The cardinal directions are so ingrained in our culture, language, and identity. Whether one is from the northwest or the southeast, the west coast or east coast, these directions almost define us. And they are relative. I might be from the northwest of the United States, but I’m also from southern Idaho. At a higher […]
The Basque Country has seen more than its fair share of conflict. At the cross roads between the Iberian peninsula and the mainland of Europe, powers were always vying for control even as the Basques themselves tried to maintain some semblance of independence or made alliances with one side or another. The Kingdom of Nafarroa […]
One of the most eye-opening experiences when I first visited the Basque Country was the music. Growing up in the Basque culture of the American West, I was familiar with some of the traditional folk music (though never enough to truly appreciate it) but I had no idea about the radical rock that permeated modern […]
Every culture has their goblins – little creatures that make mischief. The Basques are no different. They have a variety of such creatures that can both help people but also cause problems. At the same time, there are humans that can also be forces for good and evil, using their powers to help or harm […]
Women enjoy more opportunity now than they have for quite some time. With the rise of the Church and capitalism, women were marginalized, but before that, they held important role in professions such as health care. Martija de Jauregui wasn’t necessarily a pioneer – she just practiced her craft as she knew it. However, she […]
If there is a defining trait of the Basques, it might be their work ethic, their willingness to do the hard jobs. That’s one reason they were such great sheepherders – they would go into the hills for months at a time, often with little experience, and just get the job done. Their propensity for […]
Basques played a significant role in the exploration and conquest of the Americas. Lope Agirre is perhaps one of the most notorious of those Basques. Originally from the province of Gipuzkoa, he was enticed by the potential riches the Americas promised. He rose to power and even tried to declare war with and independence from […]
What is it about getting a little older where we suddenly notice the birds around us? Where we more than notice them, we become fascinated with them and we watch them? If you are an avid bird watcher, or even if you aren’t but you just like to see the multicolored plumage once in a […]
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 […]
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 […]
