1901: The Bank of Vizcaya is founded, with a capital of 15,000,000 pesetas.

1812: A devastating earthquake hits Caracas. Simon Bolivar, the Liberator, gives relief to victims and organizes a hospital. The indomitable genius of Bolivar is revealed against fatalism. An ecclesiastical harangues the people: the earthquake is a punishment from God, we must submit to the king. Bolivar draws his sword, passes through the crowd, pushes the speaker away, stands on a pile of rubble, and addresses the people: “Nature is allied with despotism, she wants to stop us. Worse for her, we will know how to force her to obey us!”

1371: The Treaty of Vernon, between Charles II of Nafarroa and Charles V of France, confirms the Treaty of Normandy of 1370, whereby the King of Nafarroa should pay homage to the King of France in exchange for the barony of Montpellier. Seven years later, in 1378, hostilities renewed when two Navarrese agents were captured with plans to poison the King of France.

1943: Pierre d’ Arcangues, Basque poet of Arrangoitze, is jailed by the German Gestapo.

1932: Mari Carmen Totoricaguena Egurrola Albizu, founder of Anaiak Danok and Biotzetik in Idaho, is born in Gernika. She also directed a chorus of Basque children for 20 years and organized the Aberri Eguna celebrations in Boise, Idaho. She immigrated to the United States in 1951.

1561: Lope de Aguirre, born in Onate, Gipuzkoa, and his men proclaim “Don Fernando, by the grace of God, prince of Peru, Tierra Firma and Chile,” intending to crown him king once they arrive in Peru. Fernando de Guzman is made general of the expedition — searching for Omagua and El Dorado — after Aguirre disposes of Pedro de Ursua, the original leader of the expedition.  The document in which this is proclaimed is referred to as the First Act of Independence of America.

According to Aunamendi, it was Fernando de Guzman who was proclaimed Prince of Peru, but a number of English language sites, including Wikipedia, state it was Aguirre himself who was proclaimed Prince.

1972: Cristobal Balenciaga Eizagurrie, fashion designer born in Getaria, dies.  Balenciaga became world-reknowned after he is forced by the Spanish Civil War to move to Paris, where among other achievements, he totally transformed the silhouette, broadening the shoulders and removing the waist.

• 1611: Sebastian Vizcaino leaves for Japan to establish diplomatic relations.

• 1960: Jose Antonio de Aguirre Lecube, first Lehendakari of the Basque government, dies in Paris.

• 1603: The second voyage of Sebastian Vizcaino, charged with exploring California and Baja California, ends.

• 1661: The first English Consul in Donostia, Valentine Morgan, is appointed to the position.

David Cox is a frequent contributor to Buber’s Basque Page. Today marks his first article in a new column entitled Altxor Bila (Looking for Treasure), inspired by a Pirritx eta Porrotx song.  This series will examine various aspects of Basque music, from current bands to musical history.  Ongi Etorri David!

A few years ago, I got an e-mail from one Johannes of Pforzheim, Germany, asking whether I knew of any musicians from the city of Gernika, Bizkaia.  He and his class were planning to visit their twinned city, and he was working on a project and looking for contacts or help.

As it happened I had spent a little time in Gernika, and knew of two great bands with roots in that city: Gatibu and Ken Zazpi, two of the most dynamic groups working in the Basque Country today and singing in Euskera, and was able to point him in this direction.

Gernika-Lumo, as it is officially known, is at the head of the Mundaka estuary and the centre of the geographically significant Urdaibai region. It has a famous farmers’market and, across the railway tracks, large blocks of industrial land. Most importantly, it has the sacred oak tree and the parliament house. This city, which is known around the world and honoured by all Basques, has a prominence all out of proportion to its size. It also has a proud musical history.

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As many of you might already know, the Boise Basque Museum and Cultural Center, with help from the Basque Government, has been working on a project to highlight the Basques’ contributions to the history and settlement of the United States.  I’ve received a number of recent messages updating me on the status of the project, which is that the exhibit is now on display at the Boise Basque Museum and will soon move to the Ellis Island National Monument Museum.

Entitled “Hidden in Plain Sight: the Basques“, the exhibit will be at Ellis Island from February to May.  It will return to Boise for Jaialdi and will become a feature exhibit at the Basque Museum in Boise.  In the words of the website, the exhibit explores the language, customs, traditions and values of the Basque people as well as the allure that America held for them. Hidden in Plain Sight will recount the compelling historical journey of the of Basque men, women and children who immigrated in the early 20th Century from the Basque regions of France and Spain to the United States.

The exhibit aims to both recognize and demonstrate the history of Basques throughout the United States.  The Basques have played a large role in many areas, but their actions have often been in the background, hidden if you will.  The exhibit hopes to show the greater populace the part the Basques have played in shaping the US.

If you are interested in contributing to the project, there is a form for doing so on the website.

A couple of links I’ve been sent or found in wanderings of the web.

First, Louis Arriaga Jr has a fascinating story of misunderstandings and miscarriage of justice (even one of the sentencing judges felt this way, but couldn’t do anything about it).  Clearly, Arriaga is of Basque descent, though his connections to Spain are somewhat distant.  He has a site devoted to his story, but a summary of it can be found in this Phoenix New Times article.

Mugalari means “someone who crosses boarders”, a reference to the smugglers who work across the French-Spanish border.  Mugalari is also the name of a new blog, a blog devoted to showing you “other” aspects of the Basque Country, not necessarily those that would show up in a guide book.  Mugalari has traveled himself extensively and this blog is his attempt to do for the Basque Country what would have been nice for him in other parts of the world.

And speaking of visiting the Basque Country, the region of Debagoiena, which includes the famous University of Onati as well as the shrine Arantzazu, has a website devoted to tourism in the area. This includes guides, photos, and information about hotels and more to help you in your visit to the heart of Gipuzkoa.

I ran into this next site just searching for Basque images on Google.  It is amazing what you find sometimes.  I’ve often been asked, especially by adherents of the Society for Creative Anachronism, what the Basque dress of the Middle Ages was.  It’s hard to find much about that in English, though I guess I would think there is quite a bit in Spanish and Basque.  In any case, this site has quite a few images devoted to the dress of Basques from that era.  Some very interesting images.

Finally, the Basque Country, like the UK and other parts of Europe, was recently hit by some winter weather, and this blog of EiTB captures some of the resulting spectacular scenery, including this image of a snow-covered La Concha.  The Basque Country looks very different in white than it does in the typical green we are more familiar with, though just as striking and beautiful.

Pedro Oiarzabal, a newly minted researcher at the University of Deusto in Bilbao, has spent his young career focused on issues of Basque identity around the world.  His newest book is Gardeners of Identity: Basques in the San Francisco Bay Area, published by the Center for Basque Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno.  (Incidentally, the Center’s bookstore is now online.)

This new book brings attention to the Basque community in northern California.  As described in the cover excerpt:

For many out-of-town visitors, San Franciscans, and Basques throughout the American West the book will bring back fond memories of many of the Basque inns, restaurants, bars and cafés that for the most have vanished from today’s city landscape. However, these fine establishments have not entirely disappeared from their memories and pages of history as illustrated in this book. For others, the book will open a colorful window into the history of some of the most singular and oldest inhabitants of San Francisco. It depicts the Bay Area Basque cultural, linguistic, and religious traditions in a superb manner.

Zorionak Pedro!

The full press release follows: (more…)