UKC

A recent BBC report on the clean up of Everest describes the cleanup being carried out by ....."guides known as Sherpas".

Surely the Sherpas are an ethnic group who do work as guides but guides and porters aren't exclusively Sherpa?

Sorry. No link.

Yes, with you on that. Somebody should put them right on that.

I don't profess to be anything of an authority on such matters but I did find it fascinating seeing the various ethnic characteristics of the Nepalese people I met. Many of those in the Khumbu region seemed to have the Sherpa features which to me appeared to be Tibetan/Mongoloid and appeared different those of the Annapurna region which is where many of the Ghurkas come from. Many I saw in Kathmandu had more Indian features.

As I say, I'm no authority on it but I did find it interesting.

I wouldn't ordinarily be this anal about something but the implication of the wording is that the words "guides" and "sherpas" are automatically interchangeable and I don't think that is correct.

Agreed. I think popular culture as fomented the assumption that all indigenous people in the Himalaya are sherpas and all sherpas are guides and porters and all porters and guides are sherpas.

I think it all goes back to Everest in the 50s, when Tenzing Norgay was never given the courtesy of his own name being used, but was always and everywhere referred to as 'Sherpa Tenzing' (or 'Tensing'). It fixed the identification of the one (Sherpa) with the other (porter) and has endured ever since in popular culture.

Agreed. But perhaps it's time to stop repeating the mistake?

You're right, plenty of Nepalese guides and porters aren't Sherpas. I spent a week with one last summer who was a Gurung. He was slightly miffed at being called a Sherpa all the time, but overall wasn't that arsed about it.

I live in France, where people call me 'anglais' all the time, even though I'm 'écossais'. At the start I used to correct them, but it wasn't long before I wasn't that arsed either. Sometimes I even say I'm 'anglais' when somebody asks, although I know I shouldn't. (I was definitely 'écossais" last month tho, when we trounced the f*ckers at rugby!)

Edit to add that the BBC should get their facts right!

Not having seen the report I could interpret what you have written one of two ways:

The BBC is conflating "guide" with "Sherpa",

or the BBC recognises that the general public often conflate "guide" with "Sherpa"

Not all Sherpas work as sherpas, and not all sherpas are Sherpa. 

The term 'sherpa' has long been used to mean expedition porters, and particularly those who go high on the mountain and form an important part of the climbing team.  In this context it's a job description. rather than an ethnic one, and although most are from the Sherpa ethnic group you are correct that some are from other backgrounds.