Basque Fact of the Week, Euskadi

Basque Fact of the Week: The Basque Beret or Txapela

2 Comments

The txapela, or beret, is a defining feature of the traditional Basque costume. Wherever and whenever Basques gather, there are sure to be a few txapelak. The walls of my uncle’s home are lined with txapelak from all of the mus tournaments he’s been part of and, when my Tio Joe turned 100, they celebrated with a custom txapela embroidered with a congratulatory message.

Me and my txapela on our wedding day.
  • Txapela actually means ‘hat’ so while every beret is a txapela, not all txapela are berets. In particular, in the northern part of the Basque Country, they say bonnet instead. That said, often txapela means beret. And, the beret or boina is often called a Basque cap by neighboring regions and in other parts of Europe. The word txapela itself is not a native Basque word, but derives from the Latin capellum ‘cap.’
  • Despite its ubiquitous association with the Basques, the tradition of Basques wearing a beret is not so old. There are scattered references in the 15th century, but really it became popular in the 1800s, very likely due to the influence of Tomas Zumalakarregi, the Carlist general in the First Carlist War who outfitted his troops with red berets and named them the txapelgorris – the red caps.
  • The origins of the beret are lost to time, but it seems likely that it came to the Basque Country by way of France. Regardless of how it came to the Basque Country, it has been a feature of the local costume since the 16th century and became very popular in the 1800s, as mentioned. This popularity arose, in part, due to the industrialized manufacturing of berets, first in Oloroe-Donamaria, just outside of Iparralde in France, then in Gipuzkoa in 1859 and Bizkaia in 1892.
  • Similar headwear is common to other parts of Europe, including Scotland, though the Basque beret does have a few unique traits, particularly that it has no peak, that the rim folds inward, and it has a small stem – a txertena – in the middle. The txertena is such an integral part of the Basque beret that cutting it off was seen as a great insult, sometimes leading to duels.
  • The importance of the txapela to Basque culture is reflected in the fact that the words for competition and champion – txapelketa and txapeldun – derive from the word. The txapeldun – literally the one who has the txapela – is often given a beret embroidered with details of the contest as a trophy.
  • How one wears a txapela can identify where they are from. In Araba, there is a slight point to the front. In Bizkaia, it’s always tilted to one side or the other. And, in Gipuzkoa, the beret is worn flat, so that it looks the same from all angles.
  • Traditionally, black is the color of the worker, worn for every day tasks, while red is the color of the fiesta as epitomized in the festival of San Fermín. However, other colors are also seen, depending on the taste of the wearer and the occasion.

A full list of all of Buber’s Basque Facts of the Week can be found in the Archive.

Primary sources: La boina y los vascos by Olga Macías, Euskonews and Media; Historia de la txapela; un símbolo vasco, Txapelmedia; Los secretos de la txapela, un icono euskaldun con mucha historia by Aitor Ruiz, Deia

People

Goian Bego, Tio Joe

5 Comments
Tio Joe at his 100th birthday celebration.

In December, my dad’s uncle, the man I knew as uncle tio when I was a kid, turned 100. He passed away on March 5. Tio Joe lived a long and good life. He was the catalyst for my dad to come to the United States. He was always full of stories and had a memory that was as sharp as ever – he could remember numbers from decades earlier. We got to see him the last time we went to the Basque Country in 2023. Though he was weak and tired, he still had stories to tell.

Goian bego, Tio Joe. You’ll be missed.

Basque Fact of the Week, Euskara

Basque Fact of the Week: Euskaltegiak and Barnetegiak

Leave a comment

Learning Euskara can be a daunting challenge as it is simply so different from English, Spanish, or French. During Franco’s time, the use of Basque was discouraged or even outright forbidden and this led to the decline of the language. However, this also motivated people to create new institutions, new avenues, new places for people to learn Basque. These euskaltegis became a key part in the effort to preserve and promote the language.

