Basques

ETHNONYMS: Bascos, Eskualdunak, Euskaldunak, Vascos

Orientation

Identification. The European Basque homeland is in the western Pyrenees and straddles the French-Spanish border. Although frequently designated as either French or Spanish Basques, the Basque people constitute one of Europe's most distinctive ethnic groups in their own right. The seven traditional regions within the Basque country, further distinguished by dialectical differences in spoken Basque, provide subethnic distinctions within the Basque population. Basques entered North America as either Spanish or French nationals, but Basque-Americans invoke Basqueness as their primary ethnic identity.

Location. There are small numbers of Basques in British Columbia, Quebec, and the eastern seaboard in Canada. Basques are present in every state of the United States but are concentrated in California, Idaho, and Nevada. Basques are particularly noted for an identification with sheepherding and are therefore present to some degree in the open-range livestock districts of all thirteen states of the American West. Florida, New York, and Connecticut have significant Basque populations as well.

Demography. The Basque-Canadian population as such has not been enumerated, but probably numbers no more than 2,000 to 3,000 individuals. The 1980 U.S. census estimated the Basque-American population at slightly more than 40,000. The three largest concentrations by state include California (15,530), Idaho (4,332), and Nevada (3,378). The Basques of North America are primarily rural and smalltown dwellers, although there are urban concentrations in New York City (port of entry), Miami, Greater San Francisco, Greater Los Angeles, Stockton, Fresno, Bakersfield, Boise, and Reno.

Linguistic Affiliation. First-generation Basque Immigrants are usually fluent in Basque (Euskera), an agglutinative language employing the Roman alphabet but with no known affinity with any other tongue. Basque immigrants are also fluent in Spanish and/or French. Basque-Canadians and Basque-Americans are more likely to be bilingual in Basque and English (French in the case of Quebec) than to retain their parents' fluency in Spanish or French. It is rare for the second generation of New World-born individuals to retain fluency in a second language. Rather, they are fully assimilated linguistically into the American mainstream.

History and Cultural Relations

Basques, as Europe's earliest and most efficient whalers, may have entered North America prior to the voyages of Columbus. There is documentation of Basque whaling and codfishing activity along the Labrador coast by the early sixteenth century and evidence of Basque loan words in some of the Atlantic coastal Canadian Native American languages. Canadian archivists and archaeologists have discovered a sixteenth-century Basque whaling station (used seasonally) and sunken whaling ship at Red Bay, Labrador. Place names such as Port-aux-Basques, Placentia, and Biscay Bay also testify to a Basque presence in Canadian coastal waters. This activity remained intense through the eighteenth century and lasted well into the nineteenth. With the exception of this maritime involvement, the Basque presence in Canada remains virtually unstudied. Some French Basques became established in Quebec as part of that area's overall French Immigration. In recent years there has been a Basque festival in the town of Trois Pistoles. In the twentieth century, a small colony of Basques (associated with the timber industry) has emerged in western British Columbia, and several of its Families have relocated to the Vancouver area.

Basques entered the western United States as part of the Spanish colonial endeavor. Several administrators, soldiers, explorers, and missionaries in the American Southwest and Spanish California were Basques. After Mexican Independence and subsequent American annexation of the area, there was a renewal of Basque immigration as part of the California gold rush. Many of the prospectors came from Southern South America, where Basques were the established sheepmen on the pampas. Some saw an opportunity to repeat in California a sheep-raising pattern under frontier conditions. By 1860, there were established Basque sheep outfits roaming the public lands in southern California. In the 1870s they spread throughout California's central valleys and had expanded into parts of Arizona, New Mexico, and western Nevada. By the first decade of the twentieth century, Basques were present in the open-range districts of all thirteen western states. The Basque sheepherder was the preferred employee in Basque- and non-Basque-owned sheep outfits alike.

Restrictive immigration legislation in the 1920s, with its anti-southern-European bias, severely limited Basque Immigration into the United States, and by the 1940s, the Basque-American community was evolving away from its Old World cultural roots. But a labor shortage during World War II and the unwillingness of Americans to endure the privations of the sheepherding way of life prompted the U.S. government to exempt prospective Basque sheepherders from immigration quotas. Between 1950 and 1975, several thousand Basques entered the United States on three-year contracts. The general decline of the sheep industry over the past fifteen years, coupled with full recovery of the Spanish and French economies, has all but interdicted the immigration of Basques into the American West. Today there are fewer than one hundred Basques herding sheep in the United States.

A secondary source of twentieth-century Basque Immigration derived from the Basque game of jai alai. Nuclei of professional players who have married U.S. citizens or otherwise gained permanent residency have formed around the legalized jai alai frontons in Florida, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. Political refugees form a third modern, if modest, stream of Basque immigration in North America, as some individuals rejected Franco's Spain and others fled Castro's Cuba.

Settlements

Basque involvement in sheepherding is limited to the arid and semiarid open-range districts of the American West, where sheep husbandry entails transhumance—that is, the herds are wintered on the valley floors and then trailed into adjacent or distant mountain ranges for summer pasturage. The annual trek might involve covering as much as five hundred miles on foot, although today the animals are more likely to be trucked if the distance between the summer and winter ranges is considerable. For the herder, while on the winter range, home is a sheep wagon containing little more than a bunk, table, and stove. The wagon is moved about the desert winter range with either horses or a four-wheel drive vehicle. In the summer months the herder lives in a tipi camped along streambeds in high mountain canyons. He is visited every several days by a camptender who brings him supplies on muleback or by pickup truck. The herder's life is characterized by extreme isolation, the loneliness being relieved only by the camptender's brief visit, the portable radio, a few magazines and books, and the occasional letter from a fiancée or family. Some former sheepherders acquired their own ranch properties. These were established holdings and therefore have no architectural features that might be regarded as uniquely Basque. Most small towns of the open-range districts have one or more Basque hotels, which are likely located within sight of the railroad station (to facilitate the travel of newly arrived herders from Europe). Again, they tend to be Purchased rather than constructed by their proprietors and are therefore largely consonant with western American smalltown architecture, although some of the hotels have added a fronton or handball court. The typical hotel contains a bar; a dining room where meals are served family-style at long tables to boarders and casual guests alike; and a second floor of sleeping rooms usually reserved for permanent boarders, sheepherders in town for a brief visit, vacation, or employment layoff, and herders in transit to an employer.

Economy

Subsistence and Commercial Activities. The Basque fishermen in Canada were seasonal sojourners, who crossed the Atlantic to hunt whales and fish for cod. The former were rendered into oil and the latter were salted for transport back to Europe. In the United States, Basques, as much as any and more than most immigrant groups, have been identified with a single industry—sheep husbandry. By the beginning of the present century, they were present in all phases of it, dominating the ranks of the sheepherders and nomadic outfits that moved about the public lands throughout the year. Some Basques also acquired their own ranch properties; others worked as camptenders and ranch foremen. Still others became involved as wool and lamb buyers and in livestock transportation. In recent years, open-range sheep husbandry in the United States has declined owing to increased labor costs and herder shortages, the abolition of certain predator control measures, the success of environmentalists in limiting livestock numbers on public lands, declining demand for wool versus synthetic fabrics, and foreign competition for meat products. Consequently, the Basque involvement in sheep husbandry is now more historic than actual. Many former herders and owners returned to Europe; others converted sheep ranches to cattle; and still others moved to nearby small towns to engage in construction work or establish small businesses (bars, bakeries, motels, gasoline stations, and so on). In San Francisco, Basques work as gardeners, specializing in caring for dozens of urban, postage-stamp-sized yards. They wrested this occupational niche from Japanese-Americans when the latter were interned during World War II. In the Greater Los Angeles area, several Basques work as milkers in large commercial dairies. Wherever jai alai (words that mean "happy festival" in Basque) is legalized, Basque players are recruited from Europe. They tend to be true sojourners, playing part of the year in the Basque country and the remainder in the United States. Basque-Americans are assimilated into the wider culture and therefore display the full range of American occupations and professions. There are Basque attorneys, medical doctors, and university professors, as well as a few owners and chief executive officers of major businesses and financial institutions. It is also true, however, that Basque-Americans have tended to cluster in small businesses, trades, and unskilled occupations. In part, this is a reflection of the Old World rural origins of their forebears and their own upbringing in rural and/or small-town America.

Trade. In the American West there is a Basque ethnic network that, if far from absolute, provides a certain Basque clientele to Basque-owned businesses and tradespeople. The Basque hotels are particularly patronized by Basque-Americans, although all depend upon their wider American clientele as well. In this regard, they trade on the excellent reputation of Basque cuisine and their fame for providing a unique ethnic atmosphere.

Division of Labor. In both Old World and Basque-American society there is considerable egalitarianism Between the sexes. Although domestic tasks remain largely the purview of women, they are not regarded as demeaning for men. Conversely, whether running a ranching operation, a Basque hotel, or a town business, women work alongside their menfolk performing virtually any task.

Land Tenure. In Old World Basque society, farm or business ownership is a point of personal pride and social prestige, an attitude discernible among Basque-Americans. Practically none entered the United States with the intention of remaining salaried sheepherders. Rather, the occupation was seen as a stepping-stone providing savings either to return to Europe and purchase land or to acquire a ranch or town business in the United States. Those Basques who remain salaried employees manifest an extremely high level of home ownership.

Kinship

Kin Groups and Descent. The Basque-American Community is stitched together by extended consanguineal (reckoned bilaterally) and affinal ties. Recruitment of herders from Europe typically involved sending for or receiving a request from a brother or cousin willing to come to the United States. Therefore, each Basque-American colony is more likely to be made up of family clusters rather than unrelated families and individuals. The degree of interrelatedness is enhanced by local endogamy involving an Old World-born ex-herder and a Basque-American spouse or two first-generation Basque-Americans. Extended Basque-American families tend to maintain close ties, gathering for baptisms, graduations, weddings, and funerals, and is further integrated by godparental ties.

