There is a story told by the Basque people of Idaho about a young man
named Jose who immigrated from the Euzkadi region of northwest Spain in
the fall of 1922. A strict immigration quota had been set by the U.S.
government in 1921, but because of a labor shortage on sheep ranches
Idaho and Nevada congressmen got special legislation approved making
visas available to sheepherders.
Jose and Alejo, another Basque fresh from the Old Country, found
sheepherding jobs in Idaho and were instructed to trail a band of 750
sheep over a mountain range to winter pasture. On the second day of
their journey they woke to find their camp blanketed with snow and not
a sheep in sight.
"Where are the sheep?" shouted Jose.
"You tell me. You're the sheepherder," Alejo responded.
"Not I," said Jose. "I'm a fisherman."
"And I am an innkeeper," Alejo said.
 |
After staring at each other in disbelief,
the pair went off in search of the missing flock, which they found
winding its way down the mountain towards winter pasture.
|
The Basques are a people
whose
homeland is in the western Pyrenees Mountains along the border between
France and Spain. They speak a language that's unlike any other in
Europe and their cultural traditions are far different from those of
the French and Spanish. They call themselves "Euskaldunak" in their
native tongue and feast on spicy sausages, hearty breads and rich red
wine. Their dancing is light-footed and acrobatic.
Today the largest population of Basques outside their native Pyrenees
is located in Idaho. More than 10,000 live in the capital city of Boise
alone, and another 10,000 or so reside elsewhere in the state. Boise
and Guernica, a Basque community in northwest Spain, are sister cities.
Wars in Europe prompted many Basques to move to the Americas. Others
immigrated because there were few opportunities for them at home. "My
grandfather came over when he was 16 years old," says Patty Miller,
director of the Basque Museum and Cultural Center in Boise, Idaho. "The
family farm was generally passed on to the oldest child and a daughter
was the oldest, so he and his brothers all left for America."
The first Basques who immigrated to Idaho, mostly young men, roomed
together in Basque boarding houses. They ate traditional Basque meals,
swapped stories in their native tongue, and played vigorous games of
pelota, or jai-alai. It was like having a home away from home.
Like the Cajuns in Louisiana or the Chinese in San Francisco, the
Basques in Idaho have maintained their ethnic identity through stories,
songs, dances and food.
The Basque Center, located at 6th and Grove in downtown Boise, is a
popular gathering place for its 900 members and occasional visitors.
The Center has a bar that's open to the public and hosts periodic
festivals that feature games, food and dancing by the Center's resident
troup, the Oinkari Dancers.
Meaning "one who does with his feet," the Oinkari are young men and
women who perform native Basque folk dances at gatherings throughout
Idaho and many other states. They dress as native dancers do in the
homeland -- men in white slacks and shirts with bright red sashes
cinched at the waist, women in red and black peasant dresses and white
bonnets. Their dancing is spirited and upbeat, with lots of swirling,
jumping and high leg kicks.
The Basque Museum and Cultural
Center, located next door to the Basque Center on Grove St.,
collects information on native dances and other aspects of the Basque
history and lifestyle, particularly in Idaho. The museum is located in
the 130-year-old Cyrus Jacobs House, the oldest surviving brick
building in Boise. Built by an early merchant and mayor, the home was
operated as a Basque boarding house by the Uberuaga family in the early
1900s. It has been restored and furnished much as it was in 1910 when
Basque sheepherders slept in its rooms and took their meals at the
home's long boarding house table.
The cultural center is located in a converted office building next door
to the museum. Available to the public, it includes a spacious exhibit
hall with displays highlighting the history of the Basque people and
their immigration to Idaho. Archives of music, photos, oral histories
and genealogies are being established and a small gift shop is located
near the entrance.
The main attractions at the cultural center, as well as the other
Basque facilities in Boise, are the festivals and feasts held three or
four times throughout the year. The Basque Center sponsors a major
festival at the end of July each summer in honor of St. Ignatius
Loyola, patron saint of the Basques. Traditional meals of braised lamb,
potatoes, beans and flan are served up while musicians squeeze out
tunes on accordians and dancers bounce and twirl. Basque athletes lift
weights, toss logs and swat handballs on pelota courts while vendors
sell chorizo sausages wrapped in warm buns. Exhibitors shear sheep and
weave blankets and recite poetry in the native Basque language.
A similar, though smaller, event is held in September. Called a
"Paseo," or a leisurely stroll, it is sponsored by the Basque Museum
and Cultural Center and held on the surrounding streets and sidewalks.
Food, games and demonstrations of the Basque culture are open to the
public.
The Boise area also features an authentic Basque restaurant, Onati,
where master chef Jesus Alcelay prepares family style meals of
traditional lamb and seafood dishes. It is located at 3544 Chinden
Blvd. in Garden City. Bar Guernica is a Basque pub and eatery in
downtown Boise.
Elsewhere in Idaho there are annual Basque Dinners held in small towns
like Gooding and Hailey, which have large Basque populations. Most are
held in the late summer or early fall when Basque sheepherders were
returning with their flocks from summer pastures in the mountains. It
is a time for celebrating and reaffirming bonds of family and
friendship.
Few Basques are sheepherders these days, however. It's more likely that
they own the herd if they are in the sheep business at all. But
sheepherding opened the doors of immigration and introduced the Basque
people to Idaho. For those who cherish the Basque culture in America,
it will forever be an important part of that heritage.
|
by MichaelHofferber@outriderbooks.com
Copyright © 1994. All rights reserved. |
Choeur d'hommes - Polyphonies basques
Vineyards in Countryside Near Saint Jean Pied De Port, Basque Country,
Aquitaine, France by Robert Harding
The Basque History of the World
Basque Sport Pelote Ball-Game French Print 1933
Basque Cooking and Lore
Basque
Recipes
Sources for recipes include organizers of the Hailey
Basque Dinner and Basque
Cooking and Lore , a book by Darcy Williamson.
Basque Beans
Basque Potatoes
Braised Lamb
Flan
|
|