September 29, 2007.
SAN LUIS, Co. -- A local tradition revolves around the seasonal slaughter of animals.
This fall, Fernando Martinez of San Luis has bartered for two sheep, which he and his sons will process. Martinez said sheep are part of his family's legacy.
"We have a strong Spanish ancestry," said Martinez. "In Spain, sheep are part of the land. Some of the traditions of Spain were obviously brought with the explorers, and ultimately with the migration of Spanish people into the Southwest. So that culture has been with us since the very beginning."
Martinez said sheep were introduced to the San Luis area because of its quality grazing lands.
"Sheep were a primary livestock of this area up until the 30's and 40's, and even later," said Martinez. "Now, there are few sheep. The farmers don't raise hundreds of thousands of head like they did in the past. But there are still a few farmers who raise twenty or thirty. That's our source for the sheep we have now."
"We like to have locally raised sheep," said Martinez. "We know how they are raised, and we know where they come from."
From as early as Martinez can remember, his family has butchered their own animals.
"We are agriculturally based, and the way we got our meat was to butcher our own," said Martinez. "My grandfather and his brothers, and my grandmother and her brothers – we would always butcher in the fall. And we would butcher for special occasions. If there was a death in the family, we would butcher a hog, a lamb, chickens, or even cows."
Martinez, his sons and relatives work quickly to butcher the sheep.
The legs of the sheep are tied, its head is pulled back, and the throat of the sheep is slit with a sharp knife.
The sheep is left to bleed.
After a short period of time, it is dead. The sheep is then hung by its hocks from metal hooks and pulled to hang upside-down. The sheep is skinned from the legs to the head, its wool carefully removed.
After the sheep is skinned, its head is snapped off its body.
The ribcage of the sheep is sawed from the top down, and most of the organs are carefully removed for processing, including the heart, liver, and intestines. The head is also skinned to be processed for the eyes, brains, cheeks and tongue.
"So pretty much everything gets eaten," said Martinez.
The legs of the sheep are sawn off before the meat is removed from the hooks and hauled away. The meat will dry for about a day before it is cut and frozen.
Martinez's son Marcelo Martinez said he appreciates the process of slaughtering his own animals.
"I enjoy it because I see where the meat comes from," said Martinez. "We know who raised it. We catch it, kill it, skin it, process it, cook it and eat it. It's a good way to feed our family."
"I've grown up around this," Martinez said. "Now I can do it on my own. Someday, I'll teach my kids."
