Basque People Research Paper

The Culture of the Basque People

Ashley Kane

Georgia Gwinnett College

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The Basque People

The Basque people are an ethnic group who have their own language and are actually growing around the world. They mostly started with Spanish or French roots. The Basque people can be found in small groups in many different areas of Europe. Some of these areas are; British Columbia, Quebec, and the Eastern seaboard in Canada. They can also be found all over the United States.

The Basque language is spoken by about 660,000 people. Their language includes the Roman alphabet. “Basque first appeared in writing in Latin religious texts, the Glosas Emilianenses, dating from the 11th century according to Ager

(1998-2016). Another name for the Basque language is Euskara. Most of the people who speak the Basque language live in Spain and France. “It is likely that only the disruption of Roman administration in these regions saved the Basque dialects from being completely overcome by Latin” (Rijk & Michelena, 2016). The Basque people have tried to keep their language alive for years and have tried to allow their language to grow. Their language is actually Europe’s longest living language. The Basque population is about three million and their religion is Roman Catholic. The Basque people in Spain are located in the northwest region and have a population of more than two million. The population in France are located in the southwest region. “The Pyrenees Mountains agreed to Castilian rule but won the right to keep a degree of self-government” (Douglass, 1996).
Some holidays that the Basque population celebrate are on the Christian calendar and include St. Joseph the Workman’s Day, St. John of Compostela Day, and some of their own festivals. Basque celebrate the same rites of passage as most Christians. Including, Marriage,
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Baptism, and First Communion. The Basque people see military service as a rite of passage. The boys who are entering the military are call Quintos. The rural population would live on individual farms. “The nearest neighbor, called the lehen auzo, or "first neighbor" according to Douglass (1996). The lehen auzo is really close to the family and can even be the best man or bridesmaid at the neighbor’s weddings. The lehen auzo can also take care of the neighbor’s farm in the event of an emergency and provides social support to neighbors.
The Basque population in rural areas live in houses that are called baserriack. These houses are very large and animals are kept on the first floor. The population of the Basques who live in cities usually live in apartments. In the rural areas the Basque household includes the maternal or paternal grandparents and unmarried aunts and uncles. Also, sometimes even cousins will get married. The family farm is also called the basseria. The Basque population usually wear modern clothing. However, the black beret that is sometimes worn by men was a traditional clothing item worn by the population for years. Education is required for children between the ages of six and thirteen and will then enter college. The Basque people have jobs such as agriculture, fishing, and manufacturing. “The traditional farm holding, or basseria, is a family enterprise in which each household raises its own crops (corn, wheat, and vegetables) and livestock (chickens, pigs, cows, and sheep)” (Douglass, 1996).
The Basque people also enjoy arts, sports, and music. They have a tradition of unaccompanied choirs. Instruments like the txistu, tambourine or drums, and the txalaparta. “Goldsmithing, along with working with silver and other precious metals, has a long history in the Basque country” (Thomas, 2016). They use weaving to make fabrics and clothes and leather for shoes, cloathes, and coats. The Basque people play sports such as pelota. This sport has
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different versions that can be played on courts with baskets, wooden bats and hands according to Thomas (2016). They also enjoy sports like log cutting, longboat regattas, and stone dragging or stone lifting. The Basque people greatly enjoy their music and dancing. According to Romtvedt, (2016) the Basque folkloric dance performances were outlawed for the first twenty-five years of the Franco government. However, just like the Basque language, the music was kept alive for all those years. The Alboka, Txista, and Dultzaina are three of the oldest Basque musical instruments.
The Basque people brought the accordion with them when they traveled to the United States. They also formed the Big Horn Basque Dance Group. This group was created to help keep the Basque identity alive. They try to keep the performances as authentic as they can by traveling to Europe and seeing some performances and by asking older dancers. “Performances used to only be held at Basque-only events or on Catholic holidays, especially the August 15th Feast of the assumption of Mary, or as part of family gatherings (Romtvedt, 2016). Basque dancing can be used as either social dancing or performance dancing. The Basque people were seen as a threat by some Americans. “However, they have gone from the dispised newcomer to romantic hero and hard worker” (Romtvedt, 2016). More and more people will go to Basque festivals and restaurants and leave knowing a lot more about the Basque culture. This is a good example of why we should not judge other cultures until we get to know more about them. If people did not start experiencing bits of the Basque culture then we would not still have some of the Basque community living here in the United States and would have not been able to experience some of their traditions, culture, or foods. This is also what helps keep more cultures growing.
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“The Basques like to cook with fish and shellfish.