Kinship Terminology. Basque kinship terms are of the Eskimo variety. Sibling terms differ according to whether the speaker is male or female. Basque kinship reckoning is quite consonant with that in the wider North American mainstream.

Marriage and Family

Marriage. Few Basques entered the United States with the intention of staying. Also, the immigrants were mainly young males. The sheepherding occupation was inimical to family life, and the only married herders were sojourners who had left their spouses and children in Europe. Gradually, some Basques became oriented to an American future and either sent back or went back to Europe for brides (few married non-Basques) . Many of the brides were of the "mail-order" variety, the sister or cousin of an acquaintance made in the United States. As Basque hotels proliferated they became a source of spouses. The hotel keepers sent back to Europe for women willing to come to America as domestics, and few remained single for long. In this fashion, the basis of Basque-American family life and community was established.

Domestic Unit. Most Basque-American households are of the nuclear family variety and are largely indistinguishable from their American counterparts. For those Basques engaged in ranching, the notion of family, or at least of family privacy, is stretched to include ranch employees. The latter sleep in a bunkhouse, but they are likely to take their meals in the kitchen of the main house. If the outfit includes Old World-born herders with limited or no English skills, they are likely to be afforded special attention by the family. For families engaged in the hotel business, home is the entire establishment, which is truly a family enterprise. Special attention is likely to be accorded to the permanent boarders—retired herders with no interest in returning to Europe.

Inheritance. In Europe, farm property is transmitted to a single heir in each generation. This is less noticeable among Basque-Americans. Few Basque-American businesses or ranches remain in the same family for two or more generations.

Socialization. Child rearing among Basque-Americans is similar to that in mainstream American society. The exception is that first-generation American-born children are imbued with an urgency to excel in academics and athletics through the secondary school level. This has been interpreted as the need to prove oneself in American terms as a counter-measure to anti-immigrant and, at times, specifically anti-Basque prejudice.

Sociopolitical Organization

Social Organization. After the family, the most important social institution is the hotel or boarding house. For the Old World-born herder it is a town address, a bank, an employment agency, an ethnic haven, a source of advice and translation assistance when dealing with the wider society, a place to leave one's city clothes while on the range and one's saddle, rifle, and bedroll when on a return visit to Europe, a possible source of a bride, and a potential retirement home. For the Basque-American, it is a place to recharge one's ethnic batteries, practice one's rusty Basque, learn something about Old World Basque culture, dance to Basque music, eat Basque cuisine, hire help, possibly board one's children during the school year, and hold baptism and wedding receptions as well as wakes. Over the past four decades, Basque social clubs have emerged in many small towns and cities of the American West. There is now a Basque festival cycle in the region, lasting from late May through early September, with many of the social clubs sponsoring a local event. Several of the clubs have their own folk-dance group. In Bakersfield, Boise, and San Francisco, the Basque club has its own physical plant for meetings, dances, and banquets.

Political Organization. Basque-Americans tend to reflect the conservative politics of rural western America, usually registering as Republicans. The most notable Basque politicians include Nevada's former governor and U. S. senator Paul Laxalt and Idaho's Secretary of State Peter Cenarrusa. Basque-Americans have minimal interest in and knowledge of political developments in the European Basque homeland. In the 1980s, representatives of the government of Euskadi (Eusko Jaurlaritza), including its president, several parliamentarians, and ministers have visited the Basque settlements of the United States. The Basque government has provided some financial aid to Basque-American organizations and cultural endeavors and currently publishes an English-language newsletter regarding events in the Basque Homeland. In 1974, the Basque clubs of the United States formed NABO, or North American Basque Organizations, Inc. Each of the nineteen member clubs elects a NABO delegate. The Organization meets periodically to coordinate the Basque festival cycle and to promote special events. These include sponsorship of national handball and mus (a Basque card game) championships, the U. S. tours of Old World Basque performing artists, and an annual summer music camp for Basque-American children at which they learn Basque folk music and are instructed in the txistu (a flutelike instrument played simultaneously with the drum).

Social Control. Peer pressure among Basque-Americans is pronounced. Basques have a group reputation for honesty (one's word is deemed to be as good as a written contract) and hard work. Anyone jeopardizing this perception through scandalous or frivolous behavior is likely to be both criticized and ostracized.

Conflict. Basques have experienced a degree of discrimination in the United States. They are sometimes perceived to be Latins or Hispanics by persons ignorant of the subtleties of southern European ethnic differentiation. The close identification of Basques with sheepherding, a denigrated occupation in the American West, and the activities of the nomadic ("tramp" to their detractors) sheep bands in competing with settled livestock interests for access to the range were additional sources of anti-Basque sentiment and even legislation. More recently, the sensationalized newspaper coverage of conflict in the Basque country, and particularly the activities of the ETA organization, have made Basque-Americans sensitive to the possible charge of being terrorist sympathizers.

Religion and Expressive Culture

Religious Beliefs. Basques are Roman Catholics, with strong Jansenist overtones. On occasion, the church has assigned a Basque chaplain to minister to the Basques of the American West. In Old World Basque society there was a belief in witchcraft and supernatural dwellers in mountain caverns and forest fastnesses. There is little carryover of this tradition to the Basque-American context.

Religious Practitioners. With some exceptions, Basque-Americans are not particularly devout. The isolation of sheep camp and ranch life precluded regular church attendance. Basque-American demographics in which a small population is scattered over an enormous geographic expanse militated against the development of a Basque ethnic church. Conversely, few Basques have converted to other religions and a number of Basque-Americans attend parochial schools and Catholic universities.

Arts. There are several Basque folk-dance groups and txistu players in the American West. There are also a few bertsolariak, or versifiers, who spontaneously comment on any subject in sung verse. The literary spokesman of the Basque-American experience is Robert P. Laxalt, whose book, Sweet Promised Land, described his father's life as a sheepman in the American West and his return visit to his natal village. The Basque festival incorporates several Old and New World features including a mass, folk dancing, Social dancing, barbecue, athletic events (woodchopping, stone lifting, weight carrying, tugs-of-war) and possibly sheep hooking and sheepdog trials. In 1989, the National Monument to the Basque Sheepherder was dedicated in a public park in Reno, Nevada. It contains a seven-meter-high contemporary sculpture by the noted European Basque sculptor Nestor Bastarretxea.

Medicine. There is nothing distinctively Basque about their New World medical beliefs or practices.

Death and Afterlife. Standard Christian beliefs in heaven, purgatory, and hell obtain. Funerals are taken seriously and mobilize the widest range of kinship and friendship ties. Basque-Americans will travel hundreds of miles to attend the funeral of a family member, fellow villager, or former companion.

Bibliography

Douglass, William A., and Jon Bilbao (1975). Amerikanuak: Basques in the New World, Reno: University of Nevada Press.

Douglass, William A., and Beltran Paris (1979). Beltran: Basque Sheepman of the American West. Reno: University of Nevada Press.

Laxalt, Robert P. (1986). Sweet Promised Land. Reno: University of Nevada Press.

WILLIAM A. DOUGLASS

Basques

ETHNONYMS: Eskualdunak, Euskaldunak, Vascos

Orientation

Identification. Basques inhabit the area of southwestern Europe where the western spur of the Pyrenees meets the Cantabrian seacoast. Their territory straddles the French-Spanish frontier, providing a distinction between Spanish Basques and French Basques. There are four traditional Regions (Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa, Nafarroa, Araba) on the Spanish side and three (Lapurdi, Behe-Nafarroa, and Zuberoa) on the French side. Basques refer to their homeland as "Euskal-Herria" (land of the Basques) or "Euskadi" (country of the Basques). While the seven regions have not been unified for nearly a millennium, the Basques remain one of Europe's most distinctive ethnic groups.

Location. The Basque country is located between 41° to 43° N and 0° to 3° W. It contains 20,747 square kilometers, of which 17,682 square kilometers are on the Spanish side of the frontier. The Basque country contains three ecological zones. The northern zone is comprised of the Cantabrian seacoast and interior foothills. It has a maritime climate and is one of the wettest regions in Europe. The ridges of the Pyrenees constitute a central zone with an alpine climate. The southern zone, or about two-thirds of the Basque country, is in the rain shadow of the Pyrenees and has a continental climate.

Demography. In 1975 the population was 2,871,717, of which only 229,383 persons resided on the French side. Population density varies greatly by region. Highly urbanized Biz-kaia has 533 persons per square kilometer, while rural Behe-Nafarroa has only 22. There are an estimated 828,000 Basque speakers. Basque language proficiency is distributed unevenly, being concentrated primarily in the northern and central ecological zones. It is also more pronounced in rural and fishing communities than in the urban centers. In recent years there has been a vigorous campaign by Basque nationalists to encourage Basque language acquisition. It has met with considerable (though not total) success. AU Basques are fluent in either French or Spanish (some in both), depending on which side of the border they inhabit. Use of the Basque language has declined over the centuries in places where it was spoken previously, and use of French and Spanish has increased because of the influx of non-Basque speakers into the area.

Linguistic Affiliation. Basque is an agglutinative language and employs the Roman alphabet. It is the sole representative of its own language family. Scholars have tried to demonstrate affinities between Basque and languages from disparate parts of the world, particularly languages in the Caucasus Mountains of Russia. Another possibility is that Basque is linked to Ibero, a language spoken throughout the Iberian Peninsula in pre-Roman times.

