National Anthropological Archives

Guide to the Sherry B. Ortner photographs relating to Sherpa research

Summary

Collection ID:
NAA.PhotoLot.2019-19
Creators:
Ortner, Sherry B., 1941-
Dates:
1966-1990
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
3 Linear feet
1,036 Slides
35mm
88 Photographic prints
and associated negatives
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The Sherry B. Ortner photographs relating to Sherpa research comprise photographs made during Ortner's fieldwork among the Sherpa communities of Nepal. They include photos from her doctoral research in the 1960s, as well as later research in the 1970s and 1990. Images show people, places, and events among the Sherpa communities in the Mt. Everest region. Also included to a lesser degree are photographs in and around Kathmandu.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The collection is organized into four series:
  • Series 1. Sherpa research, 1966-1968
  • Series 2. Sherpa research and film expedition, 1976
  • Series 3. Sherpa research, 1979
  • Series 4. Sherpa research, 1990

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Sherry B. Ortner (b. 1941) is a cultural anthropologist and Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at UCLA. She received her PhD from the University of Chicago in 1970 after carrying out extensive fieldwork among the Sherpas of Nepal from 1966-1968, looking at religion, politics, and Himalayan mountaineering. She continued research among the Sherpas in 1976, 1979, and 1990, publishing several important works including Life and Death on Mt. Everest: Sherpas and Himalayan Mountaineering (1999) which won the J.I. Stanley prize for best anthropology book in 2004.
Ortner's later work includes research relating to meanings of "class," where she carried out fieldwork among her own high school graduating class, and the relationship between American culture and Hollywood films.

Administration

Author
Gina Rappaport
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The photographs were donated by Sherry B. Ortner in 2018.
Processing Information
Sherry Ortner's organization of the photographs has been maintained.
The collection was processed and finding aid encoded by Gina Rappaport.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
The Sherry B. Orner photographs relating to Sherpa research collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Conditions Governing Use
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Preferred Citation
Sherry B. Ortner photographs relating to Sherpa research, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
Preferred Citation
Sherry B. Ortner photographs relating to Sherpa research, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.

More Information

Selected Bibliography

Selected Bibliography
1978. Sherpas and their Rituals. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
1989. High Religion: A Cultural and Political History of Sherpa Buddhism. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
1999. Life and Death on Mt. Everest: Sherpas and Himalayan Mountaineering. Princeton:Princeton University Press.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Sherpa (Nepalese people) Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Nepal Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

National Anthropological Archives
Museum Support Center
4210 Silver Hill Road
Suitland, Maryland 20746
naa@si.edu