The euskaltegia in Urrats. Image from Wikimedia.
  • Euskaltegi literally means “Basque-place” – a place to learn Basque. Euskaltegis target adults that want to learn the language. There are two primary types, public and private. The private euskaltegis are usually associated with a federation, such as Alfabetatze Euskalduntze Koordinakundea (AEK). The public ones, usually associated and funded by individual towns, are called Udal Euskaltegiak (udal means town or city council). A list of Udal Euskaltegiak can be found here. HABE – Helduen Alfabetatze eta Berreuskalduntzerako Erakundea or the Institute for Adult Literacy and Re-Basqueization – also has a list of Euskaltegiak in Euskadi.
  • Euskaltegis where people board at the school and essentially immerse themselves in the Basque language 24/7 are called barnetegis – “barne” means boarder. Courses are often about a month, though they can be as short as 12 days, and students often live on site, with every interaction in Basque.
  • There are more than 100 Euskaltegiak around the globe. Of course, most are in the Basque Country, with most of those being in Hegoalde, but there are Euskaltegiak in other parts of the world.
  • Schools specializing in teaching adults the Basque language have existed for at least 100 years. In Nafarroa, they were called “Cátedras vascas” o “Academias de la lengua vasca.” The Spanish Civil War disrupted so many things, including these schools. In 1950, the Diputación Foral de Navarra created the first public euskaltegi in Pamplona, the Academia del Euskera. Ulibarri Euskaltegi of Bilbao, created in 1975, is the oldest professional euskaltegi in the Basque Country.
  • The first modern Euskaltegiak created in the 1960s specialized in night classes for adults. They hit their peak in the 1980s and 1990s where some 44,000 people learned Basque at an euskaltegi. However, enrollment has dropped since then, possibly as other avenues to learn Basque arose.

A full list of all of Buber’s Basque Facts of the Week can be found in the Archive.

Primary sources: Euskaltegi, Wikipedia; Euskaltegi, Wikipedia

Uncategorized

Children of Guernica: A Film Project by Begoña Echeverria et al

3 Comments

Dr. Begoña Echeverria has reached out to share news about her new project, CHILDREN OF GUERNICA a film by herself, Annika Speer, and Jacqueline Postajian. You may recall that I interviewed Begoña and Annika about their play, Picasso Presents Gernika. Please see her note below.

“Many of you were supportive of my play Picasso Presents Gernika, which my collaborators and I staged at the Chino Community Theatre, the Santa Monica Playhouse, and at the United Nations Headquarters in honor of World Refugee Day. We are grateful that numerous Basque clubs and organizations hosted screenings of the play as well.

We are now making a short film adaptation, CHILDREN OF GUERNICA, stemming from the play. The film is inspired by a true story of a Basque refugee who escaped the bombing of Gernika by emigrating to England.

Here’s the premise: In April 1937, Hitler bombed the sacred Basque town Gernika. 20,000 children were evacuated to foreign countries for protection, separated from their families. Our short historical fiction film tells the story of one of those children, Andrea. Weaving art created by children of survivors with documentary footage and narrative, CHILDREN OF GUERNICA follows Andrea as she confronts the traumas of her past in order to seek peace in the present. Our film considers how art contributes to our healing and humanity.

My goal is to represent the Basque community and tell our stories on screen, while also tying our stories to the broader world. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to my fundraiser to help us bring this important story to life! A generous anonymous donor will provide matching funds if $5000 is collected by March 15st, 2025. For more information about the film and ways to give, follow this link. Thank you! Mila esker!”

Basque Fact of the Week, Euskadi, Euskara

Basque Fact of the Week: The Origin of the Word Basque (Goat People?)

2 Comments

Why are the Basques called the Basques? Baskijski, Baskický, Baskisk, Vasco, Baskilainen, Baskisch, βασκικός, Vasco, Baskijski, Bass, баскский. All of the names for the Basques are similar and seemingly have nothing to do with what the Basques actually call themselves, Euskaldunak. Where does the word Basque even come from?

