Acclimation in a Changing World
Amidst the thin air and harsh conditions that one would find in the Himalayas, lives a hard working group of people called the Sherha (or Sherpa). Many view the Sherpa as the workhorses behind reaching the world's highest summits. While they are among the most trusted guides in the Himalayas, the Sherpa culture dates back hundreds of years to a time of subsistence agriculture and intra-regional trade. Slowly, their society is becoming more and more integrated with western ideas and culture, as most isolated peoples have experienced over time. They have transformed into a society thriving on tourism, rather than trade and agriculture. Such a transformation is necessary for any culture to survive. The ancestors of the Sherha most likely migrated from the Kham, in eastern Tibet over 500 years ago, in search of pastures more suited for their hunting and agricultural needs. The Sherha were a typical hunter/gatherer society, specializing in the herding of yaks, and the growing of rice, corn, and potatoes (beginning in the 1850's) (History of the Sherpas: A Chronological Chart). Their existence depended upon trade between the clans, and other ethnic groups, however. While there was much equality between women and men, there w
When the Sherpa began to migrate to their current location of Solu-Khumbu, in Northeastern Nepal, the predominant language spoken was Tibetan, which is still spoken in the western Chinese territory of Tibet. However, as time passed, and the Sherpa remained isolated from outside influence, their spoken language progressed into what is now simply referred to as the Sherpa language, evolving independently from Tibetan (http://sintl.nepalresearch.com/sherpas.htm). Because of this isolation, the Sherpa language has only recently begun to be written down and standardized. This is yet another example of the acculturation occurring in their society. In the Sherpa culture, each clan can be viewed as a separate caste or entity. The difference between Sherpa castes and, for example, the Indian caste system is this: each caste in the Sherpa culture is one of equality. Each clan has a ruling party. This ruling party, collaborating with other clans, makes decisions for the clans' well being. Politics in this culture are based on their religious belief, which is based upon Nyingmapa Buddhism, with Animist and Shamanistic beliefs interspersed (http://sintl.nepalresearch. com/sherpas.htm). Through various nation-states that have ruled over the areas occupied by the Sherpa,
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Approximate Word count = 861
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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