History and Cultural Relations

The uniqueness of the language underscores the mystery of the origins of the Basques. Some scholars have suggested that they may even be the direct descendants of Cro-Magnons and the Upper Paleolithic cave painters active in Southwestern Europe about 15,000 years ago. Until the Middle Ages Basques were an enclaved, pastoralist people, fierce in resisting the intrusions of outsiders and regarded as barbarians by them. Romans, Goths, Franks, and Moors all controlled parts of the Basque Country without ever quite subjugating it. It was a Basque force that attacked Charlemagne's rear guard as it traversed the Pass of Roncesvalles, killing Roland and giving rise to the famous epic The Song of Roland. After a.d. 1000 the several Basque regions came increasingly under the influence of emerging European kingdoms and duchies. Subsequently the embryonic states of England, France, and Spain fought for control over the regions, which frequently became pawns in larger power plays. Sovereignty over the various Basque regions shifted according to the fortunes of battle or the whims of marital alliances among Europe's royalty. Basques retained, however, a considerable degree of autonomy in their own affairs, codified in written fueros or charters. This relative autonomy was reflected in the custom whereby the monarchs of Castille, upon ascending the throne, were required to travel to the town of Guernica to swear beneath a sacred oak to respect Basque laws. Coastal Basques were Europe's earliest whalers. Their shipbuilding and navigational skills made them Iberia's most noted seafarers. By the early fifteenth century (and possibly earlier) Basques were crossing the Atlantic for whaling and cod fishing off the Labrador coast. Basques crewed the ships of Columbus and Magellan. (The Basque Elcano was the first to circumnavigate the globe.) Basque mariners, mercenaries, merchants, and missionaries swelled the ranks of Spain's colonial elite, providing much of the shipping in the American trade and capital for development of the colonies and becoming major figures in both the civil and ecclesiastical administrations. The French Revolution, with its strong centralist tendencies, destroyed the political autonomy of Lapurdi, Behe-Nafarroa, and Zuberoa. Many of their residents resisted and were sent to the guillotine or to concentration camps. In the nineteenth century Basques fought on the losing side of Spain's two Carlist Wars, relinquishing much of their political autonomy in defeat. This, coupled with the late nineteenth-century influx of Spanish workers to Basque industries, which threatened to make Basques a minority in their homeland, caused concern. By 1900 a modern Basque nationalist movement had emerged to confront Madrid's policies in the Basque country. The nationalists contested elections when allowed to do so, gaining control of many municipalities and the provincial assemblies of Gipuzkoa and Bizkaia. When the Spanish Civil War erupted in 1936, those two provinces remained loyal to the republic, fielded an army, and elected an autonomous government that issued passports and coined its own currency. Within nine months the Basques were defeated by Franco, many were executed or imprisoned, thousands were exiled, and the Basque government had been removed to Paris. During the Franco years there was systematic repression of Basque culture. Consequently, in the late 1950s disaffected Basque youths founded an organization known as "ETA" (Euskadi ta Azkatasuna, or "Basque Country and Freedom") with the goal of complete independence from Spain. Its opposition to Franco escalated into violence, providing Europe with one of its most virulent terrorist movements. Franco's death in 1975 ushered in an era of democracy in Spain. Mainline Basque nationalists collaborated in the framing of a new constitution that accorded considerable autonomy to the regions.

Settlements

In the northern ecological zone there are major cities such as Bilbo (Bilbao), Donastia (San Sebastian), and Baiona (Bayonne), as well as regional manufacturing centers of considerable importance (Eibar, Mondragon, Irun). There are many coastal fishing villages with 5,000-10,000 inhabitants. The interior foothills have peasant villages ranging from 500 to 3,000 inhabitants. The village usually encompasses a river valley and the surrounding hillsides. The nucleus, with church, school, taverns, town hall, handball court or fronton (jai alai arena), general stores, and offices of a few professionals (doctor, veterinarian, pharmacist, postmaster) is located on the valley floor. The surrounding hillsides contain baserriak, or farmsteads (sing., baserria ), either isolated from one another or clustered into hamlets of ten or twelve dwellings surrounded by their collective landholdings. The dwellings are massive stone structures, often three stories tall. The ground floor is for animal stables, the second floor is living space, while the third is used to store hay and other crops.

Economy

Subsistence and Commercial Activities. Only about 20 percent of the population is engaged in agriculture. In Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa more than 50 percent of the active labor force is employed in industry. Until recently the Basque baserria was a mixed-farming enterprise in which the emphasis was upon self-sufficiency. The farm family grew its own wheat, corn, vegetables, fruits, and nuts and raised poultry, rabbits, pigs, cows, and sheep. Land held in common by the village was an important source of animal pasturage, ferns for animal bedding, limestone for fertilizer, and wood for fuel and building materials. Over the past fifty years there has been increasing commercialization of agriculture. Cropland has been converted either to intensive vegetable growing or fodder Production for dairy farming, both to supply urban markets. Agriculture is mechanized, though on a small scale because of the steep terrain. In the central ecological zone there is little permanent settlement. In the summer months shepherds ascend with their flocks and loggers cut hardwood species (oak and beech). In the southern ecological zone agriculture is of the large-estate variety with widely dispersed "agrotowns" surrounded by large holdings. The main crops are the Mediterranean trilogy of wheat, olives, and grapes. Near the Ebro River there is extensive irrigation that permits vegetable growing on a large commercial scale. Basque coastal fishing villages today send their fleets into the Cantabrian and Irish seas for hake, anchovies, and sea bream, and as far as the coasts of western Africa in search of tuna. Some of the vessels are state-of-theart with mechanical nets, refrigeration, and sonic depth finders and helicopters for finding their quarry.

Industrial Arts. The Basque country is one of Iberia's most industrialized regions. The city of Bilbo (Bilbao) houses many heavy industries, including steel plants and shipbuilding facilities. It is also one of western Europe's major ports for off-loading petroleum from supertankers. Smaller industrial towns specialize in modern consumer goods ranging from plastics to sewing machines. There is also an arms industry. Industrial pollution is a major problem in the Basque Country, causing poor air quality in the cities, which is exacerbated by traffic congestion. Most of the rivers are notably polluted.

Trade. While some farmers and fishermen market their products directly in nearby towns and cities, the Basque country now has an efficient network of commercial outlets including supermarkets and department stores.

Division of Labor. There is considerable equality between the sexes. In agriculture women frequently work alongside men at the same tasks. In urban areas women are increasingly employed in industry and services. Domestic chores remain, however, largely the purview of women.

Land Tenure. To be the owner of a farm was socially prestigious and represented economic security in a society in which arable land was at a premium. However, developments over the past fifty years have produced both a glut and a scarcity of land. On the one hand, the inability of peasant agriculture to generate sufficient income to support a twentieth-century life-style has prompted many families simply to abandon agriculture, departing for a city and either letting their baserria fall into disuse or planting it with pines for eventual sale to the paper-pulp industry. On the other hand, many urbanites are now buying or renting baserriak and converting them into chalets—weekend refuges from urban ills.

Kinship

Kin Groups and Descent. The urban Basque family is of the nuclear variety, maintaining its own apartment. In the southern ecological zone the nuclear family also predominates in rural districts. On the baserriak the stem family is the basic social form. Kinship is reckoned bilaterally; there is an Ego-centrically defined kindred but it is important only at the marriage or death of the defining member. Neighbors, usually unrelated, play a key role in rural Basque society. One's lenbizikoatia, or "first of the neighborhood," is the household of first recourse in a crisis. The larger auzoa, or neighborhood, is the source of social intimacy and support.

Kinship Terminology. Eskimo-type terms are used. Sibling terms differ according to whether the speaker is male or female.

Marriage and Family

Marriage. Basques are monogamous and exercise considerable personal choice in selecting spouses. However, people regard the marriage of the designated male or female heir to the baserria as a household affair. The parents transfer ownership of the farm to the newlyweds as part of the marital arrangements. Small villages tend to be endogamous and cousin marriage is not infrequent, including some unions Between first cousins.

Domestic Unit. The heir to the baserria and spouse form a stem-family household with his or her parents. Unmarried siblings of the heir may remain in residence in their natal households until death, but they are subject to the authority of the active male and female heads. The family works the baserria together, with children and the elderly contributing to the lighter tasks as well. In the urban areas the apartment-dwelling nuclear family, possibly with a live-in servant for the affluent, is the domestic unit. It may also contain a spinster aunt or aging parent.

Inheritance. Ownership of the baserria is transferred to a single heir in each generation. In parts of the Basque country custom dictates male primogeniture unless the candidate is blatantly unsuitable. Out-marrying siblings of the heir are provided with dowries. They also share equally in the "Personal" wealth of their deceased parents (e.g., money, jewelry, etc.). In urban areas the offspring usually share equally in the estate of the deceased, although the national legal codes favor one recipient with a maximum of one-third of the total.

Socialization. Children are raised by everyone in the household. In the case of affluent urbanites the household may also include a female domestic servant who doubles as a nanny. On the baserriak families emphasize subordination of individual interests to the well-being of the domestic unit. One child is socialized as the heir, and his or her siblings are raised with the understanding that they should leave. This system has made the rural Basque country a seedbed of emigrants.

Sociopolitical Organization

The Basque country is a part of Spain and France, both constitutional democracies.

Social Organization. Basque society is suffused with an egalitarian ethos. The owner of a baserria is extolled as an etxekojaun (lord of the household) and his spouse as etxekoandria (lady of the household). Basque fishermen are similarly proud and independent. The Basque country was largely untouched by western European feudalism, and there is a common belief that every Basque is a noble. There is considerable social mobility, and wealth differences do not automatically determine social status. However, there is an urban Basque plutocracy of factory owners, bankers, and wealthy professionals who relate more to the Spanish and French national elites than to their fellow Basque peasants, shopkeepers, etc. There is a near castelike division between Basques and non-Basques, with the latter constituting much of the lower-class, urban proletariat. Non-Basques are the frequent targets of resentment and discrimination.

