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Academic

Sherpa, Pasang Y. (2019) “Preserving Sherpa Language and Culture in New York,” Book 2.0 9(1).

Sherpa, Pasang Y. (2019) "Indigenous Sherpa Religion," in Marine Carrin, Michel Boivin, Gerard Toffin, Paul Hockings, Raphael Rousseleau, Tanka Subba and Harald Lambs-Tyche (eds.), Brill's Encyclopedia of the Religions of the Indigenous People of South Asia Online.

Sherpa, Pasang Y. (2017) "Community and Resilience among Sherpas in the Post-Earthquake Everest Region," HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies: Vol. 37 : No. 2 , Article 13.

Sherpa, Pasang Y. (2017) "Review of Sherpa: Trouble on Everest by Jennifer Peedom,"HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies: Vol. 37 : No. 1 , Article 32.

Public

September 2021 “Mountain As Metaphor: A Future of Multiple Worldviews” in Alpinist 75.

December 29, 2017 The New York Times "Letter to the Editor" about the article "Deliverance from 27,000 feet"

September 2017 "Explaining Ethnography in the Field: A Conversation Between Pasang Yangjee Sherpa and Carole McGranahan" for Savage Minds [Anthrodendum].

May 2017 "Looking in the Mirror (Part 1, 2, and 3)" for Savage Minds [Anthrodendum].

Sherpa, Pasang Y. (2007) “Identification of New Tourism Product, Solukhumbu.” Pro-Poor Rural Tourism Initiatives and its Sustainability in Nepal. TRPAP-UNDP, Nepal

"Power in Number: Murkiness of Racialized Sherpas" at the workshop on Rethinking Difference in India: Racialization in Transnational Perspective, American University (April 1-2, 2019)

"Post-screening discussion with Sherpa director Jennifer Peedom and Pasang Yangjee Sherpa" at the New York University Center for Media, Culture and History (March 23-25, 2017)

Special Ceremony

Keynote speaker at the Special Naturalization Ceremony at the Museum of History and Industry, Seattle. Invited by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. December 5, 2019.

March 2020 "The Mounting Risks of Summiting Mount Everest." Top of Mind with Julie Rose on BYU Radio.

May 2019 "Sherpas on Everest: 'This is a Sacred Mountain. We Need to Respect It." The Daily Beast.

April 2019 "The Story about Dead Bodies on Everest that Got 3m Hits." Over to You on BBC World Service.

May 2014 "Everest on Edge." The Stream on Al Jazeera English discuss the 2014 spring disaster on Mt. Everest.

April 2014 "When You Call Someone a Sherpa, What Does that Mean?" PRI's The World.

April 2014 "Deaths on Everest Put Spotlight on Sherpa Labor," interview  by Rob Verger for Newsweek.

April 2014 "Everest Shrugged: Why the deadliest day on the world’s tallest mountain won’t change the lives of Nepal’s sherpas," interview by Kyle Knight for Foreign Policy.

Sustaining Sherpa Language and Culture in New York

Sherpas moved from their original homeland in Solukhumbu district of Nepal to adjacent mountain districts and later to urban centers like Kathmandu and Darjeeling over several generations. By the end of the twentieth century, many had also moved permanently to North American and European countries. Now, after Kathmandu in Nepal, the largest concentration of Sherpas can be found in Queens, New York, and the surrounding boroughs.  The case of New York Sherpas is unique because for the first time in history, thousands of Sherpas from different parts of the Himalayas are living together and sharing a new home. Earlier, Sherpas were separated for generations by geographic obstacles, great distances and international boundaries. Although the process of adapting to a new socio-cultural environment is not novel, I argue that the kinds of challenges and opportunities New York has presented for the Sherpas are different from their experience elsewhere. 

Sherpas are acutely aware of the risk of losing their language and culture in their new homes in the United States, especially when it comes to transmitting cultural knowledge to the next generation. Many are therefore actively involved in the preservation of their language and culture through community mobilization in the form of kyidugs.

Kyidug is the term Sherpas use to describe the tradition of being together in times of celebration and grief. In effect, these are community organizations intended to support community members.

A shared place of worship and gathering is key to Sherpas’ efforts to preserve and practice their culture. Sherpa kyidugs based in different cities across the United States have uniformly emphasized the significance of promoting their language and culture within the community and recognize the need for a community building, where they can gather to perform religious rituals and festivals, offer language classes, or simply gather.