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Basque Studies Program Newsletter · Issue
51, 1995
The Eighth Basque Province
By IEPA!
(One of the reasons I wanted to come to the U.S. was to
see the Basque people here and get to know their way of
life. I wanted to know if it is possible to call these
second-, third- and fourth-generation Basque-Americans
“Basques.” This article is my answer. In the
Basque fashion, I sign with my pseudonym,
Iepa!)
Does the eighth Basque province exist? If so, where
is it? These are excellent questions. We are clearly Seven
in One, but up till now we have fallen short of forming that
One, that eighth province. Where can it
be?
It is not easy to locate, not is it easy to explain,
but even if it's not official, there is an eighth
province.
Soon our time will be up and we will gladly set foot
once again on the soil of Euskalherria.
You may be asking, what is she talking about? Where
is this so-called eighth province? Well, this province
cannot be located geographically or politically. It is a
province of feeling.
We find it in the mountains of the American West, in
the aspen carvings; we find it in the desert mine shafts and
in the dances, in Gardnerville's Song Competition and in the
summer festivals.
Yes! This province is made up of places in America!
Here is Lekeitio Street, and there is Ascuaga's famous
hotel, and here we have the dancers, whirling, twirling, jo
ta ke. “Step, step, bat, bi, hiru, aurrera!”
“Let's go, guys!” all mixed up together, dancing
the Behenafarroa march and the Bizkaian expatadantza. The
effort is there and you can't deny their energy. The dances
express how Basque they feel, it's not a bad thing, and they
demonstrate their inner being as best they
can.
Not far away (in Reno, Nevada) is the Basque Studies
Program, thousands of books and Marcelino Ugalde dancing
among them, hau hemen and hori hor. And there are more
people there. Jill Berner with her soft, calm voice saying,
“Kaixo, zer moduz?” Joan Brick with her elegant
earrings amidst the paper and the happiness she distributes
with the mail between 10:30 and 11:00. And let's not forget
Linda White, promoting euskera, the teacher with the heart
of gold.
I must not forget to mention coordinator William
Douglass, the one seldom seen and seldom spoken to. What can
I say about him? Nothing that has not been said before, only
to praise his work. Basque professors give glory to this
university. In anthropology and history, they make their
mark. Joseba Zulaika explains art and steles, and Jose
Mallea follows the footsteps of the sheepherders through the
peace of the trees and the mountains.
We are the noisy, chatty “Basque colony,”
the young people who arrive every year, the ones studying
English or Basque, the ones studying at the
university.
Perhaps we come from different places in the Basque
Country. Undoubtedly, often we would pass each other there
and pay no attention to one another, but our language and
the fact that we are in a foreign land soon unite
us.
Farther to the north (in Boise, Idaho) we find the
Bar Gernika and a lot of generous Bizkaians. They are all
very happy to welcome people from the Basque Country, eager
to hear the news from there.
The young people say they are Americans but they are
different somehow from other people. What can it be? They
master euskera, they spread Basque dances, and they long to
go to the Basque Country. There must be something special
there.
There are stonelifters and woodcutters there. Often
there are sheepherders, and you can see ox-pulling contests.
There is homesickness in the air.
Head for the warmth again, and in California you hear
the voices of Iparralde. The txistu and the dance, pelota
and trinquette. They are preparing for a Basque festival,
having a big meal together.
How can we deny these people their Basqueness? How
can we not say that they are building a little Euskalherria
piece by piece, albeit a perfect one, an idealized
one.
Their feelings are strong, and although their feet
and finances are here in America, often their heads and
hearts are in the Basque Country and with this, they earn
the honor of being part of it.
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