Political Organization. At the municipal level Communities are governed by an elected mayor and town council. The three regions in France form, with Bearn, the "Département des Pyrénées Atlantiques" with its seat of government in Pau. Each of the four provinces in Spain has its own popularly elected assembly or diputación. Nafarroa now constitutes its own autonomous region within the Spanish state. Gipuzkoa, Bizkaia, and Araba together form the Autonomous Community of Euskadi. This regional government is funded largely by the participating diputaciónes. With its capital in Vitoria (Gasteiz), it has its own popularly elected president, parliament, and ministries. It controls some mass media, the educational system, economic development, and cultural affairs. All foreign relations are handled by Madrid. Basques elect representatives to the Spanish and French parliaments as well.

Social Control. Social control at the local level is largely through peer pressure. The parish priest exercises moral influence beyond the strictly religious sphere.

Conflict. The Basque area is heavily policed, particularly on the Spanish side. The Spanish "Guardia Civil" is an Omnipresent, largely despised factor in local life. Even political moderates tend to regard their homeland as "occupied," and removal of this force is one of the main demands of Basque nationalists of all persuasions. Clashes between the guardias and the ETA have produced more than 600 deaths over the past three decades.

Religion and Expressive Culture

Religious Beliefs. With very few exceptions Basques are Roman Catholic. Even the smallest village has its own church. There are several major monasteries. Basque Catholicism has strong Jansenistic overtones.

Religious Practitioners. While possibly the last people in western Europe to convert to Christianity, the Basques have produced such titans of the Catholic church as Saint Ignatius of Loyola and Saint Francis Xavier. There is strong Marist devotion focused on icons of the Virgin Mary housed in several churches. Until recently there were so many religious vocations that Basque priests and nuns regularly staffed Catholic missions in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Since the Second Vatican Council church attendance and religious vocations have plummeted, prompting the closure of some churches. Formerly Basques believed in witches and legendary supernatural dwellers of mountain caverns and forest fastnesses.

Arts. Practically every village has its folk-dance group. The txistu (flute) and drum, played simultaneously by a single performer, are the distinctive musical instruments. There are bertsolariak, or versifiers, capable of spontaneously composing and singing rhymes on any subject. Such performances are a part of every village festival, and regional and national championships are held periodically. In the fine arts Basques have produced several composers of note (Arriaga, Guridi, Ravel), writers (Baroja, Unamuno), painters, and sculptors (including the world-famous Eduardo Chillida).

Medicine. Even the most remote villages have access to modern medical care. Nevertheless, beliefs in the efficacy of certain folk treatments (usually herbal) persist. Some of the older generation still fear the evil eye.

Death and the Afterlife. A funeral is the most important life ritual in Basque society, triggering a year-long series of ceremonies involving the deceased's household, neighborhood, kindred, and village. Failure to conduct them is felt to compromise the deceased's smooth transition to the afterlife. Otherwise standard Christian beliefs in heaven, purgatory, and hell obtain.

Bibliography

Douglass, William A. (1969). Death in Murelaga: Funerary Ritual in a Spanish Basque Village. Seattle: University of Washington Press.

Douglass, William A. (1975). Echalar and Murelaga: Opportunity and Rural Exodus in Two Spanish Basque Villages. London: C. Hurst.

Greenwood, Davydd J. (1976). Unrewarding Wealth: The Commercialization and Collapse of Agriculture in a Spanish Basque Town. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Ott, Sandra (1981). The Circle of Mountains: A Basque shepherding Community. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Zulaika, Joseba (1988). Basque Violence: Metaphor and Sacrament. Reno: University of Nevada Press.

WILLIAM A. DOUGLASS

Basques

LOCATION: Northwest Spain and southwest France
POPULATION: almost 3 million
LANGUAGE: Euskera (Basque language); Spanish; French
RELIGION: Roman Catholic

INTRODUCTION

The Basques are a single people who live in two countries: northwest Spain and southwest France, where the Pyrenees meet the coast of the Bay of Biscay. The Basques may be the oldest ethnic group in Europe. They are thought to have inhabited the southwestern corner of the continent since before the migration of Indo-European peoples to the area approximately 5,000 years ago. Surviving invasions by the Romans, Visigoths, Arabs, French, and Spanish, they resisted domination by outsiders until the Middle Ages when much of their territory was usurped by Spaniards, Gascons, and Catalans. In 1516 the Basques on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees agreed to Castilian rule but won the right to retain a degree of self-government. By 1876 all Basque lands were divided between France and Spain; however, nationalist sentiments ran high among the Basques—especially on the Spanish side—throughout the 19th century.

In the 1930s the Basques supported the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War in exchange for promises of autonomy, but their hopes were dashed with the victory of Generalissimo Francisco Franco. During the years of the Franco regime (1939-1975) the Basque language and culture in the Spanish provinces were ruthlessly suppressed, and their local government went into exile in Paris. By the 1950s, resistance groups had formed, most notably the ETA (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, or Basque Homeland and Liberty), which continued its terrorist acts throughout the 1970s and 1980s, even after Spanish rule over the Basques was liberalized following Franco's death in 1975. Vizcaya, Guipúzcoa, and Alava, which make up three of the four Basque provinces, were unified in 1980 as the Basque Autonomous Community, and its inhabitants were granted limited autonomy, recognition of their language and culture, and control over their schools and police force. Today, it is one of the most decentralized regions in the world, with more autonomy than just about any other similar region in Europe. The seats of the Basque parliament and government are in Vitoria-Gastei. The parliament elects the lehendakari (president), who forms a government following regular parliamentary procedures.

ETA is an illegal armed Basque organization. It was founded in 1959, demanding Basque independence and self-determination from a Marxist-Leninist interpretation. According to official figures and ETA communiqués, since 1969 it has killed over 800 people, maimed hundreds more, and committed dozens of kidnappings. The group is proscribed as a terrorist organization by both the Spanish and French government, as well as the European Union.

LOCATION AND HOMELAND

Basque country consists of three regions on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees (Vizcaya, Guipúzcoa, and Alava) and three on the French side (Labourd, Basse-Navarre, and Soule). These territories, collectively, are called Euskal-Herria (Land of the Basques) or Euskadi. It has been nearly a thousand years since these regions were unified politically. The area is geographically varied, containing the ridges and foothills of the Pyre-nees and a short coastal plain along the Bay of Biscay, as well as steep, narrow valleys and mountain streams. Although Basque nationalists claim Navarre as part of their territory, Navarre is a different autonomous community.

With 2.141.860 million inhabitants (2007), the land of the Basques, with an extension of 7,234 sq km (2,793 sq mi), is a densely populated area (293.73 per sq km). The people are unevenly distributed, with most living in Vizcaya and Guipúzcoa provinces. Fewer than 10% live in the region's largest province, Alava, which encompasses about 40% of the land area. About half the people who live in Basque country are Basques. More than 1 million have other ethnic backgrounds.

The port city of Bilbao is its largest city with a population of 354,145, followed by San Sebastián with 183,308. Blood types and other genetic information about the Basques suggest that they are an ancient people (possibly even descended from Cro-Magnon man) who inhabited the region long before the arrival of other European groups. According to a Basque saying, "Before God was God and boulders were boulders, the Basques were already Basques."

LANGUAGE

The Basque language, also known as Euskera, is Europe's oldest living language. It is unrelated to Spanish, French, or any other

Romance language and belongs to no other known language family. Some scholars have suggested that it may have originated in the Caucasus region of Russia or in North Africa, and others have found similarities to Finnish and Berber. It was the universal language of rural Basques until the end of the 19th century, although it had no written literary tradition and was spoken less frequently by town dwellers. The Franco regime's suppression of all Spanish regionalism in the mid-20th century caused the number of Basque speakers in Spain to decline sharply (as opposed to France, where the figures are higher). In recent years, Basques in both France and Spain have promoted, with some success, the use of their traditional language, mainly by means of the ikastolas, or Basque language and culture schools, and it has become more common in literature and the media since Franco's death in 1975. Every province and town in Spain's Basque country has a Spanish and a Basque official name, both of which appear on all road signs.

The Basque language is notoriously difficult (regional folklore has it that the devil tried to learn Basque for seven years and gave up). There are many different grammatical tenses and a variety of possible forms for each word, depending on gender and other factors. In addition, there are a number of different dialects, although a person who speaks one dialect can generally understand the others. Basque is also rather exotic when contrasted with other Western tongues. For example, intensity may be expressed by repeating a word twice ("very hot" is bero-bero), a feature unknown among European languages but common among Polynesian ones. The language also lacks generic terms for "tree" and "animal": there are names for specific trees (oak, maple, etc.) but not for trees in general.

"Happiness is the only thing we can give without having" (proverb): Izan gabe eman dezakegun gauza bakarra da zoriona.

FOLKLORE

Through centuries of storytelling, the Basques have evolved a rich and colorful mythology. In ancient times their land was supposed to have been peopled by a race of giants called jentillak, who lived side by side with its human inhabitants until the coming of Christ, when they disappeared, leaving behind only one of their number named Olentzero. Olentzero is a folk character that appears in country festivals and celebrations, and is represented in the form of dolls and straw figures. According to legends, the lamiak were female spirits who looked like beautiful women with long golden hair; they had chicken feet, lived in caverns, and could wield either a helpful or a harmful influence. Besides legends and tales, the Basques have a rich and ancient folklore that encompasses various rituals and dances. The Katcha-Ranka is a dance performed in fishing villages. A person representing St. Peter is carried in a coffin through the village and to the waterfront by dancers who then proceed to symbolically beat him as a threat to ensure a good catch when they go out fishing. Cultural expressions, such as dancing and singing, often are tied to religious occasions.

