before crossing into the Himalayas, Sherpa migrants traveled through Ü and Tsang.
By the 15th century, the Khumbu Sherpas attained autonomy within the newly formed Nepali state. As tension with China increased in the 1960s, the Nepali Government's influence on Sherpas grew. In 1976, Khumbu became a national park, and tourism became a major economic force.
The term sherpa derives from the Tibetan words shar (ཤར, 'east') and pa (པ, 'people'). Reasons for this term are unclear, but one common explanation describes Sherpa origins laying in eastern Tibet. However, the community is based in the Nepalese highlands which is south of Tibet.
Genetic studies show that much of the Sherpa population has allele frequencies that are often found in other Tibeto-Burman regions. In tested genes, the strongest affinity was for Tibetan population sample studies done in the Tibet Autonomous Region. Genetically, the Sherpa cluster is closest to the sample Tibetan and Han populations.
Additionally, the Sherpa had exhibited an affinity for several Nepalese populations, with the strongest for the Rai people, followed by the Magars and the Tamang.
A 2010 study identified more than 30 genetic factors that make Tibetan bodies well-suited for high altitudes, including EPAS1, referred to as the "super-athlete gene," that regulates the body's production of hemoglobin, allowing for greater efficiency in the use of oxygen.
A 2016 study of Sherpas in Tibet suggested that a small portion of Sherpas' and Tibetans' allele frequencies originated from separate ancient populations, which were estimated to have remained somewhat distributed for 11,000 to 7,000 years.
A 2014 study observed that considerable genetic components from the Indian Subcontinent were found in Sherpa people living in Tibet. The western Y chromosomal haplogroups R1a1a-M17, J-M304, and F*-M89 comprise almost 17% of the paternal gene pool in tested individuals. In the maternal side, M5c2, M21d, and U from the west also count up to 8% of people in given Sherpa populations. However, a later study from 2015 did not support the results from the 2014 study; the 2015 study concluded that genetic sharing from the Indian subcontinent was highly limited; a 2017 study found the same.
In a 2015 study of 582 Sherpa individuals (277 males) from China and Nepal, haplogroup D-M174 was found most frequently, followed by Haplogroup O-M175, Haplogroup F-M89 and Haplogroup K-M9. The Y-chromosome haplogroup distribution for Sherpas follow a pattern similar to that for Tibetans.
Sherpa mtDNA distribution shows greater diversity, as Haplogroup A was found most frequently, followed by Haplogroup M9a, Haplogroup C4a, Haplogroup M70, and Haplogroup D. These haplogroups are also found in some Tibetan populations. However, two common mtDNA sub-haplogroups unique to Sherpas populations were identified: Haplogroup A15c1 and Haplogroup C4a3b1.
Many Sherpas are highly regarded as elite mountaineers and experts in their local area. They were valuable to early explorers of the Himalayan region, serving as guides through extreme altitudes of the peaks and passes in the region, particularly for Mount Everest climbing expeditions. Today, the term Sherpa is often used by foreigners to refer to almost any guide or climbing supporter hired for mountaineering in the Himalayas, regardless of their ethnicity. Because of this usage, the term has become a slang byword for a guide or mentor in other situations. Sherpas are renowned in the international climbing and mountaineering community for their hardiness, expertise, and experience at very high altitudes. It has been speculated that part of the Sherpas' climbing ability is the result of a genetic adaptation to living in high altitudes. Some of these adaptations include unique hemoglobin-binding capacity and doubled nitric oxide production.
