Dr. John Bieter, professor of History at Boise State University, and Iñaki Arrieta Baro, head of the Jon Bilbao Basque Library at the University of Nevada, Reno, will describe the lertxun-marrak or arborglyphs.

These unique cultural artifacts were etched by Basque sheepherders during the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries in the aspen groves of the Western mountains, a tradition later continued by Mexican and Peruvian herders.

Immigrant Shadows
As part of the Sheep Tales Gathering presentation, guests will also be able to enjoy a special exhibit. Idaho artists Amy Nack and Earle Swope’s installation, Immigrant Shadows, celebrates arborglyphs and the sheep herders who created them. Amy cuts images of aspen trees and leaves into her paper panels, while Earle tromps in the woods creating plaster or silicone casts of the actual arborglyphs, from which he crafts facsimiles. The installation’s intent is: "bringing the grove into the gallery."