Hi! Our wiki page is all about household items used during the 1970's in tradtional Sherpa homes. We have divided this topic into three seperate categories: sleeping, cooking and storage, the three paragraphs seen here. All of this information comes from the amazing book, Through a Sherpa Window by Lhakpa Norbu Sherpa. We hope you enjoy our page!
Sleeping Traditional Sherpa furniture for sleeping was very simple and uncomfortable. The elders of the family were treated with the most respect. The grandparents or the older parents would sleep on the trika, the master bed. The trika was placed at a distant corner in the room.Other family members could sleep on a mattress that they could role out on the floor. They also had the option to sleep on a yugtri. The yugtri is a bench used for sitting during the daytime. During the night, younger family members could sleep on it with a mattress on top. Since the Sherpas did not have large rooms and they only used one room for the whole family, they couldn't have big-luxurious beds. (Nichole H.)
Cooking There were several tools used in Sherpa culture for cooking.The tools were for cooking and keeping the fires going. One such tool was the phethap, a fireplace made of stone and mud walls. A phethap or thapming, meaning “fireplace with eyes”, was called so because of the two eye looking openings at the top used for the placement of pots. Though not good for much heat or light, a phethap was effective for burning little fuel. With few trees in the Tibetan plateu, this fireplace became very popular. Later it was improved by adding a chimney or smoke collector in order to make it smokeless. Another tool was the boota, a sheepskin bellow with a metal pipe at the end. The mouth of the boota opened and closed allowing air into the fire and preventing lung damage for those who worked all day close to a fire. Lastly, a milingm, a bamboo or wooden drying rack, hung over the fireplace. A bamboo mat, either circular (a gyaluk) or square (gurmu) was on this rack, allowing the smoke curing of either grain, yak cheese or meat. These tools greatly helped improve the cooking styles of the Sherpas. (Sara P.)
Storage
Storage was very important to the Sherpa culture in the 1970’s and before. Their houses didn’t have a lot of space so they relied a lot on storage. They kept most of their utensils in a Phaate, which stored copper, brass, pots, bowls, plates, and wooden containers, and this cabinet was also used for decoration. A Loam was used to store breakable items such as china. It was also used to keep butter in, and away from cats and mice. A Pha-gna is a wooden storage bin that was used to store different types of grains. A Phegam was a wooden flour storage bin; the design was similar to the Pha-gna, but not quite the same. Another storage item was called a Gaam, and it was covered in leather, and used for locking up valuable items, including clothing, jewelry and money. A Chhusang stored water; a chhusang was usually given as a wedding gift to daughters. When they cook they would normally use something called a Zarug, but it was also used to store various ethnic foods, such as strong cheese and preserved vegetables. Storage was very important to the Sherpa culture and without storage they wouldn’t be able to find anything, or fit much in their houses.
This is a Chhusang, which is used to store water. This image came from the Sherpa Heritage House
(Riley F.)
Khumjung Today:
1.) How often do Sherpas get new household items?
Please ask a long time Khumjung resident.
2.) Are the fires still fueled with wood, or have the sherpas switched to other fuel and how has that changed their lives? Please ask a woman who works long hours in the kitchen
3.) Where do Sherpas keep food in their house? Please ask anyone.
This video is a prime example of traditional Sherpa culture used in modern day. Several of the tools we learned about appeared in this video. When first watching the video we found and example of the yugtri, a bench used as a bed at night below a window. Also at the end, covering a doorway there's a trumzen or a Tibetan woven carpet. The woman in the video is standing in front of a chhura, with a phaate underneath. A chhura is a shelf with bottem layer used for storing liquids. Underneath these containers, are more containers used for storing animal feeding bowls and such. Above is the phaate used for storing other bowls, plates and more. Sherpa household items are still used today as they were in the 1970's.
Household Items
by: Riley, Sara, Nichole
Traditional Sherpa Culture:
Hi! Our wiki page is all about household items used during the 1970's in tradtional Sherpa homes. We have divided this topic into three seperate categories: sleeping, cooking and storage, the three paragraphs seen here. All of this information comes from the amazing book, Through a Sherpa Window by Lhakpa Norbu Sherpa. We hope you enjoy our page!
Sleeping
Traditional Sherpa furniture for sleeping was very simple and uncomfortable. The elders of the family were treated with the most respect. The grandparents or the older parents would sleep on the trika, the master bed. The trika was placed at a distant corner in the room.Other family members could sleep on a mattress that they could role out on the floor. They also had the option to sleep on a yugtri. The yugtri is a bench used for sitting during the daytime. During the night, younger family members could sleep on it with a mattress on top. Since the Sherpas did not have large rooms and they only used one room for the whole family, they couldn't have big-luxurious beds.
(Nichole H.)
Cooking
There were several tools used in Sherpa culture for cooking.The tools were for cooking and keeping the fires going. One such tool was the phethap, a fireplace made of stone and mud walls. A phethap or thapming, meaning “fireplace with eyes”, was called so because of the two eye looking openings at the top used for the placement of pots. Though not good for much heat or light, a phethap was effective for burning little fuel. With few trees in the Tibetan plateu, this fireplace became very popular. Later it was improved by adding a chimney or smoke collector in order to make it smokeless. Another tool was the boota, a sheepskin bellow with a metal pipe at the end. The mouth of the boota opened and closed allowing air into the fire and preventing lung damage for those who worked all day close to a fire. Lastly, a milingm, a bamboo or wooden drying rack, hung over the fireplace. A bamboo mat, either circular (a gyaluk) or square (gurmu) was on this rack, allowing the smoke curing of either grain, yak cheese or meat. These tools greatly helped improve the cooking styles of the Sherpas.
(Sara P.)
Storage
Storage was very important to the Sherpa culture in the 1970’s and before. Their houses didn’t have a lot of space so they relied a lot on storage. They kept most of their utensils in a Phaate, which stored copper, brass, pots, bowls, plates, and wooden containers, and this cabinet was also used for decoration. A Loam was used to store breakable items such as china. It was also used to keep butter in, and away from cats and mice. A Pha-gna is a wooden storage bin that was used to store different types of grains. A Phegam was a wooden flour storage bin; the design was similar to the Pha-gna, but not quite the same. Another storage item was called a Gaam, and it was covered in leather, and used for locking up valuable items, including clothing, jewelry and money. A Chhusang stored water; a chhusang was usually given as a wedding gift to daughters. When they cook they would normally use something called a Zarug, but it was also used to store various ethnic foods, such as strong cheese and preserved vegetables. Storage was very important to the Sherpa culture and without storage they wouldn’t be able to find anything, or fit much in their houses.
(Riley F.)
Khumjung Today:
1.) How often do Sherpas get new household items?Please ask a long time Khumjung resident.
2.) Are the fires still fueled with wood, or have the sherpas switched to other fuel and how has that changed their lives?
Please ask a woman who works long hours in the kitchen
3.) Where do Sherpas keep food in their house?
Please ask anyone.
Beautiful Kitchen from Dream Flag Project on Vimeo.
This video is a prime example of traditional Sherpa culture used in modern day. Several of the tools we learned about appeared in this video. When first watching the video we found and example of the yugtri, a bench used as a bed at night below a window. Also at the end, covering a doorway there's a trumzen or a Tibetan woven carpet. The woman in the video is standing in front of a chhura, with a phaate underneath. A chhura is a shelf with bottem layer used for storing liquids. Underneath these containers, are more containers used for storing animal feeding bowls and such. Above is the phaate used for storing other bowls, plates and more. Sherpa household items are still used today as they were in the 1970's.