Diaspora, Fighting Basques

Fighting Basques: The Story of Major General Eugene Salet Irigaray: Faith, Courage, Patriotism, and Sacrifice

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by Sancho de Beurko Association

“Third Division Heroes.” From Left to Right: Lieutenant Colonel Eugene Salet, General Jacob L. Devers, Major General John W. “Iron Mike” O’Daniel, and Colonel Robert Nicholas Young (Evening Star, July 14, 1946. P. 7).

At barely 19 years old, Marie Irigaray Inchauspe arrived in the United States to start a new life. The year was 1904. She was accompanied by her older brother Jean who was 20 at the time. Years later, at least three more siblings—Marie, Jeanne, and Grace—joined them in pursuit of the “American Dream.” A fourth sibling, Martin, forged his own path in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Marie and Jean’s final destination was the state of Nevada, more than 5,600 miles from their hometown of Ezterenzubi in Nafarroa Beherea, or Lower Navarre.

A few months after arriving, Marie met and married the prominent Basque immigrant sheep rancher Bernard “Ben” Etchegoin, also from Ezterenzubi, on July 25, 1904, in Reno, Nevada, where they established their home. In 1906, their first and only child, Beatrice Marian, was born. Tragedy struck the family in early 1908 when Bernard was assaulted by a group of men, resulting in his untimely death, just six days shy of his 39th birthday.

Portrait of Bernard Etchegoin and Marie Irigaray (Via authors).

“Echoes of two wars, 1936-1945” aims to disseminate the stories of those Basques and Navarrese who participated in two of the warfare events that defined the future of much of the 20th century. With this blog, the intention of the Sancho de Beurko Association is to rescue from anonymity the thousands of people who constitute the backbone of the historical memory of the Basque and Navarre communities, on both sides of the Pyrenees, and their diasporas of emigrants and descendants, with a primary emphasis on the United States, during the period from 1936 to 1945.

THE AUTHORS
Guillermo Tabernilla is a researcher and founder of the Sancho de Beurko Association, a non-profit organization that studies the history of the Basques and Navarrese from both sides of the Pyrenees in the Spanish Civil War and in World War II. He is currently their secretary and community manager. He is also editor of the digital magazine Saibigain. Between 2008 and 2016 he directed the catalog of the “Iron Belt” for the Heritage Directorate of the Basque Government and is, together with Pedro J. Oiarzabal, principal investigator of the Fighting Basques Project, a memory project on the Basques and Navarrese in the Second World War in collaboration with the federation of Basque Organizations of North America.

Pedro J. Oiarzabal is a Doctor in Political Science-Basque Studies, granted by the University of Nevada, Reno (USA). For two decades, his work has focused on research and consulting on public policies (citizenship abroad and return), diasporas and new technologies, and social and historical memory (oral history, migration and exile), with special emphasis on the Basque case. He is the author of more than twenty publications. He has authored the blog “Basque Identity 2.0” by EITB and “Diaspora Bizia” by EuskalKultura.eus. On Twitter @Oiarzabal.

Josu M. Aguirregabiria is a researcher and founder of the Sancho de Beurko Association and is currently its president. A specialist in the Civil War in Álava, he is the author of several publications related to this topic, among which “La batalla de Villarreal de Álava” (2015) y “Seis días de guerra en el frente de Álava. Comienza la ofensiva de Mola” (2018) stand out.

Left with a daughter under the age of two and only 22 herself, life for Marie was far from easy. In 1910, she married French immigrant Auguste “August” Salet, born in Bordeaux in 1875, who had arrived in the United States around 1893. They had one child together: Eugene Albert Salet, born on May 25, 1911, in Standish, Lassen County, California.

By 1920, Eugene and his family were living in Sparks, Nevada, where August worked as a general rancher. Although the details of Marie and August’s marriage are unclear, it most likely ended in divorce. Three years later, in 1923, Marie married Alexander Hamilton Aldrich II in Canal, Nevada. Alexander, born in Cameron, Missouri, in 1875, was a U.S. Army veteran of the Great War. Marie and Alexander had three children: Maria Eugenia (born 1924, Fernley, Nevada), Catherine May (born 1927, Lovelock, Nevada), and Alexander Hamilton III (born 1928, Reno, Nevada).

The Wall Street crash of 1929 triggered a decade-long period of poverty and unemployment known as the Great Depression, which took a heavy toll on much of American society. For Marie and her children (three of them under five years of age), it meant facing daily struggles and navigating the hardships of a rural life under one of the harshest economic crises in U.S. history. Yet, growing up amid these challenges in Nevada’s rural communities Eugene developed the resilience, courage, and determination that would shape him into a military leader of remarkable distinction.

By 1930, Eugene’s father Auguste was living in Gerlach, Nevada, working as a sheepherder. Unfortunately, he died in 1934 in Fernley at the age of 58. In 1935, after divorcing Alexander Hamilton Aldrich II, Marie married William Edward Warren (born 1875 in Virginia City, Nevada; died 1949 in Fallon, Nevada).