RELIGION

Almost all Basques are Roman Catholics. Traditionally an unusually high percentage chose to become priests or nuns, although this number, together with church attendance generally, has fallen since the Second Vatican Council. Two of the church's most renowned theologians, St. Francis Xavier and St. Ignatius Loyola, who was the founder of the Jesuit order, were of Basque origin. Basque Catholicism, like that in many other areas of Spain, is characterized by a strong devotion to the Virgin Mary.

MAJOR HOLIDAYS

As elsewhere in Spain, most Basque holidays are those found in the Christian calendar. Special holidays include celebrations for Saint John, the Virgen de Begoña, the Virgen del Carmen (patroness of sailors and fishermen), and the Virgen Blanca. The celebration for the Virgen Blanca takes place on and around August 16, including weeklong celebrations of the Semana Grande Donostierra in San Sebastián and Bilbao. In addition, villages celebrate their own festivals with performances by folk musicians, dancers, and bertsolariak, traditional singer/ storytellers who can improvise and sing rhymes on any topic.

RITES OF PASSAGE

Besides baptism, first Communion and marriage could be considered a rite of passage for Basques as with most Spaniards. These events are the occasion, in most cases, for big and expensive social gatherings in which the family shows its generosity and economic status.

INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS

In rural communities where families often lived on individual farms in relative isolation, a special relationship developed with one's neighbors, especially the nearest neighbor, called the lehen auzo, or "first neighbor." The role that first neighbors play sometimes even surpasses that of blood relatives. The best man and chief bridesmaid at weddings are chosen from the household of the lehen auzo, and its members are informed of a serious illness or impending death before the family's closest relatives. In an emergency, the lehen auzo temporarily takes over the running of his neighbor's farm. When there is a death in the family, custom traditionally requires that the lehen auzo be informed before the village bell tolls. The wider neighborhood, or auzoa, is also an important source of social support.

LIVING CONDITIONS

People in the rural regions of Basque country live in large stone farmhouses called caseríos, or baserriak (the plural of baserria). They are often as high as three stories, with animals kept on the ground floor, the family living space on the second floor, and hay and other crops stored on the third. They may either be built at a distance from one another or located in clusters of about 10 or 12. As a result of economical prosperity, cities and towns are much more extensive than a quarter of a century ago, and there are new areas developed with modern apartment buildings.

The Basques have access to the same level of modern medical care as their neighbors in Spain or France, countries with average life expectancies of 78 and 77 years, respectively. However, some Basques, particularly members of the older generation, still believe in the effectiveness of certain types of folk remedies, especially those involving various herbs.

Basque cities and towns are connected by bus and trains. Bilbao, the industrial center of the Basque region, is also Spain's busiest port. Located on the Bay of Biscay, it can accommodate tankers weighing up to 500,000 tons. Bilbao, Vitoria, and San Sebastian have airports. Bilbao's Sondika Airport, a beautiful building, is the busiest in northwest Spain, and the city is connected by rail with the rest of Spain and with France.

FAMILY LIFE

In rural areas, Basque households generally include the maternal or paternal grandparents, as well as unmarried aunts or uncles. It is not uncommon for cousins, even first cousins, to marry. The most important concern for rural dwellers is the perpetuation of the family farm, or baseria. In every family, one son or daughter is designated from childhood as heir to the farm. When he or she gets married, ownership of the farm is transferred to the new couple as part of the wedding arrangements. All adults in the household participate in child rearing. The whole family helps with the farm work, including children and grandparents, who assist with easier tasks. In urban areas, the nuclear family is the norm, sometimes joined by an elderly grandparent or unmarried aunt. Well-off families may have a live-in nanny or servant. In urban areas, family life is like in other parts of Spain.

CLOTHING

The Basques wear modern Western-style clothing for both casual and formal occasions. The single most distinctive item of traditional Basque clothing, which is still worn throughout the country, is the flat wide black beret (boina) worn by Basque men.

FOOD

The Basques are known for their excellent cuisine, much of which involves seafood. The Basque version of bouillabaisse, or fish stew, is called ttoro and includes mussels, crayfish, congers, and the head of a codfish, as well as three other kinds of fish. Cod itself (called bacalao) is also extremely popular; a book entitled 264 Recipes for Cod is sold in Bilbao. Other specialties include fresh tuna with tomatoes, garlic, and spices; txangurro (spider crab); and hake (merluza) kokotchas, made with garlic and parsley. Red peppers are a dietary staple and find their way into seafood sauces, chicken recipes, and omelettes. "Gateau Basque" (Basque cake) is made from eggs, flour, sugar, and rum. A favorite national beverage is txakoli, a fruity white wine produced in coastal areas, often in small family cellars.

EDUCATION

School for the Basques, as for other Spanish children, is free and compulsory from the ages of 6 to 14, when many students begin the three-year bachillerato course of study, after which they may opt for either one year of college preparatory study or vocational training. About one-third of Spain's children are educated at private schools, many of them run by the Catholic Church.

Advanced studies are offered through the University of the Basque Country, founded in 1968, and the universities of San Sebastián and of Vitoria; the private University of Deusto, run by the Jesuits, is the oldest and most prestigious university in the Basque country.

CULTURAL HERITAGE

Besides, ancient stories and songs of a folklore, which were transmitted orally, there is not a sizeable literary heritage written in Euskera (the Basque language). Yet, there are well-known Basque authors who wrote in Spanish, such as Antonio de Trueba, Arturo Campion, Francisco Navarro Villoslada, writer and philosopher Miguel de Unamuno, and novelist Ignacio Aldecoa. In the 20th century, along with an upsurge of nationalism, a flourishing cultural, literary, and artistic movement began. Now, a great amount of Euskera-language books are published each year. Outstanding musicians are Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga, called "the Spanish Mozart," and composer Maurice Ravel. Artists include painter Ignacio Zuloaga and sculptor Eduardo Chillida.

Since 1997, when the Guggenheim Museum was opened, Bilbao has become a center of attraction for tourists and art lovers. The building is the work of the Canadian/American architect Frank Ghery. Built with reflective titanium panels, it is considered to be one of the world's most spectacular buildings in the style of deconstructivism. Other museums are the Museum of Fine Arts in Bilbao and the San Telmo Museum in San Sebastián.

WORK

Fishing and agriculture have long been important occupations for the Basque. 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), and certain resources including pasture lands and fuel wood are held in common by each village. The past 50 years have seen an increase in commercialization and mechanization, dictated by the demands of urban markets. However, Basque herders still follow the seasonal patterns of their ancestors, moving herds of sheep, cows, and goats up to mountain pasture lands from June to October while their wives take charge of the family farm.

The Basque country was the first part of Spain to become industrialized, and it has long been known as a center of Spanish industry, especially the city of Bilbao. The region's history as Spain's iron and steel capital led to the development of automobile and machine tool manufacturing, as well as shipbuilding. Although the iron industry and shipbuilding have declined, they still are a source of economy in the Basque country.

Other important sectors of the economy include the manufacture of railway cars, automobiles, and iron construction materials; a sizeable commercial fishing fleet that ventures as far away as the coasts of Ireland and western Africa; retail businesses; and tourism. Bilbao has traditionally been an important financial center. The Banco de Bilbao-Vizcaya (BBV) bank ranks among the one hundred largest banks in the world. Today, the Basque Autonomous Community is one of the wealthiest in Spain.

The Basque Technological Park in Zamudio is the home of many companies in high-tech industries, including telecommunications, biotechnology, and robotics.

SPORTS

The Basques have a rich tradition of sports in which skill and physical strength are the main components. Among these are competitions like aizkolariak (featuring teams of woodcutters racing to chop a tree trunk in two in the shortest time), dragging or lifting of heavy stones, foot races, and bowling. Regatas de traineras are rowing competitions among long narrow boats with a 13-member team. Every fishing town in the northern coast of Spain has its own team and trainera to compete at the annual rowing championship in San Sebastián.

The region is known internationally for the game called frontón, pelota vasca, or jai-alai, a handball- or squash-like ball game played at very high speeds. There are several forms of pelota, including some in which the ball travels at up to 241 km/hr (150 mi/hr). The game has been played for centuries in an outdoor court called a frontón, which often shares a wall with the village church. Today, it is also played in indoor courts as well. The fastest form of pelote, called cesta punta, is played on an outdoor court with a second wall called a jai-alai.

Basques are very fond of soccer and Bilbao has its own team, the Atlético de Bilbao, that has consistently been one of the best teams in the country.

ENTERTAINMENT AND RECREATION

Like other people throughout Spain, the Basques spend many leisure hours socializing with friends at tapas bars, which serve light food and drinks. They also enjoy each other's company at the more than 1,500 gourmet societies, or txokos, in their region. These are private dining clubs that were formerly all-male haunts but now welcome women (although men still tend to do the cooking). Television is a popular form of relaxation, and Spain has a private television station (TV Vasca) that broadcasts in the Basque language. El mus is a popular card game.

FOLK ART, CRAFTS, AND HOBBIES

The traditional Basque decorative arts consist primarily of wood carving and engraving on stone, both practiced mainly on door-lintels and tombstones. The Basques have a well-developed tradition of oral storytelling, which was one of their main forms of entertainment before urbanization (and television); Basques would often invite their neighbors over for an evening of tale-spinning. Basque folk music is sung and played on traditional instruments including the txistu, a three-holed flute, and the bagpipe-like dultzaina. Dozens of folk dances have been preserved, and many villages have folk-dance groups that perform regularly. Two especially spirited dances are the Bolant Dantza (flying dance) and La Espata Dantza (sword dance).

