University of Nevada, Reno

Arborglyphs: A Bibliography

Books

Mallea-Olaetxe, Joxe. 2000. Speaking Through the Aspens: Basque Tree Carvings in California and Nevada. Reno & Las Vegas: University of Nevada Press. Information about the book.

Brunvand, Jan Harold and John C. Abramson. 1969. Aspen Tree Doodlings in the Wasatch Mountains: A Preliminary Survey of Traditional Tree Carvings. In Forms Upon the Frontier: Folklife and Folk Arts in the United States. Edited by Austin and Alta Fife and Henry H. Glassie. Logan: Utah State University Press: 89-1-2.

 

Articles and Chapters

Journals

Claytor, Michael and David Beesley. 1979. Aspen Art and the Sheep Industry of Nevada and Adjoining Counties. Nevada County Historical Society Bulletin Vol. 33, no. 4 (October): pp. 25-31.

Claytor, Michael and David Beesley. 1982. The Basque and Their Tree Carvings. Sierra Heritage June: 18-21.

Crawford, Kristina. 2005. In the Sheep: Aspen Carvings as Indicators of Land Capacity and Use. Society for California Archaeology Newsletter Vol. 39, no. 1 (March): pp. 26-29.

Gulliford, Andrew. 2007. Reading the Trees: Colorado’s Endangered Arborglyphs and Aspen Art. Colorado Heritage, Autumn.

History Which is Growing on Trees. 1992. Euskal Etxeak 21: 4-7

Horn, Yvonne Michie. 1978. Treefiti. Westways Vol. 70, No. 11 (November): 28-29.

Lane, Richard. 1971. Basque Tree Carvings. Northeastern Nevada Historical Society Quarterly Vol. 1, no. 3 (Winter): pp. 1-7.

Mallea-Olaetxe, Joxe. 2001. Carving Out History: The Basque Aspens. Forest History Today Spring/Fall: pp. 44-50.

Mallea-Olaetxe, Joxe. 1992. History That Grows on Trees: The Aspen Carvings of Basque Sheepherders. Nevada Historical Society Quarterly Spring: pp. 21-39.

Worrell, Chris M. 2009. Expanding the Range: Pushing the Boundaries of Arborglyph Documentation. Forest History Today Spring/Fall: 40-46.

 

Newspapers and Newsletters

1987. Aspen Art Study Reveals Information about Early Sheepherders in Nevada. 1987. United States Department of the Interior: Nevada BLM News Release (April 20).

Baker, Tess Noel. 2004. Canvas of Bark: Local Woman Photographs Vanishing Tree Etchings. Pagosa Springs Sun June 10.

Mallea-Olaetxe, Joxe. 1996. Basque Aspen Carvings, Harri Mutil, & Bread Ovens. neon: Artcetera from the Nevada State Council on the Arts (Spring/Summer): [7-9].

Nicholas, Emma. 2002. Mystery of the Arborglyphs. Sacramento News and Review August 22.

Talking Trees: Aspen Arborglyphs on the San Juan National Forest.  San Juan Mountains Association (Southwestern Colorado) February 2012.

Center for Basque Studies Newsletter, University of Nevada, Reno

 

Dissertation

Andersson, Rikard. 2005. Historical Land-Use Information from Culturally Modified Trees. Doctoral thesis, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.

 

Videos

Basque Tree Carving: Legacy in Nevada. Producer, Wally Sumpter; executive producer, Jose Mallea Olaetxe; written by Jose Mallea Olaetxe, Wally Sumpter; produced by Instructional Media Services, University of Nevada, Reno. 18 minutes.

Lertxun Marrak. Producer, Curt Daniels; editor, Curt Daniels; videographers, Evelyn Chmura, Curt Daniels. Part One (of three). Nevada experience, No. 101.  Reno, Nevada: Channel 5 Public Broadcasting, 1990. Video, 57 minutes.
Part one examines tree carvings "both as an example of a folk art and as a documentary record of the Basque sheepherders' experiences."

Talking Trees: Basque Sheepherder Arborglyphs. Joxe Mallea-Olaetxe. Managing Aspens in Western Landscapes Conference, Utah State University Forestry Extension. September 21-24, 2004, Cedar City, Utah. Streaming Video, 25 minutes.

Basque Arborglyphs in the Steens. Oregon Field Guide, Episode #1210. February, 2001. Portland, Oregon: Oregon Public Broadcasting.

Interview with Joxe Mallea-Olaetxe by Curt Daniels.

 

Audio

Tree Carvings (14.4 | 28.8). Tristan Clum of KNAU in Flagstaff, Arizona. National Public Radio program, July 6, 2000. 4:58 minutes.

 

Web Sites

Lertxun Marrak: Basque Tree Carvings. Center for Basque Studies, University of Nevada, Reno.
Sixty-five photographs of Basque tree carvings.

Basque Sheepherders in Utah's San Rafael Desert
Photographs of two metal plates with sheepherder inscriptions; mouse-over translations.

"Birch Bark Carvings."  Fife Slide Collection of Western U.S. Vernacular Architecture. Utah State University Libraries.

Passport in Time

Osgood, Susie. "Life Is but a Two-step": The Basque Legacy in Idaho. Basque Arborglyphs: Culture in the Carvings - Boise NF (Idaho), 2004

Pedersen, Carol. "Mike Lucey, My Favorite Herder". Arborglyph Recording Project - Malheur NF (Oregon), 1997