On 18 April 2014, a serac collapsed above the Khumbu Icefall on Mount Everest, causing an avalanche of massive chunks of ice and snow which killed 16 Nepalese guides, mostly Sherpas. The 2014 avalanche is the second-deadliest disaster in Everest's history, only exceeded by avalanches in the Khumbu Icefall area a year later, on 25 April 2015, caused by a magnitude 7.8 earthquake in Nepal. In response to that tragedy and others involving deaths and injuries sustained by Sherpas hired by climbers, and the lack of government support for Sherpas injured or killed while providing their services, some Sherpa climbing guides resigned, and their respective climbing companies stopped providing guides and porters for Everest expeditions. The Khumbu Icefall is a waterfall of ice with continuous structural shifts, requiring continuous changes to the route through the area and making this is one of the most dangerous parts of climbing Mount Everest. Climbers have to walk on ladders over crevasses, while walking underneath large serac formations that could potentially fall at any moment. Oftentimes the journey through the Khumbu Icefall is in the pitch black. It is safer for climbers to go through the icefall at night because the temperatures at night drop. Therefore, the icefall is not melting as fast as it would during the day. These dangers have resulted in 66 deaths as of 2017, including 6 deaths from falling in a crevasse, 9 deaths from a collapse in a section of the icefall, and 29 deaths from avalanches onto the icefall. The families of those who died in the avalanche were offered 40,000 rupees, the equivalent of about $400 US dollars, from the Nepalese government. At the time of the disaster, the Sherpas were carrying loads of equipment for their clients, including many luxury items. There had been two broken ladders causing a traffic jam in the Khumbu Icefall. It is not uncommon for Sherpas to go through the Khumbu Icefall around 30 times each season; in comparison, foreigners only go through the icefall 2 or 3 times during the season. Sherpas are expected to haul the majority of their clients' gear to each of the five camps and to set up before their clients reach the camps. During each season, Sherpas typically make up to $5000 US dollars during their 2 or 3-month period of taking international clients to the summit of Everest. As of 2019, expeditions on Mt. Everest contributed $300 million. The economy of Nepal thrives off of tourism and adventure seekers.
As a result of the 2014 disaster, the remaining Sherpas went on strike. They were angry at the government, lack of compensation, and their working conditions. Sherpas came together in the days after the disaster to make a list of demands for the government. The documentary Sherpa contains footage of one of their meetings. Sherpas wanted to cancel the climbing season that year out of respect for those who lost their lives. They argued that "This route has become a graveyard," and asked "How could we walk over their bodies?". Their clients were debating whether or not to continue to try to reach the summit of Everest because they had paid tens of thousands of dollars to be there. However, international clients were fearful of this strike and how it would affect themselves and had their bags packed in case of a need for a swift escape. On top of this, rumors spread among the Sherpa community that others would hurt them if they were to continue to take foreigners on their expeditions (Peedom, 2016). The 2014 event killed 16 Sherpas and, in 2015, 10 Sherpas died at the Everest Base Camp after the earthquake. In total, 118 Sherpas have died on Mount Everest between 1921 and 2018. An April 2018 report by NPR stated that Sherpas account for one-third of Everest deaths.
According to oral Buddhist traditions, the initial Tibetan migration was a search for a beyul (Buddhist pure-lands). Sherpa practised the Nyingma ("Ancient") school of Buddhism. Allegedly the oldest Buddhist sect in Tibet, founded by Padmasambhava (commonly known as Guru Rinpoche) during the 8th century, it emphasizes mysticism and the incorporation of local deities shared by the pre-Buddhist Bön religion, which has shamanic elements. Sherpa particularly believe in hidden treasures and valleys. Traditionally, Nyingmapa practice was passed down orally through a loose network of lay practitioners. Monasteries with celibate monks and nuns, along with the belief in reincarnated spiritual leaders, are later adaptations.
In addition to Buddha and the great Buddhist divinities, the Sherpa also believe in numerous deities and demons who inhabit every mountain, cave, and forest. These have to be respected or appeased through ancient practices woven into the fabric of Buddhist ritual life. Many of the great Himalayan mountains are considered sacred. The Sherpa call Mount Everest Chomolungma and respect it as the "Mother of the World." Mount Makalu is respected as the deity Shankar (Shiva). Each clan reveres certain mountain peaks and their protective deities.
Today, the day-to-day Sherpa religious affairs are presided over by lamas (Buddhist spiritual leaders) and other religious practitioners living in the villages. The village lama who presides over ceremonies and rituals can be a celibate monk or a married householder. In addition, shamans (lhawa) and soothsayers (mindung) deal with the supernatural and the spirit world. Lamas identify witches (pem), act as the mouthpiece of deities and spirits, and diagnose spiritual illnesses.
