Diaspora, Politics

Census-Let them know you are Basque!

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From Joe Guerricabeitia of Seattle Euskal Etxea — I thought it worth sharing:

Kaixo danori (Hello everyone),

This email is being sent to you to serve as reminder to remember your heritage as you sit down to fill out your 2010 US Census. As in censuses past, this year’s census asks both about 1) Ethnicity and 2) Race. As has been the case in the past the US government convolutes “Spaniards” with “Hispanics” even though any History, Chicano Studies, or Spanish student (like myself) would tell you is technically incorrect. That being the case the ethnicity question specifically asks if one considers themself Hispanic but then allows for a selection of “Hispanic, other” which is a broad category that includes “Spaniards” and allows for a fill-in-the-blank where “Basque” can be written. Even for our brothers and sisters from across the border in France this seems like the best way to articulate being Basque (certainly not a perfect system). In fact this seems to be the only way. Race then refers to ones “social and cultural characteristics” which by the US census definition describes Basque ancestry as “White” (see below).

It is important to fill out the Census accurately and completely because it is the most database of information for demographics of age, sex, ethnicity, race etc that is drawn from every time in the next year that any US federal, state or local agency requires such data as well as many non-governmental agencies. As one Professor put it, “…an accurate count of the U.S. population forms the basis for many important but often overlooked political, economic, and social decisions that are made that end up affecting our daily lives.” — C.N. Le, Professor at University of Massachusetts, Amherst-from http://2010.census.gov/2010census/why/index.php Accessed 03/18/10

For more information on the 2010 Census check out:

The US Census Bureau
http://2010.census.gov/2010census/how/interactive-form.php

and for more information on definitions and the Census in general check out the Wiki page at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_and_ethnicity_in_the_United_States_Census

  • “White. A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa. It includes people who indicate their race as “White” or report entries such as Irish, German, Italian, Lebanese, Near Easterner, Arab, or Polish.”[9]

Eskerrik asko,

Joe

Euskara, Interviews, People

Interview with Mikel Morris, part II: Overcoming millennia of fudging along

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Mikel Morris, an American with dual US/Spanish nationality living in Zarautz, Spain, has written the definitive Basque-English dictionary and is currently working on the Morris Magnum which promises to be the largest bilingual Basque dictionary in existence.

In the first part of this interview, Mikel shared his thoughts and hard-hitting observations on
the status of the Basque language, the efforts the Basque government is making to promote Euskara, and his own tribulations in getting his dictionary published.

In this part 2, Mikel describes how difficult it has been for him to work within the Basque system, his views of the future of the Basque language and the bright spots in the current efforts to promote the Basque language, and gives an update on the status of the second edition of his Magnum dictionary.

Music, People

Recital by Amaya Arberas, Soprano, tonight!

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QUEEN SOFIA SPANISH INSTITUTE cordially invites you to a recital by

Amaya Arberas, Soprano

accompanied by
Antón Armendariz, Tenor
Ana Ruth Bermúdez, Cello
&
David Shenton, Piano

Wednesday, March 3, 2010 at 6:00 p.m.

Amaya Arberas began her professional career in 2002, performing recitals throughout her native Basque Country as a lyric coloratura soprano. She has studied musical language and piano at the San Sebastián High School of Music and Ancient Music at the University of Salamanca, where she also received her Master’s in Social Work. During 2006 she performed in numerous recitals commemorating the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth, as well as in a recital of opera and zarzuela in San Sebastián and in Segovia. Amaya came to New York in 2005 to take classes in song, repertoire and diction with eminent teachers such as Dodi Protero, Diana Soviero, Beth Roberts and Joan Dornemann. In 2007 she was selected by the prestigious IVAI (International Vocal Arts Institute) as an active member to collaborate on various projects in operas. She has also performed several concerts of arias and zarzuelas at Queen Sofía Spanish Institute. Last year the IVAI selected Amaya to participate in numerous opera productions in Caguas, Puerto Rico. She performed as a soloist with the symphonic orchestra of Puerto Rico conducted by Paul Nadler of the New York Metropolitan Opera.