The matriarch of the family, Marie, lived a long and full life, passing away at the age of 90 in 1975 in her adopted home of Reno. Her first daughter, Beatrice, had died two years earlier at the age of 67 in Fallon. Her other children also lived long lives: Alexander died in 2004 at 76, Catherine in 2015 at 88, and Maria Eugenia in 2020 at 96. The family remained proud of their Basque heritage. Catherine, for example, had always hoped to visit her mother’s homeland—though, unfortunately, that dream was never realized.

Formative Years: Education, ROTC, and Early Leadership

Eugene grew up in the rural town of Lovelock, Nevada, and graduated from Pershing County High School. In 1930, he moved to Reno and enrolled at the University of Nevada, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in history, education, and physical education in 1934. During his student years, he played varsity football and basketball and was an active member of several societies, including the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, Blue Key, Coffin and Keys, Sagers, Sundowners, and Scabbard and Blade. Eugene also completed the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the infantry in May 1934, serving in the U.S. Army Reserve until 1941.

Official group photo of ROTC Company B standing in front of the statue of Irish immigrant and industrialist John Mackay, and the building that bears his name—the Mackay School of Mines—on the University of Nevada campus. Second Lieutenant Eugene Salet is indicated by the arrow (University of Nevada’s Artemisia Yearbook, 1933).

After graduation, Eugene taught and coached at Dayton High School and later became its principal. On June 13, 1936, he married the love of his life, Irene Adele Taylor, in her hometown of Buffalo, New York. He was 25 years old, and they established their home in Dayton, Nevada, where they had two children. In 1940, Eugene also managed a Shell service station in Carson City, Nevada, living there with his family and his mother-in-law.

World War II: From Operation Torch to the Heart of Europe

Eugene was called to active duty on June 16, 1941, shortly before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, which brought the United States into World War II (WWII). He was assigned to the 30th Infantry Regiment, Third Infantry Division, at the Presidio of San Francisco, California. In 1942, he was promoted from first lieutenant to captain while commanding a heavy weapons infantry company at Fort Ord, California [1].

Captain Eugene Salet was widely praised by the press for his courage during the North African campaign (Reno Gazette Journal, October 22, 1943. P. 5).

Eugene served as an infantry platoon leader and heavy weapons company commander in North Africa and Sicily. He landed at the small port of Fedala, near Casablanca, as part of the Allies’ invasion of North Africa (Operation Torch, November 8–16, 1942). In a letter written to his mother on November 24, 1942, from Rabat, he reflected on the invasion, providing a vivid firsthand account:

“It was my first taste of fire, and I’ll probably never forget it […] Well, mother dear, here we are. Have been wanting to write ever since we arrived […] Have a great deal to tell you […] We were on the water for 15 days. On Sunday morning about 1:00 a.m., November 8, we stopped about six miles off the coast of Africa, and made ready to attack and capture it. We lowered our assault boats, climbed over the side of the transport, got into assault boats and headed for the coast six miles away […] It was still dark as the devil. As we neared the shore the French were alerted and started throwing big search lights out over the water. Then all hell broke loose. They opened up on us with big machine guns, etc. We could see the red tracer bullets coming at us through the dark; some too close for comfort. We kept on coming and finally hit the beach. It is still dark but dawn is ready to break. Then the big French guns on the coast opened up on our navy warships. What a bombardment […] I was lucky and didn’t get a scratch. Hope I can continue to be as lucky. One thing, Mom, you can tell the folks that your wandering boy led the assault waves in the great American attack of [North Africa]. Our division was the spearhead of the entire assault. We’ll give Herr Hitler and gang something to think about. Feel kind of proud, Mom, to have been a member of the assault” [2].

Overview map of Operation Torch, highlighting the landing of Eugene Salet with the Western Task Force Force (U.S. Army Center of Military History).

Serving as operations officer of the 2nd Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, Third Infantry Division, Eugene participated in nine campaigns: French Morocco, Algeria, Sicily, Naples-Foggia, Anzio, Southern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, and Central Europe. He took part in four major amphibious assaults: the invasions of North Africa, Sicily, Italy, and Southern France—often referred to as the “Forgotten D-Day.” The Third Infantry Division holds the distinction of being the only American division to engage Axis forces on all European fronts. 

By mid-1944, Eugene had been promoted to major, and by January 1945, he received a battlefield promotion to lieutenant colonel, having served 27 months overseas. Remarkably, Eugene saw combat for approximately 530 consecutive days, writing to his mother after his first day on the frontline: “I was lucky and didn’t get a scratch. Hope I can continue to be as lucky.” Despite the heavy casualties suffered by the Third Infantry Division—the highest of any American division in WWII—Eugene emerged unscathed.

In 1945, he returned to the United States and was assigned to Headquarters, Army Ground Forces, in Washington, D.C., where he served until August 1946. For his extraordinary service during WWII, Eugene received numerous honors, including the Silver Star for gallantry in action at the Colmar Pocket, Alsace, France, on January 5, 1945; the Legion of Merit with five Oak Leaf Clusters for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services to the Government of the United States; and the Bronze Star Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters. Internationally, he was awarded the Italian Military Valor Cross, the Croix de Guerre with Gold Star, and the French Fourragère in the colors of the Croix de Guerre. Additionally, he received the Distinguished Unit Citation with one Oak Leaf Cluster and the Army’s highest civilian honor, the Decoration for Distinguished Civilian Service [3].

