Basque-American
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Basque-Americans are citizens of the United States who are of Basque ancestry. According to the 2000 US census, there are 57,793 Americans of full or partial Basque descent. The states with the largest Basque-American populations are California (20,868), Idaho (6,637), Nevada (6,096), Washington (2,665) and Oregon (2,627).
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[edit] Basque Clubs
There are nearly fifty such clubs in the US. The oldest of which is the Central Vascoamericano, today the Euzko Etxea of New York, founded in 1913 and currently situated in Brooklyn. In the west, in 1907 there were efforts made to set up a club in Stockton, California. In 1914 the Basque Club of Utah was founded in Ogden, while in 1924 the first Zazpiak Bat Club was started in San Francisco. In 1938 the Basques in the Bakersfield area founded the Kern County Basque Club. Even though there are Basques in each of the fifty states, according to the most recent census, Basque clubs are only found in New York, Florida, California, Nevada, Idaho, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. However, there is a significant Basque population in Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Montana, New Jersey, and New Mexico.
[edit] Ties to Early American History
Referring to the historical ties that existed between Euskal Herria (the Basque Country) and the United States, some authors stress the admiration felt by John Adams, second president of the US, for the Basques' historical form of government. Adams, who on his tour of Europe visited Bizkaia, was impressed. He cited the Basques as an example in "A defense of the Constitution of the United States", as he wrote in 1786:
"In a research like this, after those people in Europe who have had the skill, courage, and fortune, to preserve a voice in the government, Biscay, in Spain, ought by no means to be omitted. While their neighbours have long since resigned all their pretensions into the hands of kings and priests, this extraordinary people have preserved their ancient language, genius, laws, government, and manners, without innovation, longer than any other nation of Europe. Of Celtic extraction, they once inhabited some of the finest parts of the ancient Boetica; but their love of liberty, and unconquerable aversion to a foreign servitude, made them retire, when invaded and overpowered in their ancient feats, into these mountainous countries, called by the ancients Cantabria…"
"…It is a republic; and one of the privileges they have most insisted on, is not to have a king: another was, that every new lord, at his accession, should come into the country in person, with one of his legs bare, and take an oath to preserve the privileges of the lordship".
Authors such as Navascues, and the Basque-American Pete Cenarrusa, former Secretary of the State of Idaho, agree in stressing the influence of the Forua of Bizkaia [code of laws in Biscay] on some parts of the US Constitution. John Adams traveled in 1779 to Europe to study and compare the various forms of government then found on the Old Continent. The American Constitution was approved by the first thirteen states on 17 September 1787.
[edit] Sheepherding The West
Basque names were so prominent in the western sheep business that a non-Basque expert regarded the Basques in 1858 as its founders. Already in the 1850's there were Basque sheepherders working in Cahuenga Valley (today Hollywood). Following years of sacrifice, some of them became rich owners. By the 1860's the Basques were established in southern California. By the 1980's they were in the central and northern zones, from where they spread to Nevada, Idaho, Oregon, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, Arizona, New Mexico, and other western states also reaching Texas.
[edit] Future of Basques in the US
The new generations exhibit the natural process of Americanization. To be Basque or to be part of the Basque phenomenon is an option today that may or may not be exercised. Those who wish may strengthen their ties via cultural elements such as dances and customs, while in some there is also the desire to travel to Euskal Herria and study Euskara, Spanish, or French. In recent years we have even seen the resurgence of Basque language classes, facilitated by new courses via the Internet. With succeeding generations the mode of being Basque has adapted to a new environment, and the concept of Basque-ness has altered, although to the question "What are your roots?" the answer continues to be the same: "I'm Basque," "Euskalduna naiz."
[edit] Idahoan-Basques
No state in the Union is more associated with the Basque than Idaho. Basques today are an integral part of the social fabric,especially in Boise. The Secretary of State, Pete Cenarrusa, is himself an Idahoan-Basque. Since 1990 Boise and Gernika have been sister cities. Idaho achieved statehood in 1890 along with the first Basques arriving there around the same time. By 1912 some of the pioneers, such as John Achabal, Jose Bengoechea, Benito Arregui, John Echebarria, and Juan Yribar, were already settled and had property in the state.
[edit] North American Basque Organizations
A group of Basque-Americans met in Reno, Nevada in March of 1973 with a questionable proposal, especially considering Basque history. This group hoped to forge a federation and create a network within the larger Basque community of the United States. The Basques had never been united, neither in the Old Country nor in the New World. The Basque country, or "Euskal Herria," had never been "Zazpiak-Bat" (the seven provinces are one) representing a unified, self-conscious political community. Euskal Herria most often referred to just the local region. This detachment was reflected in the Basque communities of the United States. Basques of Bizkaia'n descent in parts of Idaho and Nevada interacted little with the Basques of California which were largely northern or "French Basque." When delegates from the Basque clubs of Los Banos and San Francisco, California; Boise and Emmett, Idaho; Elko, Ely and Reno, Nevada; and Ontario, Oregon gathered together, they were well aware that there was little if any communication between the various Basque clubs of the American West. They were attempting to cross the divide--real and imagined--between Basque-Americans, and their venture remained uncertain. Would "French" Basques and "Spanish" Basques join a federation to work together? Would individual clubs set aside competition in an effort to preserve and promote their shared heritage? Seventeen years later, the answer remains a resounding yes!
The North American Basque Organizations, Inc., commonly referred to by its acronym N.A.B.O., is a service organization to member clubs that does not infringe on the autonomy of each. Its prime purpose is the preservation, protection, and promotion of the historical, cultural, and social interests of Basques in the United States. NABO's function is to sponsor activities and events beyond the scope of the individual clubs, and to promote exchanges between Basque-Americans and the Basque country.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Center for Basque Studies, University of Nevada, Reno
- NABO (North American Basque Organization)
- (Amerketako euskaldunei buruzko webgunea)
- Buber's Basque Page
- Epodunk, Basque Ancestry Map of the United States
"Kaletarrak eta Baserritarrak: East Coast and West Coast Basques in the United States" by Gloria P. Totoricagüena: [1]
"Interstitial Culture, Virtual Ethnicity, and Hyphenated Basque Identity in the New Millennium" by William A. Douglass: [2]
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