All posts by buber

My Great-Grandparents – Nire Birraitona-Amonak – Blas and Ines

My mom’s dad’s parents were both from the Basque Country. Blas Telleria was from Mutiloa, Gipuzkoa while Ines Eiguren was from Lekeitio, Bizkaia. They met in Jordan Valley, Oregon, where they had both made their way to find a better life. Blas was born in 1877. Mutiloa is a very small town, even smaller than […]

Basque Fact of the Week: Domingo Bastanchury, the “Father of Fullerton”

So many of the Basques that immigrated to the United States made a huge and lasting mark on their local communities. We are all familiar with the Basque communities of Boise and San Francisco, and the men and women who built them. However, the Basque influence reaches so much further. Domingo Bastanchury, sometimes called the […]

Basque Fact of the Week: Some Special Basque Words

The Basque newspaper Deia (the oldest Basque newspaper) has been running a series of articles in their Contando Historias section about Basque words and phrases, calling out the most beautiful, the oldest, and the most common Basque words used in daily life. Such lists are always subjective and Deia has resorted to using artificial intelligence […]

AITA, an unfortunate acronym

When our daughter was born, we decided that she would call me aita, and she does, which I think is supercool. It sometimes causes a bit of confusion, as some of her friends think that’s my actual name, it being so foreign to their ears. But I wouldn’t give it up for the world. However, […]

Basque Fact of the Week: The Adán de Yarza Family of Bizkaia

The Basque Country is remarkable for how lush it is – green pine trees cover the landscape. But, did you know that those pines aren’t native to the Basque Country? They were brought from California by Carlos Adán de Yarza. Carlos was but one in a long line of Adán de Yarzas that made their […]

Basque Fact of the Week: Universal Nobility of the Basques

All Basques are nobles, or so it’s said. This is one reason that Basques were so prevalent in the military – they had opportunities only afforded to nobles. The reality is a bit more complicated. Only some Basques, or better said only some provinces, enjoyed this so-called universal nobility. And for most, it didn’t really […]

A Curious Exchange with ChatGPT

I just had this exchange with ChatGPT… it wasn’t as accurate as I might have expected… We still have time before AI takes over the world… You said: what is bubers Basque page? ChatGPT said: Buber’s Basque Page, also known as Buber’s Basque Page, is a website dedicated to the Basque language and culture. It […]

American Ikurrina

Edu de la Herrán has an interesting project where he has combined an ikurrina with the flag of the United States. In his words What you see here is not an Ikurrina, nor it is an American flag. It’s both holding hands. This flag represents the Basques living in America. The hardiness and valor of […]