Learn about the Basque shepherds in America
See also: The Basque Heart of Boise
This article was translated by John R. Bopp
We’ve already blogged once about how Jürgen and Mike Powell have decided to spend 91 days in a city they’re interested in in order to prepare a guide sharing what they find in it. Every three months, they switch cities and start preparing a new guide, sharing their experiences in a new section on their website, for91days.com. Honestly, we can’t imagine a more interesting way to make a living.
Since they’re going to be spending 91 days in Idaho, we get the impression that they’re going to be talking about us a lot, for the simple reason that talking about that state, much like when talking about the whole western half of the US, is like talking about the Basques of the diaspora.
It’s just like talking about the shepherds in that part of the US that is still invariably joined to the Basque community. That’s why, in their annual October festivals, which coincide with the time the sheep are moved from their summer grounds to their winter ones, the Basque presence becomes increasingly more noticeable.
And that festival, and the Basque presence in the same, among other things, are what is covered in their latest entry, which we link to here.
Just like our other blog entry, we highly encourage you to pay special attention to their magnificent collection of photos.
for91days.com – 15/11/2012 – USA
The Trailing of the Sheep
It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon. Along with the entire town of Ketchum, we were waiting on Main Street for a parade which was thirty minutes late. Just as I was starting to feel the first pangs of boredom: they were there. Thousands of sheep running, sprinting down the street, bleating and panicked and jumping over each other, trying to escape through the crowd, getting reined in by barking dogs, cheered on by screaming kids, and blessed with holy water by a courageous preacher standing his ground in the middle of the street. And then it was over. The Trailing of the Sheep: the craziest parade I’ve ever seen.
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Last Updated on Dec 20, 2020 by About Basque Country