Editing Porter (carrier)

{{short description|Person who carries objects or cargo for others}}
{{other uses|Porter (disambiguation)|Carrier (disambiguation)}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=May 2009}}
[[File:Men Laden With Tea, Sichuan Sheng, China 1908 Ernest H. Wilson RESTORED.jpg|thumb|"Men laden with '[[Brick tea|Brick Tea]]' for [[Thibet]]" from the personal notations of [[Ernest Henry Wilson]] in 1908]]
[[File:Sherpa carrying woods.JPG|thumb|150px|right|[[Sherpa people|Sherpa]] porter carrying wood in the [[Himalaya]], near [[Mount Everest]]]]
[[File:Porters simple gears Doko and Tokma.jpg|thumb|A porter's gear is typically simple but effective. In this example, the load goes into an oversized basket, or doko, which rests against the back. A strap runs underneath the doko and over the crown of the head, which bears most of the weight. Each porter in this region also carries a T-shaped walking stick called a tokma to take some of the strain off the back.]]

A '''porter''', also called a '''bearer''', is a person who carries objects or cargo for others. The range of services conducted by porters is extensive, from shuttling luggage aboard a train (a [[Porter (railroad)|railroad porter]]) to bearing heavy burdens at altitude in inclement weather on multi-month mountaineering expeditions. They can carry items on their backs ([[backpack]]) or [[Head-carrying|on their heads]]. The word "porter" derives from the Latin ''portare'' (to carry).<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=aDhGlKL3h00C ''The Concise Dictionary of English Etymology'', p. 363]</ref>

The use of humans to transport cargo dates to the ancient world, prior to domesticating animals and development of the wheel. Historically it remained prevalent in areas where slavery was permitted, and exists today where modern forms of mechanical conveyance are impractical or impossible, such as in mountainous terrain, or thick jungle or forest cover.

Over time, slavery diminished and technology advanced, but the role of porter for specialized transporting services remains strong in the 21st century.  Examples include bellhops at hotels, redcaps at railway stations, skycaps at airports, and bearers on adventure trips engaged by foreign travelers.

== Expeditions ==
Porters, frequently called ''Sherpas'' in the Himalayas (after [[Sherpa people|the ethnic group most Himalayan porters come from]]), are also an essential part of mountaineering: they are typically highly skilled professionals who specialize in the logistics of mountain climbing, not merely people paid to carry loads (although carrying is integral to the profession). Frequently, porters/Sherpas work for companies who hire them out to climbing groups, to serve both as porters and as [[mountain guide]]s; the term "guide" is often used interchangeably with "Sherpa" or "porter", but there are certain differences. Porters are expected to prepare the route before and/or while the main expedition climbs, climbing up beforehand with tents, food, water, and equipment (enough for themselves and for the main expedition), which they place in carefully located deposits on the mountain. This preparation can take months of work before the main expedition starts. Doing this involves numerous trips up and down the mountain, until the last and smallest supply deposit is planted shortly below the peak. When the route is prepared, either entirely or in stages ahead of the expedition, the main body follows. The last stage is often done without the porters, they remaining at the last camp, a quarter mile or below the summit, meaning only the main expedition is given the credit for mounting the summit. In many cases, since the porters are going ahead, they are forced to freeclimb, driving spikes and laying safety lines for the main expedition to use as they follow. Porters (such as Sherpas for example), are frequently local ethnic types, well adapted to living in the rarified atmosphere and accustomed to life in the mountains. Although they receive little glory, porters or Sherpas are often considered among the most skilled of mountaineers, and are generally treated with respect, since the success of the entire expedition is only possible through their work. They are also often called upon to stage rescue expeditions when a part of the party is endangered or there is an injury; when a rescue attempt is successful, several porters are usually called upon to transport the injured climber(s) back down the mountain so the expedition can continue. A well known incident where porters attempted to rescue numerous stranded climbers, and often died as a result, is the [[2008 K2 disaster]]. Sixteen Sherpas were killed in the [[2014 Mount Everest ice avalanche]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Avalanche kills 16 Sherpas on Mt. Everest {{!}} April 18, 2014 |url=https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/mt-everest-sees-its-single-deadliest-day |access-date=2025-03-17 |website=HISTORY |date=11 June 2014 |language=en}}</ref> This incited the entire Sherpa guide community to refuse to undertake any more ascents for the remainder of the year, making any further expeditions impossible.

== History ==
[[File:Trägerkarawane auf dem Marsch Janensch 1909.png|thumb|220px|Porters with provisions for the dinosaur excavations at Tendaguru, near Lindi, Tanzania, between 1909 and 1912]]
Human adaptability and flexibility led to the early use of humans for [[transportation|transporting]] gear. Porters were commonly used as [[Pack animal|beasts of burden]] in the ancient world, when labor was generally cheap and slavery widespread. The ancient [[Sumer]]ians, for example, enslaved women to shift wool and flax.

In the early Americas, where there were few native beasts of burden, all goods were carried by porters called [[Tlamemeh|Tlamemes]] in the [[Nahuatl]] language of [[Mesoamerica]]. In colonial times, some areas of the Andes employed porters called [[sillero]]s to carry persons, particularly Europeans, as well as their luggage across the difficult mountain passes. Throughout the globe porters served, and in some areas continue to, as such [[litter (vehicle)|littermen]], particularly in crowded urban areas.

Many great works of engineering were created solely by muscle power in the days before machinery or even wheelbarrows and wagons; massive workforces of workers and bearers would complete impressive earthworks by manually lugging the earth, stones, or bricks in baskets on their backs.
<!-- Porters, in this sense, continued to work in warehouses well into the 20th century.<ref>A. Ford (Railway Department, Board of Trade) (1908) "North-Eastern Railway: ''Date''–20th November, 1907. ''Place''–Market Weighton. ''Name of Person Injured''–George H. Hoggard. ''Age''–39.  ''Capacity in which employed''–Goods porter" ''General Report to the Board of Trade upon the Accidents that have Occurred on the Railways of the United Kingdom During the Year 1907'' (Series: ''Papers by Command'', Volume 94) His Majesty's Stationery Office, London, [https://books.google.com/books?id=0B86AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA203 page 203]</ref>   What sense?  Something has been removed to give that statement contxt.-->

Porters were very important to the local economies of many large cities in [[Brazil]] during the 1800s, where they were known as ''ganhadores''. In 1857, ''ganhadores'' in [[Salvador, Bahia]], [[Revolution of the Ganhadores|went on strike]] in the first [[general strike]] in the country's history.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Reis |first=João José |date=May 1997 |others=Translated by H. Sabrina Gledhill |title='The Revolution of the Ganhadores': Urban Labour, Ethnicity and the African Strike of 1857 in Bahia, Brazil |journal=[[Journal of Latin American Studies]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=355–393 |doi=10.1017/S0022216X9700477X |doi-broken-date=5 May 2025 |jstor=158398|s2cid=55955013 |url=http://www.repositorio.ufba.br/ri/handle/ri/8349 }}</ref>

== Contribution to mountain climbing expeditions ==
The contributions of porters can often go overlooked. [[Amir Mehdi]] was a Pakistani mountaineer and porter known for being part of the team which managed the first successful ascent of [[Nanga Parbat]] in 1953, and of [[1954 Italian Karakoram expedition to K2|K2 in 1954]] with an Italian expedition. He, along with the Italian mountaineer [[Walter Bonatti]], are also known for having survived a night at the highest open bivouac - {{convert|8,100|m}} - on K2 in 1954.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalgeographic.it/viaggi-avventure/2011/09/20/news/bonatti_e_il_k2_la_vera_storia-521046/|title=Bonatti e il K2, la vera storia|work=nationalgeographic.it|access-date=24 April 2017}}</ref> Fazal Ali, who was born in the Shimshal Valley in Pakistan North, is – according to the ''[[Guinness World Records|Guinness Book of World Records]]'' – the only man ever to have scaled K2 (8611&nbsp;m) three times, in 2014, 2017 and 2018, all without oxygen, but his achievements have gone largely unrecognised.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/south-asia/foreign-climbers-claim-the-glory-but-pakistani-porters-remain-the-unsung-masters-of|title=Foreign climbers claim the glory, but Pakistani porters remain the unsung masters of the mountains|last=hermesauto|date=2018-11-04|website=The Straits Times|language=en|access-date=2020-03-12}}</ref>

== Today ==
Porters are still paid to shift burdens in many [[Third World|third-world countries]] where motorized transport is impractical or unavailable, often alongside [[pack animal]]s.

