About the people of Sherpa
Sherpa is one of the indigenous communities found in Sikkim, India and in Nepal. Sherpa is generally defined as ‘people from the east’, or ‘people who live in the east’. Sherpa has a rich oral tradition, culture and folklore of their own.
According to 2011 Language Census of India, there are 16012 persons who claim to be Sherpa speakers. Some community members roughly estimate Sherpa population in Sikkim and North Bengal area to be about 25000 in number. The population of Sherpa in India is found mainly in Sikkim and North Bengal. The Sherpa population in Sikkim is found in all four districts of Sikkim. They are in Perbing area of South Sikkim, Okharey area under Sombaria of West Sikkim, Phadamchen (Nimachen) area under Rongli sub division in East Sikkim and Kabi Tingda area under Mangan sub division in North Sikkim. Sherpa population in Sikkim is largely concentrated in South Sikkim district.
Sherpa community traditionally practices Buddhism. Among the several sects of Buddhism, the Sherpa community follows Vajrayana sect. Other sects in Buddhism are Mantrayana, Tantrayana, Tantric Buddhism, Esoteric and so on. Mountains are also worshipped as god with several beliefs and interpretations among the Sherpas.
The present work is based largely on the Sherpa language spoken in Sikkim and North Bengal.
About Sherpa language
Sherpa language belongs to Bodish or Bodic group within the Tibeto-Burman family. The language is spoken in Sikkim and North Bengal in India. Within Sikkim, Sherpa may be spoken by about 20,000 people. Sherpa variety varies from village to village particularly on lexical words with no major mutual unintelligibility.
Government of Sikkim recognized Sherpa as one of the State Official languages of Sikkim in 1997. Sherpa is being taught as a subject in some government schools in Sikkim, like Government High School, Perbing, Namchi sub division, South Sikkim. Sherpa is well spoken typically by older generation.
The future of Sherpa as a language is quite vulnerable. Most of the Sherpa members in Sikkim are bi-lingual. They can speak Sherpa and Nepali. Among the younger generation, most of them are not fluent or know little Sherpa. Nepali is often used by the community among themselves and this is the most worrisome factor. Members of the community understand the importance of maintaining Sherpa but due economic and job opportunity, its importance is dwindled by major languages like Nepali, Hindi and English.The youth dance, sing and socialize predominantly in Nepali. Between husband and wife of many families, Nepali is predominantly used.
Sherpa is written in Sambhota (Tibetan) script. School education materials are written in Sambhota/Tibetan script. Sambhota is used mostly by those who learnt it formally from Tibetan schooling or modern schooling. Due to technology and its easy access to it, Nepali (Devanagari) or Roman script is commonly used in writing on a daily basis among the Sherpa community members.
Based on field survey conducted between 2017 and 2019, currently, the Centre is preparing a multilingual dictionary, grammar of Sherpa, and digital documentation of Sherpa linguistic materials and resources and other visual cultural documentation.