The Churro and the Pastor: Sheep Herdings in New Mexico
Description:
The Mexican American Experience, a radio program produced by the Longhorn Radio Network, includes interviews, music, and informational programs related to the Mexican American community and their concerns. Program summary: Host Richard Goodman discusses the history of sheepherding among Hispano, Pueblo and Anglo residents of New Mexico. Goodman discusses the origins and history of the pastoral culture in New Mexico. Using research from Carey McWiliam's North From Mexico, Goodman explains that the Spanish explorers introduced sheep to the region in 1598. They also brought with them a system of sheepherding that included fixed grazing rights and land grants, both of which the Anglos would later adopt. In the 19th century, New Mexico became the sheep nursery of the nation, and it boosted the U.S. economy by providing wool for textile mills and a market for the growing sugar beet industry. Sheepherding soon acquired an iconic status, complete with its own music and stereotypes, one of which was the solitary, superstitious and witless Mexican sheepherder. However, the job required a very particular set of skills and knowledge, as the pastores, or shepherds, had to be able to track wild animals, read the weather, train dogs and guide the sheep. Sheepherding culture had its own social divisions, with the sheepherder at the bottom, the sheepshearer in the middle and the owner at the top. As the sheepherding industry boomed in the wake of the gold rush, the owners often made large amounts of money, but the sheepherders rarely benefited. Keywords: Apache Raids, Apaches, Barter Economy, Bartolomeo Cabeza de Vaca, Caporales, Carey McWilliams, Churros, Coronado, Don Jose Leandro Perella, Economy, Folk Songs, Gold Rush, Honorable Assembly of the Mesta, Indian Relations, Juan de Oñate, Kit Carson, Land Grants, Las Vegas, Lt. JH Simpson, Manuel Chavez, Mayordomo, Merino, Mexican Sheepherders, Migrant Labor, Mora, Music, Navajo, New Mexico, North From Mexico, Pastor, Pastoral Culture, Pastores, Patron, Santa Paula, New Mexico, Scrubs, Shearing, Sheep, Sheep Drives, Sheepgrazing, Sheepshearers, Shepherds, Sugar beet industry, Tapestres, Vaquero, Vihuela, Weaving, Wool. Broadcast date: 1976-12-22.
Creator/Contributor:
Longhorn Radio Network (creator) and Goodman, Richard (host)
Date Created/Date Issued:
12/22/1976
Owning Repository:
Benson Latin American Collection, LLILAS Benson Latin American Studies and Collections, The University of Texas at Austin