A Lifetime of Military Excellence and Education

Eugene had a remarkable military career that combined instruction, strategic planning, and leadership in both national and international organizations. After World War II, he served as an instructor at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, shaping the education of officers at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and solidifying his expertise in military instruction. 

During the 1950s, he took on roles in strategic planning and operations, including serving as senior planning officer at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) Supreme Headquarters, in Paris, France, during the Korean War, contributing to multinational coordination under General Dwight D. Eisenhower’s command. Eugene alternated between command and international administrative responsibilities, notably as a regimental commander in Germany and subsequently as deputy director and secretary of the NATO Standing Group and Military Committee, playing a key role in organizing the Alliance’s collective defense. He also served as assistant civil administrator of the Ryukyu Islands, Japan, demonstrating leadership beyond strictly military duties.

In the 1960s, Eugene focused on military education and institutional leadership, first as commanding officer of the Army Training Center at Fort Gordon, Georgia, and then as president of the U.S. Army War College and Carlisle Army Barracks, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and the U.S. Army Institute for Advanced Studies, overseeing advanced officer education and strategic programs. Recognized with the Army Distinguished Service Medal for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services to the Government of the United States, he continued his career contributing to weapons systems analysis at the Department of Defense and serving as military adviser to the U.S. mission at NATO’s headquarters in Belgium.

Photograph of Major General Eugene Salet in 1968 (Nevada State Journal, May 17, 1968. P. 12).

Eugene retired from active duty as a major general on September 30, 1970. Following his active service, he cemented his legacy in civil-military education, serving as dean and president of the Georgia Military Academy in Milledgeville, Georgia and leading the Association of Military Colleges and Schools of the U.S., nurturing future generations of military and civic leaders until 1985. [4] 

Sharing a Vision: Values and Legacy

In 1967, Eugene was named Outstanding Nevadan by fellow Basque-American and WWII veteran Governor Paul Laxalt. He received an honorary doctorate in law from the University of Nevada, Reno, in 1968 and served as the commencement speaker that same year. During his address, he shared his vision for America: 

“The keys which fit the door to this nation’s survival are held by each of you. These keys are faith, not fear; courage, not complacency; patriotism, not patronage; sacrifice, not selfishness.” [5]

Major General Eugene Salet Irigaray passed away on February 6, 1992, at the age of 80, at the Eisenhower Army Medical Center in Augusta, Georgia. He was buried with full military honors at Westover Memorial Park. He is the highest-ranking senior officer of Basque origin identified in the U.S. Armed Forces, according to our research.

Would You Like to Honor Veterans Like Eugene Salet?

The North American Basque Organizations, Inc. has launched a fundraising campaign to build the National Basque WWII Veterans Memorial by the end of 2026. This memorial will honor all WWII veterans of Basque origin—a place where their names, stories, and sacrifices will be permanently remembered. Your contribution is essential.

Please consider making a tax-deductible donation and become part of this historic tribute. Together, we can ensure that no veteran is ever forgotten.

References

  1. Reno Gazette-Journal, October 22, 1943. P. 5.
  2. Nevada State Journal, January 2, 1943. P. 10.
  3. Nevada State Journal, May 26, 1946. P. 16
  4. Reno Gazette-Journal, February 7, 1992. P. 36.
  5. Reno Gazette-Journal, October 26, 1987. P. 29.
Basque Fact of the Week, Diaspora

Basque Fact of the Week: Chile, the Most Basque Country on Earth?

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“There are at least two things that can clearly be attributed to Basque ingenuity: the Society of Jesus and the Republic of Chile.” – Miguel de Unamuno

When we think about Basque emigration and the Basque diaspora, places like Argentina and Idaho are the first to come to mind. But, as I recently learned, Chile drew a large number of Basques. Whether for the rugged landscape and nearby coast or simply because that was were earlier relatives had gone or the economic opportunities were so tempting, many Basques made their way to Chile such that, today, maybe 25-30 percent of Chileans have a Basque surname.

