All posts by buber

Diaspora, People

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

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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, Diaspora, People

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

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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, Euskara

Basque Fact of the Week: Some Special Basque Words

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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 […]

Basque Fact of the Week, People

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

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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, Euskadi

Basque Fact of the Week: Universal Nobility of the Basques

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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 […]