SOCIAL PROBLEMS

The iron, steel, chemical, and paper industries of the Basque region have created a serious pollution problem in its cities, and motor vehicle emissions have aggravated the situation. There is considerable river pollution as well. Bilbao's metals industries must deal with an outmoded infrastructure and increased competition from the new European Union.

The most pressing problems are ETA activities. Although the group represents the views of only a small minority, it continues to fight for full independence, and has killed over 800 people since 1968.

Other problems include alcoholism and drug dependency, mainly in the big cities.

GENDER ISSUES

Women have an ever-increasing role in society and a high degree of economic independence, competing favorably with men for jobs. Many women hold municipal and government posts, such as councilwomen, mayors, or university professors, and many are employed in or manage business. A large percentage of women attend universities.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abercrombie, Thomas J. "The Basques." National Geographic (November 1995): 74–96.

Collins, Roger. Basques. London: Basil Blackwell, 1990.

Douglass, William A. "Basques." In Encyclopedia of World Cultures (Europe). Boston: G. K. Hall, 1992.

Facaros, Dana, and Michael Pauls. Northern Spain. London: Cadogan Books, 1996.

Gaines, Lisa. "Spain's Basque Country Still Maintains Its Independent Spirit." Travel Weekly 52, no.66 (August. 23, 1993): 48.

Gallop, Rodney. A Book of the Basques. Reno, NV: University of Nevada Press, 1970.

Lee, Denny, "Bilbao, 10 years later". The New York Times, September 23, 2007

Moss, Joyce, and George Wilson. Peoples of the World. Detroit: Gale Research, 1993.

Westwood, Webster. Basque Legends. New York: AMS Press, 1977.

—revised by S. G. Castaneda

Basque Families

Any discussion of the Basque family must begin by acknowledging that Basque families can and do exist outside the Basque country. They differ even within the Basque country because sociological and political definitions are framed by the influence of two different states, Spain and France. The region known as the Basque country comprises an area of a hundred square miles (about the size of the state of Rhode Island) historically divided into seven provinces. Three of the provinces are in France (Behe-Nafarroa, Lapurdi, and Zuberoa), and four are in Spain (Araba, Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa, and Navarra). The provinces in France are contained within the official Département des Pyrenées-Atlantiques.

Political changes in Spain since the death of Francisco Franco in 1975 have affected the names used to refer to the provinces there. With the Spanish Constitution of 1978, Araba, Bizkaia, and Gipuzkoa became the Autonomous Community of Euskadi, and Navarra became the Autonomous Community of Navarra. In the Basque language, Euskara, the provinces on the French side of the border are called Iparralde "the north side," and those in Spain are Hegoalde, "the south side." Many Basques refer to the Basque country as a whole (the traditional seven provinces) as Euskal Herria, the Basque Country. The variation in the spelling of Navarra (the Spanish spelling) and Nafarroa (the Basque spelling in Behe-Nafarroa) is representative of political differences of opinion that have long existed between Navarra and the provinces now known as Euskadi.

Euskara has played an important role in many aspects of Basque life and politics, but the language had no standardized spelling for many centuries. During the mid-twentieth century, the process of standardization began in earnest. As a result, any search for information about the Basque provinces must take into account the variable spellings for each: Araba (Alava); Behe-Nafarroa (Basse-Navarre); Bizkaia (Vizcaya, Biscay); Gipuzkoa (Guipúzcoa); Lapurdi (Laburdi, Labourd); Navarra (Nafarroa, Navarre); and Zuberoa (Xiberoa, Soule).

The Basque history of migration means that there are also populations in the Americas, the Philippines, Australia, and other parts of the world who identify themselves as Basque. However, after the second generation, many of the family traits of these groups are strongly influenced by the culture in which they are living. The Basque provinces in rural agricultural Iparralde are very small, and the population is about one-tenth that of the provinces in Spain. For that reason, the Basque family described here is assumed to dwell in Hegoalde, unless otherwise noted.

Family Size

Basque families are predominantly Catholic, and because of this many people are surprised to learn that the Basque country has the lowest birth rate in Spain, which in turn has one of the lowest fertility rates in the world (Reher 1997). During the regime of Francisco Franco, several laws were passed that affected families in many ways. The 1938 Labor Charter prohibited married women from working outside the home, so couples got in the habit of postponing marriage so that the woman might continue to earn an income. The right to work outside the home was restored in 1961 (Jones 1997), but the tendency to marry late remained. At the same time, social pressures strongly discouraged having children out of wedlock.

Educational practices were also changing throughout the twentieth century, and as people became more educated, the birth rate experienced a significant decline. The level of illiteracy in Spain was cut by more than one-half between 1970 and 1992 (Reher 1997; Boyd 1997). Perhaps the biggest impact of education on Basque families at the beginning of the twenty-first century is the decision about which schools the children should attend, a question that often revolves around whether the parents want the children educated in Spanish or in Euskara.

Although families have few children, rural households are still multigenerational, including grandparents, parents, and children. Often, unmarried siblings remain at home until they either marry or seek work elsewhere. This rural model has become less common since the end of the twentieth century, when the majority of the Basque population shifted to urban centers. However, the rural model has great cultural significance in the Basque country and has not lost all of its influence on the modern family.

Gender Roles

During the 1940s, Franco's Falangist ideology was transformed into laws that denied women the right to work outside the home, did away with divorce, established severe penalties for female adultery, and discriminated against children unfortunate enough to be born out of wedlock (Astelarra 1995). Changes to these laws emerged slowly from the 1960s through the 1980s. Women's right to work was restored in 1961, access to an abortion if the health of the mother is at risk was granted in 1985, and divorce became legal in 1981 (Jones 1997), although separation is much more popular than divorce. Gender roles in Basque families are slowly being transformed by these legal changes and by the impact of globalization on regional cultures. However, these changes are difficult to measure and vary from family to family.

Traditional gender roles continued to predominate throughout the 1990s, so much so that the Women's Municipal Service of Bilbao launched a program in 1994 to cross-train women and men in certain elementary tasks that were considered the domain of the opposite sex. Women were trained to replace washers, change light bulbs, paint a wall, and fix a flat tire, while men were taught to sew on a button, prepare a simple meal, and do the laundry (Ostolaza 1997).

Gender roles are a facet of Basque family life that appear highly resistant to change. The overall impression is still one of traditional gender roles, with women responsible for housework and childcare while men work outside the home. If a woman takes advantage of the opportunity to earn extra income outside the home, she is still expected to fulfill her duties at home. Studies assert that Basque women continue to feel responsible for domestic tasks and teach their daughters to feel the same way, while men continue to distance themselves from housework and childcare (Pérez de Lara 1995; Rodríguez 1996). Girls are expected to help their mothers, while boys are generally free from such obligations.

Daily Life

The school day for Basque children allows for a lengthy midday break during which the students are bused home for lunch, then bused back to school for the rest of the afternoon. The elementary schedule can vary from school to school, but two examples from the Bilbao area are typical. On one schedule, students are in class from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., followed by a two-hour break, then back to school from 2:30 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. Another schedule from the same area has children in class from 10:15 a.m. until 1:15 p.m., followed by a two-hour break, and then back to class from 3:15 p.m. until 5:15 p.m.

This traditional custom of a long midday break for what historically was the main meal of the day is slowly giving way in the business world to a schedule more typical of the United States because of the influx and influence of international corporations such as IBM, but such changes have not yet taken effect in the schools. Although some schools offer lunch programs, most children still go home for lunch. Women are expected to prepare the midday meal. Many small shops in the Basque country still maintain business hours from eight to one and four to eight in the evening (with some variations), making shopping a challenge for working women whose breaks in the day coincide with the closing of the shops.

Basque families watch less television than do North American families. Prime time begins at 10:00 p.m. and extends to 1:00 a.m. The hours after work, weather permitting, are more likely to be spent strolling along the avenues with family and friends. Parents with children are a common sight in parks and town squares, where they visit or read or take in the air while the little ones play. Older children spend long hours in the company of their cuadrillas, a Spanish term referring to one's closest friends. Adults often move from tavern to tavern, sipping a single small beverage at each one before moving on. The crowds in these taverns are predominantly male, but with each new generation, more and more women take part.

Language in the Family

Not all Basque families speak Euskara, and in many families, some members speak it, while others do not. In these cases, families conduct conversations in the language understood by all. Situations are common where one parent speaks Euskara, and the other speaks only Spanish. Since monolingual speakers of Euskara have disappeared, those who speak the Basque language are also bilingual in either Spanish or French. As a result, a household with linguistically mixed parents will generally communicate in Spanish. Even in homes where Euskara is spoken, Spanish is so prevalent in the surrounding society and in the media that the children will pick it up from their friends and by watching television. By the end of the twentieth century, there were several Basque-language radio stations and one Basque-language television channel, but channels that broadcast in Spanish and French far outnumbered them.

Some Basques feel that Euskara defines who they are. They believe that the only true Basque is one who speaks the language. This point of view has its basis in the preeminent role that language played in the definition of Basque nationalism generated by the founders of ETA (Euzkadi ta Askatasuna, "Basque Country and Freedom") in 1959 (Tejerina 1992). Other Basques feel that it is more important to be born and raised in the Basque country, whether one speaks the language or not. From this point of view, a family can be completely Basque and speak nothing but Spanish.

The language question has great importance in the Basque country. Many families quit speaking Euskara when Francisco Franco came to power after the Spanish Civil War. Franco made it illegal to speak any language but Spanish. Since the Basque country was on the losing side of the Civil War conflict, Basques felt particularly targeted and threatened by these prohibitions against minority languages. To protect their children, many parents insisted that only Spanish be spoken in the home. In these families, Euskara was lost.