A member of the Mapuche performing a ceremony to bless the Ikurrina. Photo from Euskal Kultura.
  • Before the arrival of Europeans, the predominant group of people living in what is now Chile were the Mapuche. The Mapuche, primarily located in south-central Chile, first settled in the region sometime around 500-600 BCE. They resisted incursions from the nearby Inca and maybe numbered 700,000 to 900,000 when Europeans arrived. Today, they make up about 9% of Chile’s population.
  • The first European to set foot on what is now Chile was Ferdinand Magellan, in 1520 during his attempt to circumnavigate the globe. It wasn’t long before the Spanish crown began exploring the region, with colonists and conquistadors arriving in 1535. Several Basques were amongst that first wave, including the Bilbainos Martín de Cote, Francisco Galdemes, Francisco de Isásaga, Domingo de la Orta, and Juan de Larrañaga; fellow Bizkaian Ortún Jiménez de Bertendona; and the Gipuzkoans Pedro de Zárate and Gaspar de Bergara.
  • Of the families that settled Chile from the Iberian peninsula in the 1500s – 157 in total – 39 had Basque names.
  • The capital of Chile, Santiago, founded in 1541, was designed by Pedro de Gamboa, whose parents were from Bizkaia. Supposedly his friend played the txistu while he was working on the city plans.
  • This was only the first wave of Basque immigration to Chile. In fact, even greater influxes occurred in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. In the 18th century, there was such a huge number of Basques coming to the country that, by the end of the century, some 30% of Chileans had Basque ancestry. While much of that immigration was from Hegoalde, starting in the 19th century Basques from Iparralde also started arriving. The Carlist Wars and the Spanish Civil War both led to large bumps in Basque immigration to Chile.
  • Basques established themselves as part of the elite of the country, in part due to success in business and their ties back to Iberia, but also because of favorable laws that enabled property to be passed down to single heirs rather than being broken up. Thus, Basques and their descendants have been part of the Chilean elite – the Castilian-Basque aristocracy – and ruling class for centuries. However, the shear number of Basques in the country also means that many people in other parts of Chilean society can trace ancestry to the Basque Country.
  • As a consequence of the Basque presence in Chile, many important Chileans have had Basque connections. A few examples include:
    • Bernardo O’Higgins, who led Chile’s war of independence from Spain and was Chile’s second Supreme Director, was of Basque heritage through his mother Isabel Riquelme, daughter of Simón Riquelme de la Barrera y Goycochea.
    • The Allendes – Allende is a Basque name meaning “on the other side” – have played an extremely large role in Chilean society and politics, including author Isabel Allende and her first cousin once removed Salvador Allende, who was president of Chile from 1970 to 1973. Other presidents of Chile have also had Basque heritage, including José Manuel Balmaceda, Federico Errázuriz Zañartu, and Sebastián Piñera Echenique.
    • Actor Pedro Pascal‘s parents are Verónica Pascal Ureta and José Balmaceda Riera, who is a member of that aristocracy.
    • Augusto Pinochet, who led the military coup that overthrew Salvador Allende, was dictator of Chile from 1974 to 1990. His mother, Avelina Ugarte Martínez, was of Basque descent.
    • Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga, Chile’s second saint, was canonized in 2005.
    • Gabriela Mistral (born Lucila Godoy Alcayaga) won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1945.
    • Pablo Neruda (born Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto), who won the same prize in 1971, is speculated to have had Basque heritage, though definitive links are missing. Basoalto is possibly a Basque name meaning “next to the forest” or “the elevated forest” (though some sources say it is a Spanish name meaning “high foundation or base”). He denied his Basque heritage, though, perhaps because of its association with the aristocracy of his country.
  • It is estimated that 10-30 percent of Chileans today have Basque heritage, translating to between 1.6 to 5 million people. Given that the population of the Basque Country is just over 3 million, Chile perhaps has more people of Basque heritage than the Basque Country.

A full list of all of Buber’s Basque Facts of the Week can be found in the Archive.

Primary sources: Chile, Wikipedia; Basque Chileans, Wikipedia; Inmigración vasca en Chile, Wikipedia; Estornés Lasa, Mariano. Chile. Auñamendi Encyclopedia, 2025. Available at: https://aunamendi.eusko-ikaskuntza.eus/en/chile/ar-46423/

Basque Fact of the Week, Euskadi

Basque Fact of the Week: The Concept of Auzolan, or Neighborhood Work

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The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know about Basque culture. When she accepted her award for her dedication to Basque culture at the Zortziak Bat symposium, Meggan Laxalt Mackey emphasized the role of auzolan – community work or more broadly collaboration – in her work. I hadn’t heard of that concept before, but it is central to Basque culture. It embodies the collective spirit, of working together to make your community better.

Auzolan to create a park in the town of Gaztelu in 2015. Photo from ataria.
  • Auzolan, or the related Bizkaian concept of lorra, is the concept of communal work, or performing work that benefits the community. In the Basque Country, this has manifested itself in many ways, from the building of churches to the maintenance of forest trails. While the concept of auzolan was defined by custom in the Basque Country, in more recent times it has been codified into law in some places.
  • Auzolan promotes community solidarity and cohesion. As described by Prof. Xabier Barandiaran, the concept of auzolan reflects “the individual’s responsibility to the community and their service to others, fostering solidarity and forms of social organisation that prioritize community interests over individual ones.”
  • To decide what work the neighborhood would focus on, either the town council or a simple local meeting would convene. Two types of auzolan could be planned: big or small, reflecting what tools would be needed to do the work: just hoes and shovels for a small job or carts and the like for a bigger job.
  • Often, auzolan would happen in September though a special auzolan might also happen in the spring. The committee would alert everyone in the neighborhood as to the time and place of the work and, if they couldn’t participate, they had to send an alternate. If the work was on public land, the city would provide food and supplies while if it was on private land, the owner would. People weren’t paid for their time – participating in the auzolan was viewed as an obligation of living in the community; it was mandatory.
  • The actual work associated with auzolan was often a community improvement effort, to construct or maintain roads, parks, fountains, or other things that would benefit the community as a whole. However, in some cases it could be directed to specific people that needed extra help, such as a widow or sick farmer.
  • Today, the concept has expanded to include collaboration more broadly, especially collaboration carried out freely and voluntarily, and to actions that benefit a neighborhood, town, or region voluntarily without receiving money.
  • The idea of communal work for the benefit of the community is not unique to the Basque Country and was common in medieval European societies. Indeed, the Asturians have a similar concept called andecha. Modern ideas associated with crowdsourcing certainly have a similar spirit. The Mondragon cooperative is one example originating from the concept of auzolan.

