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 those who came here. You can call it the American Ikurrina. A visual celebration of the way Basques have woven ourselves into the diverse American culture.
For an English speaker, one of the trickier things about Euskara is the verb for “to be.” Like in Spanish, there are two verbs that, in English, we would use to express “to be” – izan and egon. Interestingly, this only occurs in Hegoalde – in Iparralde, they only have one. To first order, izan is like Spanish ser and egon is like estar, but they aren’t fully interchangeable.
A full list of all of Buber’s Basque Facts of the Week can be found in the Archive.
Primary sources: izan, Wiktionary
This is a drawing of the baserri Goikoetxebarri, which means the new house up above, where my dad was born. It sits on the edge of the village of Gerrikaitz, which today is incorporated with the town of Arbatzegi to form Munitibar, in the province of Bizkaia. It was the ancestral home of many of the Uberuagas that emigrated from the Basque Country to the United States, and maybe elsewhere.
The Olympics are nearly over. As I posted a few weeks ago, the Basque Country – including Euskadi, Iparralde, and Nafarroa – sent 43 athletes to the Olympic Games in Paris. How did they do? Some of the “big” names, like Chourraut and Rahm, didn’t do as well as hoped. However, including individual medals given to players in team sports, this Basque contingent won 8 medals! If we count team wins as only one medal (and to be fair, those would be “shared” with the rest of the teams they played with which included non-Basque athletes), the Basques won 1 individual medal and another 4 team medals. To put that in perspective, that as many as countries like Austria, Czechia, and Mexico won. In any case, all of these athletes gave their all and deserve a round of applause!
Here is a list of all Basque athletes and their achievements at the Paris Olympics.
A full list of all of Buber’s Basque Facts of the Week can be found in the Archive.
Primary sources: Official Site of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games; Comienzan los Juegos de París 2024 con 43 deportistas vascos y vascas, EITB.eus; 43 vascos en los Juegos Olímpicos de París, Deia.com
Despite the Basque language Euskara being so old, there are so many firsts related to the language that are not so old. The first translation of the Bible into Euskara occurred in 1571. The language itself was only standardized in the 1970s. Bizenta Mogel is another first. She is the first woman to write a book in Basque, in 1804. Only two years before, her uncle wrote the first novel in Basque. Though the language is old, so much of its history is relatively new. In comparison, the first book written by a woman in English is Revelations of Divine Love, written by Julian of Norwich around 1393, while the first known female author in any language was Enheduanna, a Mesopotamian woman who lived during the 23rd century BCE. Incidentally, she is the earliest named author in history.
A full list of all of Buber’s Basque Facts of the Week can be found in the Archive.
Primary sources: López Gaseni, Manu. Mogel, Bizenta. Auñamendi Encyclopedia, 2024. Available at: https://aunamendi.eusko-ikaskuntza.eus/en/mogel-bizenta/ar-96516/; Bizenta Mogel, letras contra los vientos y mareas de su época by Jon Mujica, Deia; Vicenta Moguel, Wikipedia; Bizenta Mogel, Wikipedia
As in past years, there is a large contingent of athletes from Euskal Herria at the 2024 Olympic Games that just started in Paris – 43 in total. The vast majority, 33, are from the Basque Autonomous Community, while another 8 are from Nafarroa and 2 more come from Iparralde. This is the second most in Olympic history, surpassed only by the 44 that participated in the 1992 games held in Barcelona. More than half of the 43 athletes, 22 to be precise, are women. In all, Basques will participate in 16 different sports.
A full list of all of Buber’s Basque Facts of the Week can be found in the Archive.
Primary sources: Comienzan los Juegos de París 2024 con 43 deportistas vascos y vascas, EITB.eus; 43 vascos en los Juegos Olímpicos de París, Deia.com
Only a few generations ago, everyone in the Basque Country had, officially, Spanish or French names, an imposition of the Church and State. I’ve done some genealogy and this is the case going back centuries. I’ve heard that people often had unofficial Basque names or nicknames, but on their birth certificate or in the priest’s book of births, it was always Spanish or French. That changed after Franco’s death, when the resurgence of Basque culture also led to people giving their children names of Basque origin. Names like Itxaso, Aritz, Egoitz, Iratxe, and Ekain. That new reality is reflected in this list of the most popular names in Bizkaia, as collected by the agency INE and reported by the newspaper Deia. I often get queries about Basque names and maybe this list will serve as some kind of inspiration. For more context on Basque first names, check out this post.
| Rank | Name | Frequency |
| 1 | Ane | 243 |
| 2 | June | 187 |
| 3 | Izaro | 182 |
| 4 | Laia | 179 |
| 5 | Nahia | 149 |
| 6 | Lucia | 137 |
| 7 | Irati | 133 |
| 8 | Malen | 126 |
| 9 | Alaia | 117 |
| 10 | Martina | 115 |
| 10 | Naia | 115 |
| 12 | Uxue | 111 |
| 13 | Maddi | 109 |
| 14 | Noa | 107 |
| 15 | Elaia | 106 |
| 16 | Haizea | 105 |
| 17 | Nora | 103 |
| 18 | Izadi | 92 |
| 19 | Sofia | 90 |
| 20 | Jare | 87 |
| Rank | Name | Frequency |
| 1 | Markel | 237 |
| 2 | Oihan | 213 |
| 3 | Jon | 208 |
| 3 | Julen | 208 |
| 5 | Martin | 194 |
| 6 | Ander | 167 |
| 7 | Aimar | 164 |
| 8 | Luken | 160 |
| 9 | Aiur | 155 |
| 10 | Oier | 152 |
| 11 | Ibai | 142 |
| 12 | Danel | 139 |
| 13 | Izei | 133 |
| 14 | Mikel | 128 |
| 15 | Luka | 123 |
| 16 | Unax | 112 |
| 17 | Amets | 106 |
| 18 | Peio | 103 |
| 19 | Iker | 91 |
| 19 | Izan | 91 |
A full list of all of Buber’s Basque Facts of the Week can be found in the Archive.
Primary source: Los nombres clásicos en euskera triunfan entre los niños vizcainos, Deia.eus
Situated in the heart of downtown Boise, the Basque Museum and Cultural Center is a centerpiece of the Basque community in Idaho. With a variety of exhibits highlighting Basque history in Idaho and the American West, they provide a glimpse into the lives of the men and women who helped shape Basque identity in the United States. They also have tremendous resources at hand that document much of that history. If you have the chance, I highly recommend stopping by, saying hello, and learning something new about Basques in America. And if you can’t visit Boise, you can always check out their website.
A full list of all of Buber’s Basque Facts of the Week can be found in the Archive.
Primary sources: The Basque Museum and Cultural Center
What’s in a name? For a place like the Basque Country, there are several names that jumble together and can be confusing at times. Because the Basque Country is split by the Spanish-French border and, even within Spain, it is split into two different autonomous communities, there are different names that reflect this politically complex and messy situation.
A full list of all of Buber’s Basque Facts of the Week can be found in the Archive.
Primary sources: Basque Country (autonomous community), Wikipedia; Basque Country (greater region), Wikipedia
The discovery of the the Hand of Irulegi showed how much history there is hidden in the mountains of Euskal Herria. Another such discovery was recently announced, this time revealing tantalizing hints about the beliefs of the ancient Basques. Though there is still so much more to learn, each discovery teaches us just a little bit more about the Basques of yesteryear.
A full list of all of Buber’s Basque Facts of the Week can be found in the Archive.
Primary sources: Hallado en Larunbe un altar de piedra romano dedicado por una mujer a la deidad vascona Larrahe by Pello Guerra, Naiz; Larrahe, Wikipedia; Larunbeko aldarea, Wikipedia; Larrahe baskoien dibinitateari eskainitako aldare bat aurkitu dute Larunben by Ainhoa Sarasola, Berria.