Basque women are noted not only for the excellence of their home cooking, but also their success as restaurateurs"” (Hudgins, 2016). The Basque also use meats like lamb, beef, and pork in their cooking and vegetables, potatoes, tomatoes, and spices like paprika also. They use a lot of cream, butter, mushrooms, and milk in their cooking. Mushrooms are really important to the Basque people. They travel in different seasons when the mushrooms grow just to pick them and bring them home to cook with.

Some traditional Basque dishes are, angulas in Spain. It is silvery-white baby eels and is really expensive. Marmitako is a traditional Basque stew made with white-fleshed bonito and potatoes. Another Basque meal is bacalao which is dried sea cod. They also pair their meals with sauces whose colors are the same as the Basque flag. These sauces are a red sauce made with onions and red peppers, green sauce made with parsley, peas, and asparagus, and a special kind of white sauce. Another dish that the Basque make is baby squid that is tinted black by the squid’s own ink. Piperade is a Basque dish made with peppers, eggs, ham, onion, garlic, and tomatoes. Some traditional Basque deserts are leche frita which is fried milk, thick custard squares, intzarusalsa which is walnut cream soup, mamiya which is milk curds flavored with lemon and sugar, and fruit compotes made with red wine and spices according to Hudgins,

(2016). Spanish pastel vasco which is gateau basque in French are double-crust tarts filled with custard and sometimes jam according to Hudgins (2016). Many meals are also accompanied by small glasses of wine. These are called txikitos. This is a light and a little fruity, but dry wine. Many meals are also paired with red wines from the Rioja wine region and Basque sparkling cider.

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I found it really interesting about how the Basque have kept their language alive for so many years.

There are so many languages that have been lost because people stop speaking them and try to blend in more with the Western culture. However, fighting to keep a language alive is really important so I thought that was really interesting. I also thought that it is probably something really important that people from the Basque culture could teach others. The fact that they are actually able to learn how to keep their language alive and have the tools to do it is something that they could help others with. Just bringing the knowledge that this can actually be done and that smaller cultures can have their own language and continue having their own Basque language for hundreds of years is something that could bring hope to other cultures in different areas that may be afraid of losing their own language. The Basque culture has continued to spread rather than to get smaller which is really good because I think it is important for cultures, old and new, to continue in the world in order to keep our world diverse. If we didn’t have diversity we wouldn’t have the different foods we eat, the different languages we have, and we wouldn’t have the knowledge about other countries and

origins.

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References

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“Basques." Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of World Cultures. 1999, "Basques." The
Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2016, PESCADOR, J. J., "Basque Country." The
Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2016, . . . BOURNE, M. K. (1996). Basques. Retrieved
May 05, 2016, from http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Basques.aspx

Hudgins, S. (2016). Cuisine of Basque Country - Taste of Europe. Retrieved May 05, 2016, from
http://www.europeantraveler.net/taste-of-basque.php

Ager, S. (1998-2016). Basque (euskara). Retrieved May 05, 2016, from
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/basque.htm

Rijk, R. P., & Michelena, L. (2016). Basque language. Retrieved May 05, 2016, from
http://www.britannica.com/topic/Basque-language

Thomas, J. (2016). Culture of Basque, Spain. Retrieved May 05, 2016, from
http://traveltips.usatoday.com/culture-basque-spain-12204.html

Basques. (2016). Retrieved May 05, 2016, from http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Rwanda-to-
Syria/Basques.html

Romtvedt, D. (2016). Basque Music and Dance. Retrieved May 05, 2016, from
http://zimmer.csufresno.edu/~johnca/humanities/Music1.htm