A full list of all of Buber’s Basque Facts of the Week can be found in the Archive.

Primary sources: Estornés Zubizarreta, Idoia; Garmendia Larrañaga, Juan. Auzolan. Auñamendi Encyclopedia, 2025. Available at: https://aunamendi.eusko-ikaskuntza.eus/en/auzolan/ar-16620/; Auzolán, Wikipedia; Auzolan, Wikipedia

Basque Fact of the Week, Euskadi

Basque Fact of the Week: The Basque Country is Becoming a Leader in Quantum Computing

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It is amazing how fast technology has changed over my lifetime. When my dad first came to the United States, he rarely called back home in the Basque Country. He’d call maybe at Christmas. It was just too expensive. However, at the end of his life, he was constantly on his cell phone talking to his brothers back in the Basque Country. What was once a prohibitively expensive and extremely inconvenient became almost trivial. The Basque Country is on the forefront of pushing forward one of the next frontiers of technology – quantum computing. They just got one of the newest quantum computers in the world, and are only the second place outside of IBM to have one.

The IBM Quantum System Two in its home in Donostia. Photo from NetworkWorld.
  • Quantum computing is an alternative approach to computing from the more traditional analog and digital computing.
  • In October of 2025, IBM delivered to the Basque Country the IBM Quantum System Two, the first of its kind in Europe. This machine is modular and scalable, and can be upgraded in the future as newer quantum processors are developed. It uses IBM’s Heron chips, which contain 156 qubits. The computer is housed in Ikerbasque’s new building in Donostia. To perform, the computer has to be cooled to 0.15 Kelvin, or -459 Fahrenheit.
  • A key player the push to make the Basque Country a leader in this area is the Basque Quantum Initiative, or BasQ. This initiative is led by “the Department of Science, Universities and Innovation of the Basque Government and the three Provincial Councils of Araba, Bizkaia, and Gipuzkoa.” The Director of the initiative is Professor Javier Aizpuru, a research scientist at the Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC).
  • These researchers have already been pushing the frontiers of quantum computing even before the delivery of this new system. For example, they used a quantum computer to simulate the motion of quarks, subatomic particles that make up protons and neutrons. They have also used such machines to look at “time crystals,” for the first time in two dimensions. Regular crystals, such as the NaCl crystals in table salt, have repeating patterns in space. Time crystals also repeat their structures in time, oscillating periodically.

A full list of all of Buber’s Basque Facts of the Week can be found in the Archive.

Primary sources: How the Basque Country became a leader in quantum computing by Rafi Letzter, IBM; BasQ; IBM unveils advanced quantum computer in Spain by Esther Macías, NetworkWorld

Basque Fact of the Week, Music

Basque Fact of the Week: Boise’s Amuma Says No

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Amuma Says No has been a staple of the Boise Basque music scene for almost 2 decades. Not only are they at every Basque event in Boise, but they travel the country spreading Basque sounds wherever they go. At Jaialdi 2025, you could find them on the stage in the middle of the Basque Block or in the Idaho Central Arena, one of the three acts including Neomak and Gatibu that rocked Saturday night.

Amuma Says No playing on the Basque Block in Boise. Photo from the Jaialdi website.
  • Amuma Says No grew out of the traditions of Basque dancing in Boise – more than one member was part of the Oinkari Basque Dancers and grew up with the sounds of people like Jimmy Jausoro and Domingo Ansotegui. They play a mix of traditional music centered around the trikitixa with more modern sounds including rock.
  • The band has come to embody the Basque American spirit and has represented Basque culture throughout the country, traveling to various picnics and fiestas all across the American west. They even performed at the Kennedy Center and in 2010 at the Library of Congress.
  • The current – and original – line up includes
    • Dan Ansotegui on accordion. Dan was an Oinkari and has been a part of the Boise Basque community for a while, owning in the past both Bar Gernika and The Basque Market and playing in Jimmy Jausoro’s band. He current also owns Ansots, a restaurant and caterer in Boise.
    • Jill Aldape, vocals. She has served as both President and head instructor of the Oinkari Basque Dancers.
    • Sean Aucutt, pandero, was also a dancer for the Oinkaris.
    • Micah Deffries, guitar (Dave Manion).
    • Rod Wray, bass (previously Erik Snodgrass).
    • Aaron Atkins, drums (previously Spencer Basterrechea Martin).
  • The band was formed in 2006. Dan and Sean had met when they both had been teaching for Txantxan Gorriak, a musical group teaching Basque music to children. They knew Jill who was an instructor for the Oinkaris. Spencer, who has Basque roots, had just moved to Boise and wanted to play drums. He was directed to Dan, Sean, and Jill. They put together some songs for a December dance and the reception was so great that the rest is history.
  • In 2011, the group accompanied the Oinkari dancers for a few performances in the Basque Country.
  • Over the last few years, they have been in semi-retirement, but they came back out to perform at Jaialdi 2025.