An important aspect of Sherpa religion is the temple or gompa. A gompa is the prayer hall for either villages or monasteries. There are numerous gompas and about two dozen monasteries scattered throughout the Solukhumbu region. The monasteries are communities of lamas or monks (sometimes of nuns) who take a vow of celibacy and lead a life of isolation searching for truth and religious enlightenment. They are respected by and supported by the community at large. Their contact with the outside world is focused on monastery practices and annual festivals to which the public is invited, as well as the reading of sacred texts at funerals.
Mt. Everest is located within the Sagarmatha National Park, which is a sacred landscape for local Sherpas. The region is considered the dwelling of supernatural beings. Sherpas value life and the beauty it provides, meaning they avoid killing living creatures. Furthermore, Mt. Everest has attracted many tourists who unknowingly or knowingly are disrupting the sacred land of the park. For example, finding firewood has been deemed problematic. Many tourists stick with the methods they know how to do, which is oftentimes cutting down trees or taking branches off trees to make a fire. This practice is against Sherpas' spiritual law of the land. Moreover, the Sherpas do a spiritual ritual before climbing the mountain to ask the mountain for permission to climb. This ritual seems to have become a spectacle for foreign climbers.
In addition, the entirety of the national park is not governed by the Sherpas but rather foreigners to the land. Park managers have made an effort to try to include Sherpas' voices by creating buffer-zone user groups. These groups are made up of political leaders from the surrounding villages, and serve as a platform for Sherpa demands. However, these groups do not have any official status and the government can decide whether or not to hear these demands or make the desired changes.
Men wear long-sleeved robes called chuba, which fall to slightly below the knee. The chuba is tied at the waist with a cloth sash called kara, creating a pouch-like space called namdok which can be used for storing and carrying small items. Traditionally, chuba were made from thick home-spun wool, or a variant called lokpa made from sheepskin. Chuba are worn over raatuk, a blouse (traditionally made out of bure, white raw silk), trousers called kanam, and a stiff collared shirt called tetung.
Women traditionally wear long-sleeved floor-length dresses called tongkok. A sleeveless variation called aangi is worn over a full sleeved shirt called honju and with a raatuk (blouse) underneath the shirt. These are worn with colourful striped aprons; pangden (or metil) aprons are worn in front, and gewe (or gyabtil) in back, and are held together by an embossed silver buckle called kyetig and a kara
Sherpa clothing resembles Tibetan clothing. Increasingly, home-spun wool and silk is being replaced by factory-made material. Many Sherpa people also now wear ready-made western clothing.
When a son marries and has children, the community may help to construct a new house, as the extended family becomes too large for a single home. The neighbours often contribute food, drinks and labour to help the family. Houses are typically spaced to allow fields in between. A spiritual ceremony may be conducted at every building stage as the house must have space for deities, humans and animals. Once constructed, the house is often handed down within a family and not sold. The house style depends on the lay of the land: old river terraces, former lake beds or mountain slopes. There are stone single-story, 1+1⁄2-story (on a slope), and the two-story houses, with ample room for animals. Many well-to-do families will have an annex shrine room for sacred statues, scriptures and ritual objects. The roof is sloping and is made from local natural materials, or imported metal. There's space in the roof to allow for fire smoke to escape. There may be an internal or external outhouse for making compost.
"A Sherpa community will most commonly get together for a party, which is held by the host with the purpose of gaining favour with the community and neighbours". Guests are invited hours before the party will start by the host's children to reduce the chance of rejection. In all social gatherings the men are seated by order of status, with those of lesser status sitting closer to the door and men of higher status sitting by the fireplace, while the women sit in the center with no ordering. It is polite to sit in a space lower than one's proper place so one may be invited by the host to their proper place. The first several hours of the party will have only beer served, followed by the serving of food, and then several more hours of singing and dancing before people start to drift out. The act of manipulating one's neighbours into cooperation by hosting a party is known as Yangdzi, and works by expecting the hospitality done by the host with the serving of food and alcohol to be repaid.
The Central Bureau of Statistics of Nepal classifies the Sherpa as a subgroup within the broader social group of Mountain/Hill Janajati. At the time of the 2023 Nepal census, 250,637 people (1.1% of the population of Nepal) were Sherpa. Just 9,435 of them speak second language. The frequency of Sherpa people by province was as follows:
The frequency of Sherpa people was higher than national average (0.4%) in the following districts: