A while ago, I wrote about Jon Bilbao and his pioneering work Amerikanuak. Richard Etulain has just published Basques of the American West, which brings new perspectives to the Basques that helped shape the history of the western United States. It also explores newer topics such as the history of Basques in places such as […]
Joxe Mallea-Olaetxe, a long-time friend, is a historian who has worked tirelessly to document the history of Basques in the American West. One very visible example is his work on the arboglyphs Basque sheepherders left behind as they roamed the hills, valleys, and mountains of states such as Nevada, Idaho, and Oregon, but he has […]
For those of us Basque-Americans that grew up in the West, we were surrounded by the sheepherders that came before us. Images of sheep wagons, bands of sheep, and sheepherder’s bread are common. However, the Basque-American experience is as varied as Basques themselves. Out east, the typical Basque immigrant was very different. Still driven by […]
Conducted in Summer 2009 Christine Echeverria Bender is a writer who’s historical novels have focused on the lives and adventures of prominent Basques during the Age of Discovery. She has written about Columbus’ voyage in Challenge the Wind, Juan Sebastian de Elcano’s role in Magellan’s circumnavigation of the world in Sails of Fortune, and, in her most […]
Conducted Spring 2010 In Delphine Pontvieux’s new novel ETA- Estimated Time of Arrest, her main character, Lartaun, is forced to flee his native Basque Country when he is accused of a crime he didn’t commit. Living under an assumed name in Mexico, he is given a chance to return by his childhood friend Patxi, but with […]
I recently read Emma Wilby’s most recent book, Invoking the Akelarre, which I found fascinating. She examines the records from the Basque witch trials of the 1600s, searching for evidence of what the victims who were accused of witchcraft really thought and believed and what was essentially placed in their mouths by their accusers and […]
The Basque Witch Trials epitomized a time of hysteria and violence. Inspired to some degree by the neighboring trials in France, almost 7,000 people were investigated by the Spanish Inquisition on suspicions of being witches or dealing in witchcraft. While not so many were executed, by European standards, the wealth and breadth of records associated […]
There aren’t too many references to the Basques in popular culture, particularly for kids. So, when I saw The Basque Dragon, part of The Unicorn Rescue Society series of books by Adam Gidwitz, Jesse Casey, and Hatem Aly, I jumped on the chance and got it for my daughter. The premise of the series, as […]
Relatively, as compared to the other peoples of Europe, the Basques converted to Christianity rather late. While Christianity seems to arrived in the region in the 4th or 5th centuries, it didn’t really take hold amongst the population until roughly the 12th or 13th centuries (Wikipedia has a summary of what is known and debated […]