A full list of all of Buber’s Basque Facts of the Week can be found in the Archive.

Primary sources: Amuma Says No, The Kennedy Center; Amuma Says No, Jaialdi; ‘Frontoitik kalera’: Basque-American band Amuma Says No hits the streets with its debut album, Euskalkultura.eus; Amuma Says No, Wikipedia.

Thanks to Annie Gavica for several corrections and clarifications to the original post!

Basque Fact of the Week, People, Sports

Basque Fact of the Week: World Champion Rock Climber Patxi Usobiaga Lakunza

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I’ve said it before – for such a small place, Basques seem to outdo themselves, making an impact above and beyond what their small population might suggest. Case in point: Patxi Usobiaga. Patxi is a rock climber who reached the pinnacle of his sport, doing things no one had ever done before. Maybe growing up in the mountains of the Basque Country gave him an advantage. But you only make it to the top with hard work, dedication, and sacrifice.

Patxi Usobiaga, photo from his website.
  • Patxi Usobiaga Lakunza was born on September 7, 1980, in Eibar, Gipuzkoa. He started climbing when he was 10 years old.
  • Usobiaga is the first climber in the world to complete an 8c+ climbing route “on sight.” What does this mean? 8c+ refers to the difficulty of the climb, or its rating, in the Fontainebleau bouldering system. An 8c+, equivalent to an 5.14c in the Yosemite Decimal System, is one of the hardest climbs there is, though there are routes that are rated in the 9s. Onsighting means that he had no prior knowledge of the route – he didn’t know where the handholds were or what order might be best to attack them, he discovered them as he climbed. He couldn’t even watch another climber attempt the route. Further, to qualify as an onsight climb, he had to complete it in his first attempt.
  • The route itself is called Bizi Euskaraz (live by Basque) and is in Etxauri, Nafarroa. Usobiaga climbed it in 2007.
  • This isn’t the hardest route he climbed. He also redpointed 9a+ routes. Redpointing means that he didn’t complete it on his first attempt, so that when he did complete it, he had some familiarity with the route.
  • During one two-week period in December, 2007, he redpointed two 9a+’s and a 8c+/9a and onsighted a 8b, 8c, 8b+, and 8c+.
  • In both 2006 and 2007, he won the Climbing World Cup in the individual discipline of lead climbing. He was also the World Climbing Champion in 2009.
  • In 2010, he was in a car accident that caused a slip disk in his back. He retired from the sport the following year. Since then, he has become a personal trainer, training other climbers in the sport.

A full list of all of Buber’s Basque Facts of the Week can be found in the Archive.

Primary sources: Patxi Usobiaga on Bizi Euskaraz – 8c+ onsight: a first by Mick Ryan, UK Climbing; Patxi Usobiaga, Wikipedia

Basque Fact of the Week, Fiestas, Music

Basque Fact of the Week: Neomak, New Sounds from Old Roots

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Rediscovering Gatibu at Jaialdi was a great experience, but Lisa, Rose, and I were also blown away by a band I’d never heard of before: Neomak. Opening for Gatibu in the Idaho Central Arena, Neomak both had a more traditional sound than Gatibu – trikitixa, tambourines, and drums – but pushed that sound in new and innovative ways. The steady drum beat instilled an energy that was only rivaled by the women dancing and singing on stage. Another band I would highly recommend.

Neomak playing at the Idaho Central Arena during Jaialdi 2025. Photo by Blas Uberuaga.
  • Neomak was formed in 2020. Their name, translating from the Greek to new moon, represents their goals of transforming tradition, of keeping their roots but making something new.
  • Originally comprised of seven young women, Neomak got their start touring with renowned Basque musician Kepa Junkera. After the touring stopped, they realized they had more to say, more to do, and so they started Neomak. In 2025, three of the members of the group left with the remaining four continuing to find new ways to interpret Basque music and stories. Those four are Alaitz Escudero Unanue, Leire Etxezarreta Learreta, Irati Gutierrez Artetxe, and Garazi Otaegi Lasarte.
  • In 2022, after releasing only two songs, Neomak toured the Basque Country before releasing their first self-titled album later that year. In 2024, they composed and released a song, “Hor Daude,” in support of Herri Urrats, a festival that promotes the ikastolas of Iparralde.
  • As they discuss in this interview, their songs give voice to their grandmothers, to the women who haven’t had a voice. “We begin by talking about the stories told by our grandmothers and saying that we will be the voice they often haven’t been able to have. We continue with a critique of the repression of our grandmothers, the church, some traditional ideas, etc. We shift gears by talking about the taboo surrounding sex and end with a vindication and critique of today’s society with the song “XXI.mendekua,” which has a double meaning: the 21st Century and the 21st Revenge. It’s a song that champions support among women and empowerment.”

A full list of all of Buber’s Basque Facts of the Week can be found in the Archive.

