History of the Sherpa

The Sherpa people migrated from areas of Tibet to their current areas in Nepal starting around the 15th century. They migrated to the east and this is where their name Sherpa, which means "east people", came from. Their migration led them to some of the most mountainous regions in the whole area, which are the Khumbu and Solu regions. Since the original Sherpa originated in Tibet, their language and religion come from old Tibetan books and therefore is very similar to other languages in the area. Since the Sherpa people live their lives up in the mountains where agriculture is tough, they must stick to only crops that can survive at the altitude. Their location up in the mountains has also allowed them to achieve the status that they're best known for, and that's of the best mountaineers in the world. In fact, A Sherpa man accompanied Sir Edmund Hillary on his first successful climb of Mt. Everest. Although the Sherpa people did not take fondly to the idea of tourism and being known as being porters, they eventually embraced the mountaineering fueled tourism. I'll talk a little more on that later though.

Here's a picture of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzig Norgay, the Sherpa man who accompanied Hillary on his first successful climb: