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Basque Sheepherders: A Photographic Project Despite the enormous importance of Basque sheepherders and owners in the history of the American West, there has never been a comprehensive series of photographs made to document their lifestyles. There are but a few scattered photos depicting sheepherders prior to World War II and these rarely shoe the men at work. Fortunately, a number of portraits of Basque sheep owners during the early years do exist, including those published by Sol Silen in his valuable 1917 book La Historia de los Vascongados en el Oeste de los Estados Unidos. Very few recent photos have been published for a national or international audience. By far the best known are those taken in Nevada by William Belknap, Jr., who illustrated Robert Laxalt’s article “Basque Sheepherders: Lonely Sentinels of the American West,” National Geographic Magazine 129:6 (June 1966), pp. 870-888. The only photo book on sheepherders in the American West is Michael Mathers’ Sheepherders: Men Alone (Houghton Mifflin, 1974), which includes but one Basque and severely underestimates the continuing significance of the ethnic group. In fact, the book documents a less historically important herder tradition quite alien to Basque work values. In January 1977 a member of our staff Richard Lane, initiated a project to photograph the remaining Basques on sheep ranches throughout the west. After teaching anthropology for five years at the University of Idaho, he is now devoting this time fully to an activity originally conceived during a period (1969-72) of doctoral research in northeastern Nevada. Early this year some photography was done in southern Idaho and southern California. Additional work in Idaho and in Nevada will be carried out in the spring and summer of 1977, to be followed tentatively by six months scheduled in California and northern Arizona. A later stage would include visits to the remaining states. All photographs will eventually be available for examination at the Basque Studies Program. It is hoped that the best of them will be published in a projected photo book on Basque sheepherders. Among the papers donated by our friend E.A. to the Basque Studies Program, there is a typewritten copy of some verses written by a Basque sheepherder in the 1920s. We would like to know the identity of the author, who no doubt did not have good experiences with the Basque hotels of those years. We have taken the liberty of using the modern Basque orthography. The typewritten copy we possess has a French orthography and quite a few typing errors (herrain for herrian, for instance). It is very clear that it was copied from a manuscript, or from another typewritten copy. We have tried to reconstruct some words as well as some missing parts. 1 Zonbait urrats emantut nik, Ameriketan Zer toki trixtiak diren, nago pentsaketan Beti ardiekilan, mendi penosetan Batere karparik gabe denbora xarretan. 2 Zer bizi trixtia den, artzainen bizia Ni nihaur egoiten naiz, arras harritia Hortan desigiten da eskualduneria Hala nola baitugu, eskola handia 3 Eskolatuak dira, zonbait eskualdunak Egon aldi goxoan, herrian daudenak Mendian badituzte, adixkide onak Sos ainitzekin diren, artzain bizardunak 4 Herrirat hizanian, nunbaite agertzen Trago batez berehala, haute gomitatzen Aspaldian nindian, ba hitaz orhoitzen Denbora, ez hintzala herrirat agertze 5 Galdatzen balinbada bankora laguna Fite prest duk hirekin, laguntzale huna Oinez ez baduk nahi, badie makina Heian otelerua, ez denez zuzena 6 Nola alegeratu hire interpreta Etxerat buruz diak erdia lasterka Elhe zonbait emanez dagok pentsaketa Guk, gizon hunekin, ahal dugun besta 7 Orai bertze trago bat, prest dago barrara Hura, gaizo artzainak, pagatu beharra Trago hunek luzian, kartzen du adarra Dener oihuka daude: “xaurte edatera” 8 Trago hau egin eta, mus partidañoak Harat bilduak dire, herri guzikoak Han daude errabian, hartz eta otsoak Zer zafraldia duken gaur, artzain gaizoak 9 Jokoan hasten dire, bi trago edanik Laguna ere ustez, hoberenetarik Hiru hartzak han daude, elgar hitz hartuik “Segur hire lagunak, ez dikek jokorik” 10 Lau karta ari dira hamabien kontra Lagunak ere artetan gezur zonbait bota “Gizona, horren gatik etzaitela kexa Segur guria daike hirugarren mantxa” 11 Esperantxa puxkabat emaiten-e dute Tranpan harrapatzia, beldurra baitute “Jokua orai ere, etzen gure alde Goazen berdin bertze bat, kanbia ditaike” 12 Musak eta jokuak, guziak utzirik Horra gaizo gizona, soses gabeturik Oteleruak dio “naki duka lanik? Nik banikek xantza bat, hoberenetarik” 13 Oteleroain karesa, kanbiatzen ordian “Hi juan beharra hintzan, juanden egunian Hire nagusia duk arras apurian Telefonatua dik orai ber-berian” 14 Horra gaizo gizona, zentakorik gabe, Mendira artzain doa, arroparik gabe “Herrirat joan ez banintz, ez nuena hobe Orai ez dut laneko, gogorikan ere” 15 Herrian diren horiek, egiten dute irri Gu bezalako artzain, giza gaizoari Sosa dugularikan gomita deneri Gero igual mendian larrua ageri 16 Nik ez dut desiratzen, nehori makurik Nola diren manerak, erraiten bakarrik Hala ahal duenak, ez duke hobenik Nun behar ginuke jan, ez balitz otelik 17 Hemeretzi ehun eta, hogoita zonbaitian Kantu hok izan dira, emanak mendian. Herritar eta artzain guzien artian Denek kanta ditzaten omore onian. Biba otelereoa |
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