There are fewer and fewer shepherds left who know how to work sheepskin to make backpacks, umbrella covers or aprons to protect themselves from the cold and rain.
With the objective of not losing this knowledge, the Ecomuseum of the shepherds of Llessui, in the Pallars Sobirà, the Ecomuseum of the Valls of Àneu, and the master craftsman Edu Marín, are working on a project to recover all this clothing.
Marín assures that it is a culture that is poorly documented and that there are few informants left. Recovering and showing these pieces in the Pastors Ecomuseum is the main objective. Marín's dream is to see some active pastor use it again.
In the Ecomuseum of the Shepherds there is already a small sample of pieces. Over time, some have become damaged and have to be redone.
The manager will be Edu Marín, recently recognized with the title of Master Craftsman. He runs a leather workshop in Peramea, in Pallars Sobirà, in which, with artisanal techniques, he maintains this ancient trade.
The first piece of shepherd's clothing that Marín learned to make, more than fifteen years ago, was a shepherd's backpack that is used to carry food and keeps the bread soft and the drink cool.
Among other pieces that are being recovered and the Ecomuseum of the Shepherds exhibits are the peliza or the leather.
The peliza is a blanket made from various sheepskins. Placing it on a pile of dry grass served as a bed to rest on and protected from humidity and cold. The cuera was a leather jacket with the wool facing outward that served to cover the back. It is the most primitive piece of pastoral clothing. And the apron is a garment that covers the upper part of the trunk and the thighs to the knees.
The culero is a small piece with the woolly part facing out to protect itself, when sitting, from the humidity of the ground. They began to be used when leather panties stopped being used. The umbrella cover and the strap to hang it on the back were also made of leather.
The Ecomuseu de les valls d'Àneu has around twenty antique pieces in its collection, including backpacks, vests and skins. These pieces have been provided by the Ecomuseu so that they can be reproduced, as well as written and graphic references from the Ramon Violant i Simorra collection that is deposited in the Ecomuseu.
Maria Pou, technician at the Ecomuseum of the Llessui Shepherds, has summarized that this project wants to recover a pastoral legacy already lost and teach it. Pou recalled that the first room of the Ecomuseum already shows some of these pieces.
