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Boundary-drawing mountains

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Posted on 2018-03-16 in
Wire fence in the mountain, 2018. Sergio Fernández Olazabal

Wire fence in the mountain, 2018. Sergio Fernández Olazabal.

Those born in border areas surrounded by mountains and devoted to activities developed in these spaces, such as the breeding of Monchino cows and mares or sheep farming, have a very different vision of borders to that of government officials and politicians who show no more than lawful respect for them. (more…)

Under the curse of March. Marti kakatsu

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Posted on 2018-03-02 in
Flock of sheep grazing in Mount Oiz (Bizkaia), 2002. José Ignacio García Muñoz

Flock of sheep grazing in Mount Oiz (Bizkaia), 2002. José Ignacio García Muñoz. Labayru Fundazioa Photographic Archive.

It being such a rainy winter in our country, I have been reminded of a legend retold by shepherds in the course of fieldwork conducted in localities bordering Mount Oiz in 1997. Neither too much rain nor too much sun are indeed known to be beneficial to pastures and soils. (more…)

Shepherds’ ball game in the Aralar Range

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Posted on 2017-11-03 in

Aralar Range. José Ignacio García Muñoz. Labayru Fundazioa Photographic Archive.

Those of you who acknowledge the worthy work shepherds do today might be surprised at the title, for tending large flocks of sheep does not leave much time for games.

One would have to go back more than a century to find flocks in those days hardly reached the hundred head of sheep. Besides, shepherds moved to their huts in the summer pastures, where they lived with their families: wife and children. (more…)

A shepherd in the mountain

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Posted on 2016-09-23 in
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Fields of Arraba. Mount Gorbeia, 2016. Gorane Etxebarria. Labayru Fundazioa Photographic Archive.

The Valley of Carranza is a large municipality in Bizkaia where cattle farming and milk production have acquired such paramount importance as to become its major sign of identity. However, the inhabitants of the valley devoted themselves to shepherding before they turned into cow’s milk producers. Shepherding gradually lost relevance throughout the 20th century, and it is only in recent years, coinciding with the crisis besetting livestock farming, that we notice a rebound in the number of small flocks of sheep grazing the meadows dairy herds frequented in the old days, primarily to keep the pastures ‘clean’ and provide meat and a few cheeses for domestic consumption. (more…)

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