A Basque with his azpi gorri, one of the few native breeds of goats in the Basque Country. Image from El Correo.
  • The English word Basque comes from the French, which in turn comes from the Gascon word Basco. In fact, both Basque and Gascon come from the Latin word for one of the tribes that inhabited what is the modern day Basque Country, the Vascones. In Latin, the word was originally uasco.
  • There was a theory that the Latin word for the Basques evolved from the Latin word for forest – boscus o buscus – but that has been discarded as that word itself is of relatively modern origin (the Middle Ages) and maybe comes from German.
  • Another theory is that uasco came from what the Basques and Aquitainians called themselves, from an early form of the modern Basque eusk-. The Romans called another tribe in the region the Auscii, which is theorized to have a similar origin.
  • Yet another theory links the word Basque to an inscription found on an old Roman-era coin that read barscunes. This has been interpreted as a Celtic word possibly meaning “the mountain people.”
  • Strabo, the Greek chronicler of the Roman Empire, called what was possibly (likely?) that same tribe as the Vascones the Ouaskonous or the Ouáskones. This is what the Greeks called them, the Οὐάσκωνες. Ouaskonous means the “goat people” as these people were known to sacrifice rams to their gods. Ouaskonous is typically rendered in English as Vasconians.
  • At least two references link the Latin uasco with the Greek Ouaskonous, but the vast majority don’t – even the Oxford Dictionary doesn’t make this connection.
  • Just like the theory that uasco comes from eusk-, there is speculation that so does Ouaskonous.
  • It is surprisingly hard to find serious discussion of these relationships. For example, while multiple sources say that Ouaskonous means something like “the goat people,” I can’t find conclusive evidence of this.

A full list of all of Buber’s Basque Facts of the Week can be found in the Archive.

Primary sources: Vascones, Wikipedia; Basques, Wikipedia

Basque Fact of the Week, History

Basque Fact of the Week: The Basque Witch Trials

Leave a comment

Of the things often associated with the Basques – exploration and seafaring, pintxos, rural sports, an odd language – one of the most infamous is the Witch Trials. A mania, at least fueled by if not instigated by the Inquisition and other religious figures, swept parts of the Basque Country, leading to people accusing neighbors, friends, and families of cohorting with Satan. This happened more than once, and led to the trial and execution of many accused witches.

Engraving by Jan Ziarnko depicting a witches’ Sabbath, according to the description of Pierre de Lancre in Tableau de l’inconstance des mauvais anges et demons, from Wikimedia.
  • The first witch trials in the Basque Country immediately followed Castilla’s and the Inquisition’s conquering of the Kingdom of Nafarroa, in 1525. These trials essentially defined how the Inquisition would conduct such trials. The first trials were held by the Council of Nafarroa’s special commissioner. Two sisters, aged 9 and 11, were brought in to look for the Devil’s mark in peoples’ eyes. In at least five different places, people were detained and executed, but we don’t know how many. At the end, the Inquisition took over and actually tempered activities, urging skepticism of spell casting and banning confiscation of property. They insisted that witches be re-educated rather than executed.
  • In 1609, Pierre de Lancre led a witch-hunt in Iparralde, in the province of Lapurdi. His investigations led to the burning of 70 people, including a few priests, for witchcraft. However, he estimated that some 10% of the population – 3000 people – were witches. He was dismissed from office before he could persecute all of his suspects. However, his efforts directly inspired the trials in Logroño.
  • Perhaps the most well known witch trials were in 1609-1610. The Inquisition held trials in the town of Logroño, in La Rioja. In these trials, the Inquisition resumed executions. In 1610, some 10-12 people were burned at the stake, though about half had already died during torture to extract confessions and were burned symbolically.
  • After, the Inquisition appointed Alonso de Salazar Frías, the so-called Witches’ Advocate, to investigate witchcraft activities, with a particular focus on the region around Zugarramurdi. He collected confessions from nearly 2000 people, naming upwards of an additional 5000 people as witches. The majority of those 2000 people were children aged 7-14. In the end, 6 of the nearly 7000 people accused were executed for witchcraft. The nature of the accounts of witchcraft and how people created the stories they told the Inquisitors has been studied by Emma Wilby.

A full list of all of Buber’s Basque Facts of the Week can be found in the Archive.

Primary sources: Navarre witch trials (1525-26), Wikipedia; Basque witch trials, Wikipedia; Labourd witch-hunt of 1609, Wikipedia