Farewell to Yak and Yeti?

Dr. Jane Carter, Coordinator, Gender and Social Equity, Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation.
Author of Suri ko kura: Development and social change in a Nepali Village (2011).
Prof. Dr. Joanna Pfaff-Czarnecka, University of Bielefeld, Germany, Co-Editor with G. Toffin of: Facing
Globalization in the Himalayas: Belonging in the Politics of the Self (2014).
Dr. Jane Carter, Coordinator, Gender and Social
Equity, Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation.
Author of Suri ko kura: Development and social
change
in a Nepali Village (2011).
VAJRA
Pasang Sherpa, PhD, Senior Lecturer of Sociology, Trichandra Campus Tribhuwan University.
Author of The Sherpas (2007).
BOOKS
9 789937 623384
Ruedi
Baumgartner
Farewell to Yak and Yeti?
The Sherpas of Rolwaling facing
a globalised world
Today agrogiven way to
engagemen
mountainee
Himalayas,
base. This b
transformat
into reflecti
insights into
feelings of t
regarding th
V A J R A
Farewell to Yak and Yeti?
The Sherpas of Rolwaling facing a globalised world
«As small boys, we were very shy about meeting
tourists crossing through our valley,» expedition
sardar Ngawang Yonden Sherpa recalls. «But at
their heels, we enjoyed walking in the footprints
that their heavy mountain boots left in the muddy
ground, just to experience under our bare feet the
feeling of the profiles of their rubber soles and imagine walking in their sophisticated mountain shoes.»
That was in the 1960s. The Sherpas of Rolwaling
Valley in Eastern Nepal still lived from breeding yaks
and cultivating potatoes. They followed a seasonal
cycle of transhumance from the winter settlement at
3,200 metres to the high pastures above 5,000 metres.
Today agro-pastoral livelihoods have given way to
a highly successful engagement in the globalised
mountaineering tourism of the Himalayas, organised
from an urban base.
Ruedi Baumgartner
Farewell to Yak and Yeti?
The Sherpas of Rolwaling
facing a globalised world
baumgartner@nadel.ethz.ch
ISBN-10: 993762343X, ISBN-13: 978-9937623438
Hardcover: 296 pages, Publisher: Vajra Books, Nepal. (2015)
« s small b
about
through our
Ngawang Yo
«But at thei
in the footpr
mountain b
ground, just
bare feet the
their rubber
in their soph
That was in
of Rolwalin
still lived fr
cultivating p
a seasonal c
the winter s
the high pa
Baumgartner
«This is a fascinating account of the
change in Rolwaling Sherpa society over
the past 40 years, effectively covering three
generations. Ruedi Baumgartner’s carefully
chronicled life stories reveal radically
different roles and aspirations within
each generation. Economic success in the
second generation has brought higher
«Globalization affects Himalayan societies in various ways. This study
of Rolwaling Sherpas
and their successful
involvement in international
educational
opportunities
to the third
mountain tourism provides us with micro perspectives of an encounter with
–
particularly
striking
being
how
the
a world increasingly open to supra-local influences. It offers subtle
insights
into essential local preconditions for grasping the opportunities offered by
of Yet
young
women
ofreveals
Rolwaling
external forceshorizons
and interventions.
this Rolwaling
study also
a
growing awareness
of the
risks and vulnerabilities
that globalized
livelihoods
have
widened,
compared
to
those
of their
face today.»
grandmothers, whose lives were firmly
anchored in the valley. The question now
is: who amongst the younger generation
«The Sherpa community is increasingly challenged when defining its
– boys
girls
–Towill
position in Nepal‘s
rapidlyand
changing
society.
knowcontinue
where to go, we the
need
to know where we came from. Studies such as this one on the Sherpas of
physically
harsh
culturally
Rolwaling help
us to remain connected
withbut
our origins.
They causerich
us to life of
reflect on the Rolwaling?»
ongoing social and economic changes, and can help foster
identity and social cohesion within Sherpa society in the Nepal of today.»
Foreword by NGAWANG TENZING LAMA, Head Lama of Rolwaling
Farewell to Yak and Yeti?
e
«This is a fascinating account of the change in Rolwaling Sherpa society
over the past 40 years, effectively covering three generations. Ruedi
Baumgartner’s carefully chronicled life stories reveal radically different roles
and aspirations within each generation. Economic success in the second
generation has brought higher educational opportunities to the third –
particularly striking being how the horizons of young women of Rolwaling
have widened, compared to those of their grandmothers, whose lives
were firmly anchored in the valley. The question now is: who amongst the
younger generation – boys and girls – will continue the physically harsh but
culturally rich life of Rolwaling?»
Available at:
www.vajrabookshop.com
www.amazon.com