Arizona is a Basque word. It seems that it wasn’t that long ago that this seemed a fringe hypothesis, but now it appears on the National Park Service’s page. The state of Arizona gets its name from a ranch from the 1700s where silver was discovered. The name of that ranch, which still exists, is […]
I’d thought I’d posted this one a while back, but apparently not. When I was a student at the University of Idaho, one of the guys in the same dorm as me found this bottle opener on the street somewhere. This was after I’d spent a year living in Donostia and my Basque fanaticism was […]
There has been a lot of news about Basque books… It’s Hammer Time! (am I dating myself?) Begoña Echeverria’s book, The Hammer of Witches, was just chosen as Editor’s Choice for the month of May by the Historical Novel Society! If you haven’t heard about the novel, I mentioned it here. The story of a […]
You may have already heard about this story, as it has been published in quite a few different places. You see, Iceland — or at least one district within Iceland, West Fjords — has had a law since the 1600s allowing for Basques to be killed on sight. It was only on April 22 of […]
Here is a round-up of a few items I thought were notable. Inaki Williams became the first black player to score a goal for Athletic Bilbao in their 117 year history. You may know that Athletic Bilbao only recruits Basque players, players from the Basque Country. Inaki was born in Bilbao to parents from Ghana and […]
Every year, the fine people of Donostia celebrate my birthday in the most magnificent way. Armies of people dressed as chefs and Napoleonic soldiers parade through the streets, pounding on drums and generally making merry. The fiesta begins on midnight of January 20 and ends precisely 24 hours later — literally an entire day dedicated […]
The famous Tree of Gernika, Gernikako Arbola, has died, and will be replaced next month. The tree is a symbol of Basque independence and freedom. Before the wars during which the Basque fueros, or old laws, were slowly eroded, kings came to the tree to swear their respect of Basque liberties. Today, the Lehendakari, or […]
This article originally appeared in Spanish and Basque on Kondaira’s Facebook page. It is translated and posted here with permission. The Basque-Algonquian language is a pidgin that arose for intercommunication between the members of the Mi’kmaq tribe, Innu and other Amerindians with the Basque whalers, cod fishermen, and merchants in Newfoundland, Quebec, the Labrador Peninsula, […]
The International Business Times has some fascinating photos of costumed revelers at fiestas in Zubieta and Ituren. Some of them wear bells to make noise and scare away evil spirits. The noise also wakes up the land, getting it ready to produce for the next farming/harvesting cycle. See the link for more photos.
Back in June, right after I visited the Basque Country, citizens across the region held a peaceful demonstration in support of greater autonomy for the Basque people. The demonstration, called Gure Esku Dago, or It’s in Our Hands, consisted of around 150,000 people holding hands in a chain that extended from Durango to Pamplona, roughly […]