After Franco's death, the establishment of a new Spanish constitution (in 1978) allowed Euskadi and Navarra (and the other autonomous communities of Spain) to have control over their own school systems. It then became necessary for Basque parents to decide whether their children would be educated in Spanish or in Euskara. Since fluency in Euskara is often required to obtain employment, especially for government jobs and teaching positions, many parents choose the Euskara option for schooling their children. Sometimes even parents who speak no Euskara choose to send their children to an ikastola, a school were all the subjects are taught in Euskara. Many others choose schools that teach half the day in Euskara and half in Spanish. The least favorite option in the Basque country is that of education in the Spanish language with Euskara treated as just another subject.

In Iparralde, Basque parents have four educational options. The most popular, with 85.5 percent of elementary school children enrolled, is the all-French option. Until the late 1970s, this was the only option available. Since 1983, students have been offered four options: the original all-French option; all-French with the exception of a class for learning Euskara; half of the instruction in French, the other half in Euskara; and all-Euskara in pre-school with the introduction of French in elementary school, increasing the amount of French to nine hours out of twenty-eight (Jauréguiberry 1993).

At the end of the twentieth century, despite a quarter century of efforts to reclaim Euskara, in Hegoalde three out of four residents over the age of fifteen indicated that Spanish was their first language, and in Iparralde, three out of four claimed French (Euskal Herriko 1996). Whether a family speaks Euskara or not, there has been a widespread movement during the last twenty-five years of the twentieth century to give children Basque names on their official papers. As a result, there is now an entire generation of sonorous first names such as: Gorka, "George"; Gotzon, "Angel"; Iker, "Visitation"; Koldo, "Louis;" and Unai, "Shepherd"; for boys; and Edurne, "Snow"; Maite, "Darling" or "Darlene"; Nere, "Mine" or "Mia"; Nekane, "Dolores"; and Itxaso, "Sea" for girls.

Families and Political Prisoners

For more than a century, tension has existed between the Basque country and the central government of Spain. As a result of the radical Basque nationalist activities of the middle and late twentieth centuries, most families in the Basque country either know someone who is in prison or have had a family member incarcerated. These prisoners are often housed far from the Basque country, and families must make special efforts to stay in touch. A simple visit may require a lengthy trip across Spain or north to Paris. Even if they have no personal experience of the situation of political prisoners, Basques write much graffiti and put up many posters declaring support for these individuals, especially in the cities. Even in a family-oriented event such as the Korrika, a long-distance walk/run fundraiser for Basque-language literacy efforts, the absent prisoners are represented by participants who carry their photographs on posters as they run their leg of the course (del Valle 1994). The question of whether or not to become involved in activities that support the movement to free these prisoners, or to take part in political activities that could result in such imprisonment, has the potential to tear a family apart. To make matters more complex, not all Basques see these prisoners as different from criminals. The question of the Basque prisoners is one of the issues that affect Basque families every day.

Although living in the Basque country ensures that a Basque family must think about the issue of nationalism and what it means to their lives, not all Basques are nationalists, and even among those who demonstrate pronationalist sentiment, there exists a sliding scale that extends from lip service to radical activism. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, a conservative political movement began gaining strength in Euskadi, and in the Basque context "conservative" usually translates as antinationalist.

Basque Families in North America

For American Basques, especially those in the United States, Euskara is peripheral to Basque identity (Urla 1987; Urla 2000). Close-knit family groups are an important part of Basque-American culture. Basqueness is very much a family issue, and in families where only one parent is of Basque descent, the children are often raised with a high consciousness of their Basque ancestry. The families most actively involved in maintaining their ethnic heritage belong to Basque clubs where they meet regularly with other Basques in their community to enjoy traditional foods, encourage their children to learn Basque dancing, and celebrate their ethnicity. The North American Basque Organizations, Inc. (NABO) is a federation of the Basque clubs of North America and a group with liaisons to similar federations elsewhere and to the Basque government. Children can attend the NABO-sponsored Udaleku summer camp to improve their dance skills, study Euskara, learn to play traditional musical instruments, participate in Basque games and sports (such as the card game mus or the handball relative pelota), and sing Basque songs. These families consider Basqueness something to be worked at and sought after.

Outside the Basque country, European politics and issues such as the state of political prisoners are generally not a family concern. Catholicism remains the predominant religion among Basque emigrant families and their descendants. Gender roles in these families tend to resemble those of the surrounding majority culture.

Not all emigrant Basques have maintained the link to their ethnicity. Many descendants of early settlers in Latin America and some descendants of more recent emigrants to other parts of the world no longer identify themselves as Basque. Conversely, there are also many families who still consider themselves Basque although their children may only be one-half, one-fourth, or even one-eighth Basque.

See also:Spain

Bibliography

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boyd, c. (1997). historia patria: politics, history, and national identity in spain, 1875-1975. princeton, nj: princeton university press.

bullen, m. (2000). "gender and identity in the alardes oftwo basque towns." in basque cultural studies, ed. w. a. douglass, c. urza, l. white, and j. zulaika. reno, nv: basque studies program.

del valle, t. (1994). korrika: basque ritual for ethnic identity, trans. l. white. reno: university of nevada.

echeverria, j. (1999). home away from home: a history of basque boardinghouses. reno and las vegas: university of nevada.

escario, p. (1992). "el ama de casa, consumidora y prescriptora del consumo" (the housewife, consumer and prescriber of consumption). in el ama de casa, hoy (the housewife, today). elorrio: eroski.

euskal herriko soziolinguistikazko inkesta 1996 (sociolinguistic survey of the basque country). (1996). 4 volumes. vitoria-gasteiz: eusko jaurlaritza kultura saila; gobierno de navarra; institut culturel basque. vol. 1, euskal herria (the basque country).

jauréguiberry, f. (1993). le basque à l'école maternelle et elémentaire (basque in pre-school and elementary school). pau: université de pau et des pays de l'adour.

jones, a. b. (1997). women in spain. manchester and new york: manchester university.

mackinnon, k. (1997). "minority languages in an integrating europe: prospects for viability and maintenance." in language minorities and minority languages in the changing europe, ed. b. synak and t. wicherkiewicz. gdansk, poland: widawnictwo uniwersytetu gdanskiego.

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morcillo gómez, a. (1999). "shaping true catholic womanhood: francoist educational discourse on women." in constructing spanish womanhood: female identity in modern spain, ed. v. l. enders and p. b. radcliff. albany: state university of new york press.

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other resource

north american basque organizations, inc. (2002). available from http://www.naboinc.com/.

linda white

Basques

PRONUNCIATION: BASKS

LOCATION: Northwest Spain and southwest France

POPULATION: 3 million(2.5 million in Spain)

LANGUAGE: Euskera (Basque language); Spanish; French

RELIGION: Roman Catholicism

1 • INTRODUCTION

The Basques are a single people who live in two countries—northwest Spain and southwest France. The Basques may be the oldest ethnic group in Europe. They are thought to have inhabited the southwestern corner of the continent since before Indo-European peoples came to the area approximately 5,000 years ago. Surviving invasions by the Romans, Visigoths, Arabs, French, and Spanish, they resisted domination by outsiders until the Middle Ages (AD 476–1450). At that time, much of their territory was seized by Spaniards, Gascons, and Catalans. In 1516, the Basques on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees Mountains agreed to Castilian rule but won the right to keep a degree of self-government. By 1876, all Basque lands were divided between France and Spain.

During the regime of General Francisco Franco (1939–75) the Basque language and culture in the Spanish provinces were ruthlessly suppressed (prohibited). By the 1950s, resistance groups had formed, most notably the Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA)—Basque Homeland and Liberty. The ETA committed terrorist acts throughout the 1970s and 1980s, even after Spanish rule over the Basques was liberalized following Franco's death in 1975.

Three of the four Spanish Basque provinces—Vizcaya, Guipúzcoa, and Navarra—were unified in 1980 as the Basque Autonomous Community. Its inhabitants were granted limited autonomy, recognition of their language and culture, and control over their schools and police force. However, the ETA—although representative of only a small minority—has continued to fight for full Basque independence. There has been little or no comparable activity among the French Basques, who have not been subjected to the same type of repression as those in Spain. However, separatist sympathizers on the French side have provided the ETA with material assistance and safe havens.

2 • LOCATION

Basque country consists of four regions on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees (Vizcaya, Guipúzcoa, Navarra, and Alava) and three on the French side (Labourd, Basse-Navarre, and Soule). Basques call these territories collectively, Euskal-Herria (Land of the Basques) or Euskadi. It has been nearly a thousand years since these regions were unified politically. The area is geographically varied, containing the ridges and foothills of the Pyrenees and a short coastal plain along the Bay of Biscay (an inlet along the Atlantic Ocean), as well as steep, narrow valleys and mountain streams.

With some 3 million inhabitants (2.5 million in Spain and half 0.5 million in France), the land of the Basques is a densely populated area. Blood types and other genetic information suggest that they are an ancient people who inhabited the region long before the arrival of other European groups. According to a Basque saying, "Before God was God and boulders were boulders, the Basques were already Basques."

3 • LANGUAGE

The Basque language, also known as Euskera, is Europe's oldest living language. It is unrelated to Spanish, French, or any other Romance language and belongs to no other known language family. It was the universal language of rural Basques until the end of the nineteenth century. At that time it had no written literary tradition. During Franco's regime in the mid-twentieth century, all Spanish regionalism (devotion to the uniqueness of one's own region) was suppressed. This caused the number of Basque speakers in Spain to decline sharply (as opposed to France, where the figures are higher). In recent years, Basques in both Spain and France have promoted—with some success—the use of their traditional language. Every province and town in Spain's Basque country has two official names—a Spanish one and a Basque one. Both appear on all road signs.