The [[Sherpa (people)|Sherpa]] people of [[Nepal]] are so renowned as [[mountaineering]] porters that their [[ethnonym]] is synonymous with that profession. Their skill, knowledge of the mountains and local culture, and ability to perform at altitude make them indispensable for the highest Himalayan expeditions.

Porters at [[India]]n railway stations are called [[coolies]], a term for unskilled Asian labourer derived from the Chinese word for porter.

Mountain porters are also still in use in a handful of more developed countries, including [[Slovakia]] (''horský nosič'') and [[Japan]] (''bokka'', 歩荷). These men (and more rarely women) regularly resupply mountain huts and tourist chalets at high-altitude mountain ranges.<ref>''[https://spectator.sme.sk/c/20029780/slovak-mountain-porters-are-a-dying-breed.html Slovak mountain porters are a dying breed]''. The Slovak Spectator. Spectator.sme.sk. 30 June 2008.</ref><ref>[https://spectator.sme.sk/c/22569170/roundup-ondaks-time-capsule-inspired-by-a-chile-mining-accident.html Article with news on Slovak mountain porters]. The Slovak Spectator. Spectator.sme.sk. 30 June 2008.</ref><ref>[https://vimeo.com/ondemand/sloboda ''Sloboda pod nákladom'']. Trailer for a documentary on the Slovak mountain porter tradition, by Pavol Barabáš and K2 Studio. K2 Studio official Vimeo account.</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL60hmH6ULg Japanese mountain chalet porter Masato Hagiwara in action]. YouTube.com. 28 September 2018.</ref>

=== In North America ===
Certain trade-specific terms are used for forms of porters in North America, including [[bellhop]] (hotel porter), redcap (railway station porter), and [[skycap]] (airport porter).

The practice of railroad station porters wearing red-colored caps to distinguish them from blue-capped train personnel with other duties was begun on Labor Day of 1890 by an African-American porter in order to stand out from the crowds at [[Grand Central Terminal]] in New York City.<ref name="drake">{{cite book|last1=Drake|first1=St. Clair|author-link1=St. Clair Drake|last2=Cayton|first2=Horace R.|author-link2=Horace R. Cayton Jr.|title=Black Metropolis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8RPgI6EhRvwC&pg=PA237|year=1970|publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]]|isbn=978-0-226-16234-8|page=237}}</ref> The tactic immediately caught on, over time adapted by other forms of porters for their specialties.<ref name="railwayprogress">{{cite book|title=Railway Progress|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WHzVAAAAMAAJ|access-date=24 March 2013|year=1950}}</ref>

== Photos ==
<gallery mode="packed">
Carrier.jpg|A porter in [[China]] wearing a [[Asian conical hat|dǒulì]]
Railway station COOLIE.JPG|An [[Indian Railways]] porter
Japanese porters.jpg|Porters at a ford on the Sakawa River, near [[Odawara, Kanagawa|Odawara]]
Nepali porters.jpg|Nepali porters on [[Annapurna Circuit]]
Porter Venice bridge 07 2017 4960.jpg|Porter carrying luggage over a pedestrian bridge in [[Venice]]
File:Женщина-портер на Килиманджаро.jpg|Porter on [[Mount Kilimanjaro]]
Head porters Ghana.jpg|Ghanaian [[kayayei]] resting after work in [[Accra]]
File:Mountain and porter.jpg|Mountain and porters in [[Nepal]]
</gallery>

== See also ==
*[[Head-carrying]]
*[[Kayayei]] (Ghanaian term for a female porter)
*[[Human-powered transport]]
*[[Land transport]]
*[[Portage]]
*[[Tumpline]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
* ''Herinneringen aan Japan, 1850–1870: Foto's en Fotoalbums in Nederlands Bezit'' ('s-Gravenhage : Staatsuitgeverij, 1987), pp.&nbsp;106–107, repr.
* [http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchdetail.cfm?trg=1&strucID=138725&imageID=118961&word=Beato%2C%20Felice&s=3&notword=&d=&c=&f=4&lWord=&lField=&sScope=&sLevel=&sLabel=&total=77&num=72&imgs=12&pNum=&pos=74 New York Public Library, s.v. "Beato, Felice"], cited 21 June 2006.

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[[Category:Personal care and service occupations]]
[[Category:Transport occupations]]
[[Category:Walking]]
[[Category:Mountaineering]]