Primary sources: Neomak, Wikipedia

Basque Fact of the Week, Diaspora, People

Basque Fact of the Week: Rowing Together, Honorees of the Zortziak Bat Symposium

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The theme of the Zortziak Bat symposium that was held during Jaialdi was Elkarrekin Arraunean, or “Rowing Together,” highlighting the contributions of so many people that have helped promote and support the Basque language and culture. Seven people were honored for their lifetime of effort – I was pleased to be one of those recognized. But I was also humbled to be in the presence of such a great group of people, people who have done so much for Basque culture.

Honorees at the Zortziak Bat symposium. Photo from Euskal Kazeta.
  • Joseba Etxarri first came to the United States in 1987 and has been a stable of Basque festivals ever since. He wrote about his experiences in his book Euskaldunen Ameriketa, Bidaia bat EEBBetan zehar. He is the director of the website EuskalKultura.com where he shares news from all over the Basque diaspora, not just the United States. Euskal Kultura, which began as a print publication in 1998 and went online in 2001, is an invaluable resource with the goal to “inform, connect, facilitate mutual understanding, and build bridges.”
  • David Lachiondo was honored posthumously. He spent 41 years in secondary education before moving to Boise State University. He was director of the Basque Studies Program at BSU while also teaching on topics including Basque history. Born in Boise, his first language wasn’t English and he struggled when he first went to school, but later education became his passion. He was recognized for his many contributions to Basque culture, in Boise and beyond.
  • Meggan Laxalt Mackey was the heart and soul of the symposium. She was recognized for her dedication to Basque Studies, having taught at Boise State’s Basque Studies Program. She has spent the greater part of her adult life promoting the Basque Culture and Language, not only as an educator but also as an author, publishing amongst other books Lekuak: The Basque Places of Boise, Idaho. She currently owns and runs Studio M Publications and Design, which helps other authors bring their ideas to light.
  • Nere Lete Bieter, a Professor of Basque in the World Languages Department at Boise State University, was honored for her dedication and continued efforts to promote Basque culture and language. She is also one of the co-founders of the Boiseko Ikastola, the only Basque language preschool outside of the Basque Country. Previously director of the Basque Studies Minor at Boise State University, she has also translated numerous documentaries to provide a larger corpus for natural language processing.
  • Benan Oregi is Senior Diaspora Policy Officer with the Basque Government, which means he has been working to strengthen ties between the Basque Country and the Basque diaspora. He has worked in this area for more than 25 years, recognizing that relationships with diasporas are becoming ever more important for governments at all levels. He also teaches post-graduate classes on diaspora relations at the University of the Basque Country.
  • Nancy Zubiri is the force behind Euskal Kazeta, which is “the premier website for news about the Basque community in the United States.” Started in 2009, Euskal Kazeta shares news about all things Basque in the United States. Its mission is to “help preserve the Basque culture by promoting social engagement and public education relating to Basque culture.” Nancy, who recently retired as from teaching high school English, has also published multiple books, including Travel Guide to Basque America and Jaialdi: A Celebration of Basque Culture.

A full list of all of Buber’s Basque Facts of the Week can be found in the Archive.

Primary sources: Joseba Etxarri, Basque Museum and Cultural Center; Remembering former Basque studies program director David Lachiondo, Boise State University; Zortziak Bat Symposium Honors Basque Culture Builders at Boise State during Jaialdi 2025 by Robert Lopez, Euskal Kazeta

Basque Fact of the Week, Euskara

Basque Fact of the Week: Su ta Gar, the Star and Exoplanet with Basque Names

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I have a dream of slowly migrating the original parts of this site – the parts you can find with the menu on the left of each page – to the more modern blog format of the newer version of Buber’s Basque Page. One of my first forays was to copy my translation of MG Ramos’s De Astronomástica Vasca, a treatise from nearly 100 years ago about the Basque names for the sun and moon. In doing a little searching on what new information there might be, I stumbled upon this cool story about how a star and its exoplanet were given names in Euskara, a first for the language.

An artist’s schematic of the structure of the exoplanet Su. Image from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias.
  • The International Astronomical Union has, amongst other functions, the authority to assign names to celestial bodies, including stars and planets. Founded in 1919 and headquartered in Paris, France, the IAU holds a regular contest called NameExoWorlds with the goal of naming a selection of exoplanets that have been discovered. 
  • An exoplanet is any planet that resides outside of our solar system. The first confirmed discovery of such a planet was in 1992, when two such planets – now called Phobetor and Poltergeist – were discovered orbiting a pulsar called Lich. As of today, nearly 6,000 exoplanets have been discovered.
  • The star now known as Gar was previously designated as either Gliese 486 or Wolf 437. Residing in the constellation Virgo, it is a red dwarf star that is about 26 light years away from Earth.
  • In 2021, an exoplanet was discovered orbiting Gar by a team led by Trifon Trofonov with the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy. This planet, now named Su, has been studied using the James Webb Space Telescope which has found that the day time surface temperature is in excess of 1000 degrees Fahrenheit. This suggests Su has little to no atmosphere. It is about 3 times as massive as the Earth but is rocky.
  • A team from the University of the Basque Country, led by Itziar Garate-Lopez, proposed the names Gar and Su during the 2022 NameExoWorlds contest in part because the exoplanet had been discovered from observations made in Spain, with key contributions from the Calar Alto Observatory. It’s also a fiery ball of rock, which inspired the name Su.
  • In Euskara, Gar means flame and Su means fire. The Basque phrase “su ta gar” means literally “fire and flame,” but is used to indicate passion and enthusiasm. Su Ta Gar is also a heavy metal band from Eibar, Gipuzkoa.