The Basque language is extremely difficult and complex. (Regional folklore has it that the Devil tried to learn Basque for seven years and gave up.) In addition, there are a number of different dialects. Basque is also rather exotic when contrasted with other Western tongues. For example, intensity may be expressed by repeating a word twice ("very hot" is bero-bero ). This language feature is unknown among European languages but common among Polynesian ones. The language also lacks generic terms for "tree" and "animal": there are names for specific trees (oak, maple, etc.), but not for trees in general.

A common Basque proverb is "Happiness is the only thing we can give without having" (Izan gabe eman dezakegun gauza bakarra da zoriona).

4 • FOLKLORE

Through centuries of storytelling, the Basques have evolved a rich and colorful mythology. In ancient times their land was supposed to have been peopled by a race of giants called jentillak. These giants lived side by side with human inhabitants until the coming of Christ. At that time they disappeared, leaving behind only one of their number named Olentzero. Today, Olentzero is a sort of folk icon or mascot who appears in the form of dolls and straw figures in processions, homes, and sometimes even churches. The laminak were female sprites, similar to leprechauns, who could wield either a helpful or harmful influence.

Basque folklore also encompasses various rituals and dances. The Katcha-Ranka is a dance performed in fishing villages. A person representing St. Peter is carried in a coffin through the village and to the water-front. Dancers then symbolically beat him as a threat to ensure a good catch when they go out fishing.

5 • RELIGION

Almost all Basques are Roman Catholic. Traditionally, an unusually high percentage chose to become priests or nuns. However, this number has fallen since the Second Vatican Council (1962), as has church attendance in general. Two of the Church's most renowned theologians, St. Francis Xavier and St. Ignatius Loyola (founder of the Jesuit order) were of Basque origin. Basque Catholicism, like that in many other areas of Spain, is characterized by a strong devotion to the Virgin Mary.

6 • MAJOR HOLIDAYS

As elsewhere in Spain, most Basque holidays are those found in the Christian calendar. Special religious observances include St. Joseph the Workman's Day in May, and St. John of Compostela Day in August. In addition, villages celebrate their own festivals with performances by folk musicians, dancers, and bertsolariak, traditional singer/storytellers who can improvise and sing rhymes on any topic.

The famous running of the bulls in celebration of San Fermín takes place every year in the Basque town of Pamplona. Every day for a week, six bulls are let loose in the streets to run to the bullfighting stadium. Crowds of white-clad young men dare fate by running ahead of the bulls and swatting them with rolled-up newspapers.

7 • RITES OF PASSAGE

Besides baptism, First Communion, and marriage, military service could be considered a rite of passage for Basques as it is for most Spaniards. The first three of these events are the occasion, in most cases, for big and expensive social gatherings in which the family shows its generosity and economic status. Quintos, the young men from the same town or village going into the military in the same year, form a closely knit group that collects money from their neighbors to organize parties and serenade girls. In the mid-1990s, the period of required military service had been greatly reduced, and the government planned to replace required military service with a voluntary Army.

8 • RELATIONSHIPS

A special relationship developed in rural communities where families often lived on individual farms in relative isolation. This was especially true with the nearest neighbor, called the lehen auzo, or "first neighbor." The role played by first neighbors sometimes even goes beyond that of blood relatives. The best man and chief bridesmaid at weddings are chosen from the household of the lehen auzo. In addition, its members are informed of a serious illness or impending death before the family's closest relatives are told. In an emergency, the lehen auzo temporarily takes over the running of the neighbor's farm. When there is a death in the family, custom traditionally requires that the lehen auzo be informed before the village bell tolls. The wider neighborhood, or auzoa, is also an important source of social support.

9 • LIVING CONDITIONS

People in the rural regions of Basque country live in large, stone farm houses calledbaserriak (the plural of baserria ). They are often as high as three stories. Animals are kept on the ground floor, the family lives on the second floor, and hay and other crops are stored on the third. Baserriak may either be built at a distance from one another or located in clusters of about ten or twelve. In cities and towns, the Basques, like other Spanish urban dwellers, generally live in apartment buildings.

10 • FAMILY LIFE

In rural areas, Basque households generally include either the maternal or paternal grandparents, as well as unmarried aunts or uncles. It is not uncommon for cousins, even first cousins, to marry. The most important concern for rural dwellers is the continuation of the family farm, or basseria. In every family, one son or daughter is designated from childhood as heir to the farm. When he or she gets married, ownership of the farm is transferred to the new couple as part of the wedding arrangements. All adults in the household participate in child-rearing. The whole family helps with the farm work, including children and grandparents, who assist with easier tasks.

In urban areas, the nuclear family (parents and children) is the norm, sometimes joined by an elderly grandparent or unmarried aunt. Families who can afford it may have a live-in nanny or servant.

11 • CLOTHING

Basques wear modern Western-style clothing for both casual and formal occasions. The single most distinctive item of traditional Basque clothing—still worn throughout the country—is the flat, wide, black beret worn by Basque men. It is customary to dress in white and red during the Festival of San Fermín, which is the occasion for the traditional running of the bulls in Pamplona.

12 • FOOD

The Basques are known for their excellent cuisine, much of which involves seafood. The Basque version of bouillabaisse, or fish stew, is called ttoro and includes mussels, crayfish, congers (eels), the head of a codfish, and three other kinds of fish. Other specialties include fresh tuna with tomatoes, garlic, and spices; txangurro (spider crab); and kokotchas, made with hake (merluza— a type of fish), garlic, and parsley. Gazpacho, a cold soup made with tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and olive oil, is common fare in all of Spain. Red peppers are a dietary staple and find their way into seafood sauces, chicken recipes, and omelettes. They are even strung across the walls of Basque houses as a decoration. Gateau Basque (Basque cake) is made from eggs, flour, sugar, and rum. A favorite national beverage is txakoli (also called txakolina ), a fruity, white wine produced in coastal areas, often in small family cellars.

13 • EDUCATION

School for the Basques, as for other Spanish children, is free and required between the ages of six and fourteen. Many students then begin the three-year bachillerato (baccalaureate) course of study. They may then opt for either one year of college preparatory study or vocational training. About one-third of Spain's children are educated at private schools, many of them run by the Catholic Church.

14 • CULTURAL HERITAGE

Traditional Basque plays known as pastorales, which possibly related to medieval mystery plays, are still performed at festivals. In the fine arts, well-known Basques include writer and philosopher Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo, composer Maurice Ravel, and sculptor Eduardo Chillida.

15 • EMPLOYMENT

About 20 percent of the Basque population is engaged in agriculture. 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). However, certain resources, including pasture lands and fuel wood, are held in common by each village. Basque herders still follow the seasonal patterns of their ancestors. They move herds of sheep, cows, and goats up to mountain pasture lands from June to October while their wives take charge of the family farm. Fishing, a significant Basque industry, is undergoing modernization. However, one can still see women on the docks of fishing villages repairing nets with needles and thread.

The Basque country has long been known as a center of Spanish industry, especially the city of Bilbao. The region's history as the nation's iron and steel capital has led to the development of automobile and machine tool manufacturing. Shipbuilding is another profitable industry.

16 • SPORTS

The Basque national game is pelote, a game like handball or squash played at very high speeds. The game has been played for centuries in an outdoor court called a frontón, which often shares a wall with the village church. Today, it is also played in indoor courts as well. The fastest form of pelote, called cesta punta, is played on an outdoor court with a second wall called a jai-alai (a term that has come to designate the game itself in countries throughout the world as its popularity has grown).

Another competitive sport popular among the Basques is rowing. Every fishing village has a thirteen-member team, and thousands attend the annual rowing championship at San Sebastián.

One of the most prized attributes among the Basques has historically been physical strength. This is displayed in the traditional Basque sports of stone-lifting (harrijasotzaileak) and log-chopping (aizkolariak).

17 • RECREATION

Like other people throughout Spain, the Basques spend many leisure hours socializing with friends at tapas bars, which serve light food and drinks. They also enjoy each other's company at the more than 1,500 gourmet societies, or txokos, in their region. These are private dining clubs that were formerly male-only but now welcome women (although men still tend to do the cooking). Television is a popular form of relaxation. Spain has a private television station (TV Vasca) that broadcasts in the Basque language. El mus is a popular Basque card game.

18 • CRAFTS AND HOBBIES

The traditional Basque decorative arts consist primarily of woodcarving and engraving on stone. Both are practiced mainly on door lintels (upper frames) and tombstones. The Basques have a well-developed tradition of oral storytelling, which was one of their main forms of entertainment before urbanization (and television). Basques would often invite their neighbors over for an evening of tale-spinning. Basque folk music is sung and played on traditional instruments including the txistu, a three-holed flute, and the bagpipe-like dultzaina. Dozens of folk dances have been preserved, and many villages have folk-dance groups that perform regularly. Two especially spirited dances are the Bolant Dantza (flying dance) and La Espata Dantza (sword dance).

19 • SOCIAL PROBLEMS

The iron, steel, chemical, and paper industries of the Basque region have created a serious pollution problem in its cities. Motor vehicle emissions have made the situation even worse. There is considerable river pollution as well. Bilbao's metals industries must deal with outmoded facilities and increased competition from the European Community (EC). In 1994, the city's unemployment rate climbed to 27 percent. Clashes between ETA separatists and Spanish forces have left more than 600 dead in the past three decades.

20 • BIBLIOGRAPHY

Collins, Roger. Basques. London, England: Basil Blackwell, 1990.

Facaros, Dana, and Michael Pauls. Northern Spain. London, England: Cadogan Books, 1996.

Westwood, Webster. Basque Legends. New York: AMS Press, 1977.

WEBSITES

Tourist Office of Spain. [Online] Available http://www.okspain.org/, 1998.