Tenor Anton Armendariz began his career in 2002 in Spain singing in the Coral Santa Maria de la Redonda as the baritone soloist. As the baritone soloist of “RiojaLirica,” he has performed many concerts, recitals and full stage operas, (L’elisir d’amore. Dulcamara; Le nozze di Figaro. Figaro; Don Giovanni. Leporello; Don Pascuale. Don Pascuale). He is currently the soloist of the Coro Sinfónico de La Rioja, in Logroño (north Spain). In 2008, after several master classes he discovered he was a tenor, and has been working to solidify this new register. Since his debut as an opera singer he has always been recognized for his powerful and visceral acting. He has been noted for his clear and bright voice and also for his natural musicality and his purity of tone. After the concert “El vino en la opera” local newspaper La Rioja said of him “He played the two difficult parts of Macbeth brindisi, and Duet Nemorino-Dulcamara with knowledge and good technique making a brilliant performing”. All media in his area of working emphasizes his style warm voice and zealous in his singing. He studies a wide range of the barroco arias and Spanish zarzuela and Spanish camera music (Lorca, Montselvatge, Falla, Chueca, Chapi…). He currently studies with Beth Roberts and Christian Sebek in New York City.

Ana Ruth Bermúadez. A sought-after soloist, recitalist and pedagogue, she studied at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory of Moscow and graduated in Cello Performance from Amadeo Roldan Conservatory of Music and the Instituto Superior de Arte de La Habana, Cuba. Her solo and chamber music appearances have led her to play in Cuba, Russia, Spain, Venezuela, Brazil, Mexico, England, and in the USA, where she has resided since 2000. In addition to her several recordings of contemporary music, she has recorded for television, theater, radio and cinema in Cuba, Spain, Venezuela, and USA. Among others, she has played with the Moscow International Orchestra, and the Havana Chamber Orchestra, of which she was artistic director from 1991 to 1993. She founded and is a member of the Duo Roldán, with Cuban guitarist René Izquierdo.

A committed teacher, Ana R. Bermúdez taught at Escuela Nacional de Música and at the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana, Cuba, and at the Simon Bolivar Conservatory of Music and the Instituto Universitario de Estudios Musicales in Caracas, Venezuela. Currently, she teaches at Wisconsin Conservatory of Music and at Alverno College, and is a member of the Skylight Opera Theater.

David Shenton has established an enviable reputation as a pianist, composer, violinist and arranger. He is the composer of 5 musicals (Tart, Barsong, Creole Nights, Anna the Storyteller and Avarice), all of which have premièred in New York. He is also the composer of more than 120 original works including everything from short piano pieces to full scale orchestral works (David composed his first piece, Grande Valse for Piano, at age 9 and his first symphony at age 12). Equally at home on the violin or the piano, David performed his first violin concerto (Bach E major) with orchestra at age 14 and his first piano concerto (Chopin F minor) at age 15. From 1993 to 1997 David studied at the Royal College of Music in London, from which he graduated with highest honors.

$10.00 for members/ $15.00 for non-members

Please R.S.V.P. to 212-628-0420 or rsvp@queensofiasi.org

Altxor Bila, History, Music

Altxor Bila by David Cox: Gernika – a history in music

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David Cox is a frequent contributor to Buber’s Basque Page. Today marks his first article in a new column entitled Altxor Bila (Looking for Treasure), inspired by a Pirritx eta Porrotx song.  This series will examine various aspects of Basque music, from current bands to musical history.  Ongi Etorri David!

ab.100206.aA few years ago, I got an e-mail from one Johannes of Pforzheim, Germany, asking whether I knew of any musicians from the city of Gernika, Bizkaia.  He and his class were planning to visit their twinned city, and he was working on a project and looking for contacts or help.

As it happened I had spent a little time in Gernika, and knew of two great bands with roots in that city: Gatibu and Ken Zazpi, two of the most dynamic groups working in the Basque Country today and singing in Euskera, and was able to point him in this direction.