A full list of all of Buber’s Basque Facts of the Week can be found in the Archive.

Primary sources: Dos sistemas planetarios reciben nombres en euskera y catalán, SINC

Diaspora, Fighting Basques

Fighting Basques; Agustín Guisasola, Basque Jai-Alai Player and World War II Veteran

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by Sancho de Beurko Association

In celebration of Basque Diaspora Day 2025, which on Monday, September 8 in Markina, Bizkaia, will recognize the contribution of pelota to the Diaspora, the authors of this blog publish the previously untold story of the jai-alai player from Eibar, Agustín Guisasola, a World War II veteran with the United States Army.

This year, the International Day of the Basque Diaspora 2025 is being celebrated in Markina (Bizkaia). This year’s celebration pays tribute to the Basque pelotaris who brought “jai-alai” or cesta punta to courts all over the world. Among those young men who pursued their professional careers in America was Agustín Guisasola of Eibar, whose life story exemplifies the intersection of sport, emigration, and commitment to his adopted country.

Passenger list of the steamship Seneca, on which Agustín Guisasola and his companions embarked from Havana, Cuba, bound for Miami, Florida, on January 7, 1926. (Source: Document via authors).

Pedro J. Oiarzabal and Guillermo Tabernilla are the principal investigators of the research project “Fighting Basques: Basque Memory of World War II” of the Sancho de Beurko Elkartea in collaboration with the North American Basque Organizations (NABO). The present article derives from the “Fighting Basques” project.

Oiarzabal received his Doctorate of Political Science-Basque Studies from the University of Nevada, Reno. Over the last two decades, his work has focused on research and consulting on public policies (citizenship abroad and return), diasporas and new technologies, and social and historical memory (oral history, migration and exile), with special emphasis on the Basque case. He is a member of Eusko Ikaskuntza.

Tabernilla is a researcher and founder of the Sancho de Beurko Elkartea, a non-profit organization that studies the history of the Basques of both slopes of the Pyrenees in the Spanish Civil War and in World War II. Between 2008 and 2016 he directed the catalog of the “Iron Belt” for the Heritage Directorate of the Basque Government. He is author, along with Ander González, of Basque Fighters in World War II (Desperta Ferro, 2018).

Born in 1906 in Eibar, Gipuzkoa, Guisasola set sail for Florida, United States (U.S.), at the age of 19 as part of a large group of professional jai-alai players who inaugurated a second fronton in Miami, the Biscayne, on April 1, 1926. Its opening was warmly received by the local press as a major event, which even included Basque traditional dances performed by the young puntistas. The first court, the Hialeah, inaugurated in January 1925 in the city of Hialeah in Miami-Dade County, was forced to close after its first season due to the success of the Biscayne. The Biscayne had become a cultural and sporting landmark in Miami.

Just a few months later, in September 1926, a devastating hurricane left the Biscayne in ruins, but it was soon rebuilt and reopened in June 1927. Nevertheless, it never returned to its former glory until it changed ownership [1]. Chronicles of the time highlight its Basque players, among them Guisasola, as the stars of a spectacle that drew thousands of spectators in South Florida.

Agustín also took part in the inauguration of the Summer Casino in Havana in 1928, and in 1930 he played at the Habana-Madrid court, also located in the Cuban capital.

Postcard of the Biscayne Fronton in Miami, 1930s. (Source: Boston Public Library).

In 1928, Agustín married French-born Therese Yvonne Savoli in New York. During the 1930s the couple alternated their residence between the United States and France. Upon returning to New York, he played—already a veteran—at the Biscayne until 1940 and afterward worked in the textile industry. Naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 1943, only a few months later, in October, he enlisted in the United States Army during World War II (WWII). He is very likely the first and only professional Jai-Alai player (identified to date) who served with the United States during WWII.

The roster of jai-alai players at the BiscayneFronton in 1940. Number 12 could possibly be Agustín Guisasola, though this has not been confirmed. (Source: Miami Springs Historical Society and Museum).

After the war, Agustín and his wife continued to reside in New York, and later in Florida, where he passed away in 1982 at the age of 76.

The story of Agustín Guisasola is that of an emigrant whose trade was pelota, who participated in the early days of cesta punta in America and who, when the time came, put on the U.S. uniform to fight under his new flag. His name is now added to the nearly 2,100 Basque and Basque-American veterans of WWII whose memory we seek to preserve and honor.

If anyone has photographs, newspaper clippings, or memories of Agustín Guisasola as a jai-alai player in Miami or Havana, we would be most grateful if you could contact us at sanchobeurko@gmail.com. A photograph of him would be a valuable testimony to accompany his story and enrich our project to preserve the memory of the Basques in World War II.