“Ok, Marina,” said Maite as she and Kepa walked back to their mysterious new friend, hand in hand. “What now?” “Are you going to help me?” asked Marina warily. “Bai, noski!” answered Kepa, the excitement clear in his voice. “Tell us what we need to do.” “Eskerrik asko!” replied Marina, a smile dancing on her […]
This article originally appeared in Spanish at El Diario. You can find all of the English versions of the Fighting Basques series here. From the small Baltic province of present-day Estonia, located in northern Europe, the Kivimägi/Kewe family came to Tarhan — in the western part of the Crimean Peninsula bathed by the Black Sea. […]
It’s perhaps the most iconic Basque symbol. The lauburu — literally four-heads. This curvilinear swastika is ubiquitous in the Basque Country, appearing on store fronts, tombstones, the doorways to baserri, and, now, masks protecting us from COVID-19. If someone wants a Basque-themed tattoo, they often turn to the lauburu for inspiration. But, where does this […]
Percent of GDP invested in research and development. All of Iparralde is lumped together. Source: http://atlasa.net/en/economy/provinces
“Wow,” whispered Kepa as he reached his hand out, his finger extended, moving to touch one of the zatiak. “Hold on!” exclaimed Maite as she grabbed Kepa’s hand and pulled him away. “We’ll be right back, don’t go anywhere,” she said to Marina as she pulled Kepa down the path to talk in private. “What […]
One of the very distinctive elements of any Basque festival is the dancing and, in particular, the costumes the dancers wear — the white shirt and pants, adorned with a bright sash and txapela for the men and the white blouse and black vest atop a bright red skirt and black apron with leather shoes […]
“So,” mused Kepa as he stared at the sky, “that thing he was holding, that de Lancre put in that box, was one of these zatiak, one of your pieces of magic.” “Bai,” answered Marina. “And we got in the way. We stopped you from stopping him.” Kepa turned to face Marina. “Sentizen dut. I’m […]
The Basque language is what is called an isolate — it has no known living relatives. Contrast that with the other languages of Europe, almost all of which are Indo-European languages, and you can see why Basque has attracted so much attention from linguists. However, just because the Basque language has no living relatives doesn’t […]
Rate of activity in the primary sector (e.g. agriculture, mining, forestry, grazing, hunting and gathering, fishing, and quarrying). Source: http://atlasa.net/en/society/provinces
“Wow,” said Kepa. “That’s amazing!” Maite glared at him. “You believe all of this? None of this is even possible. Magical stones thrown through time? An evil French judge trying to collect them?” She turned to Marina. “Why would he come here, to the Basque Country, in the first place?” Marina gave a wan smile. […]
