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THIS
WEEK'S PROGRAM - 756
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Basques in the Sun | |||||
| They number
in the tens of thousands in the western United States-members of the Basque
community, people with origins in France and Spain's Pyrenees mountains. Few crops could be coaxed from the rocky Pyrenees soil, so the Basques turned to sheepherding, and became the world's best. During the California gold rush, they flooded west, selling fresh lamb to hungry miners. According to Martin Etchemendy, a sheepherder from Bakersfield, early California Basques started "buying sheep and they walked them from Southern California all the way to the gold mines. They didn't find any golden-colored gold, but they found some wooly gold and succeeded in business." A business that continues to thrive today. While many Basques have moved into mainstream jobs, a number still cling to the old ways-herding sheep on vast ranches in central California, Nevada, and Idaho. People like Amador and Mary Zabalbeascoa from Los Banos in the Central Valley. Mary's father was a sheepherder from France, while her husband Amador came from a small Basque town in Spain. Amador arrived in the United States in 1970 to work as a "contract" herder for a Central Valley rancher. He only intended to stay a few years, until "Cupid" stepped in when he met Mary at a Basque dinner. Thirty years and three children later, Mary and Amador run several thousand sheep in the grasslands around Los Banos. On the day of our visit, Amador and his border collies were rounding up sheep to be shorn. About 2000 "ewes," all nearing the end of their pregnancies. "They're being prepped. Their face is cleaned so they can see their babies," explained Mary. "Their backs are cleaned so it'll be a clean birth, so there won't be a lot of flies. Their underbellies are cleaned so the babies can find their food right away." The family sells both the wool and the lambs. The work is seasonal. During the summer, the sheep don't require a lot of care. That frees up Amador and other Basques to get together to celebrate their culture and cuisine. "The Basques know how to have a good time," Amador says with a smile. "We know how to work, eat, drink, and sing." At events like the one we attended in Minden, Nevada, Amador and his family reestablish ties with the American Basque community. Everyone enjoys their moment on stage, since music was how history passed from one generation to the next. The air fills with the smell of grilled chicken and lamb, washed down with red wine and punctuated with song and laughter and the words of the unusual Basque language. While Amador's three sons may opt for other lines of work, there is no denying the appeal of sheepherding. As his friend Martin Etchemendy says so eloquently, "Very few know the freedom the sheepherder has. Nobody gives you orders. You don't have to punch a card. You do the job and enjoy it. If the sheep are happy, I am happy." Discover more about the Basque people and their calendar of events by going to the North American Basque Organization web site at www.naboinc.com. |
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