Gernika-Lumo, as it is officially known, is at the head of the Mundaka estuary and the centre of the geographically significant Urdaibai region. It has a famous farmers’market and, across the railway tracks, large blocks of industrial land. Most importantly, it has the sacred oak tree and the parliament house. This city, which is known around the world and honoured by all Basques, has a prominence all out of proportion to its size. It also has a proud musical history.

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Food

Torta de San Blas!

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IMAG0234It is that time of year again!  Time to celebrate the fiesta of San Blas, or Saint Blaise!  In the Basque Country (and maybe elsewhere), Feb 3, the fiesta of San Blas, is celebrated with a special cake.  In towns like Abadiño, Bizkaia, where the day is one of the town’s festival days, you’ll find this cake everywhere. Txapitela, who sends out notices of Basque news and events, sent me a recipe for the cake which I’m sharing here. Enjoy!

TORTA DE SAN BLAS / CAKE OF SAN BLAS

For the dough:

  • 500 or 600 grams of flour
  • 4 whole eggs, minus one egg white
  • 50 or 75 grams of drawn butter
  • 9 tablespoons of sugar (200/250 grams)
  • 1 packet of baking powder (16 grams)
  • 9-12 drops of essence of anis

For the frosting:

  • 1 egg white
  • 125/175 grams of confectioner’s sugar
  • 3 or 4 drops of lemon juice

Beat the eggs like for making tortilla, add the sugar.

Melt the butter in a water bath, add and continue beating.

Add essence of anis, flour, and royal.

Kneed well the dough, making a ball.  Roll with a rolling pin and give the dough shape, making 1 or 2 cakes.

Put in the oven for 25/30 minutes at 190º Celsius (375 F).

While the cake is cooking:

Beat the egg white with the confectioner’s sugar and lemon.

Put it in a water bath so that it continues heating.

Pour on top of the hot cake and let it cool.

Note, I have to admit that I don’t like anis myself, so these cakes were never my favorite, but maybe with the recipe, I can tweak it to make it something else, like vanilla or something.

The image is from a photo on Picasaweb by victor at the Escuela Cocina Bilbao.

Diaspora, History, News, People, Websites

Hidden in Plain Sight: the Basques

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basque-exhibit-menAs many of you might already know, the Boise Basque Museum and Cultural Center, with help from the Basque Government, has been working on a project to highlight the Basques’ contributions to the history and settlement of the United States.  I’ve received a number of recent messages updating me on the status of the project, which is that the exhibit is now on display at the Boise Basque Museum and will soon move to the Ellis Island National Monument Museum.

Entitled “Hidden in Plain Sight: the Basques“, the exhibit will be at Ellis Island from February to May.  It will return to Boise for Jaialdi and will become a feature exhibit at the Basque Museum in Boise.  In the words of the website, the exhibit explores the language, customs, traditions and values of the Basque people as well as the allure that America held for them. Hidden in Plain Sight will recount the compelling historical journey of the of Basque men, women and children who immigrated in the early 20th Century from the Basque regions of France and Spain to the United States.

The exhibit aims to both recognize and demonstrate the history of Basques throughout the United States.  The Basques have played a large role in many areas, but their actions have often been in the background, hidden if you will.  The exhibit hopes to show the greater populace the part the Basques have played in shaping the US.

If you are interested in contributing to the project, there is a form for doing so on the website.

Art, Diaspora, Euskadi, History, People, Photos, Random, Travel, Websites

Links: Blog, Tourism, Costume, and Snow

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A couple of links I’ve been sent or found in wanderings of the web.

First, Louis Arriaga Jr has a fascinating story of misunderstandings and miscarriage of justice (even one of the sentencing judges felt this way, but couldn’t do anything about it).  Clearly, Arriaga is of Basque descent, though his connections to Spain are somewhat distant.  He has a site devoted to his story, but a summary of it can be found in this Phoenix New Times article.

Mugalari means “someone who crosses boarders”, a reference to the smugglers who work across the French-Spanish border.  Mugalari is also the name of a new blog, a blog devoted to showing you “other” aspects of the Basque Country, not necessarily those that would show up in a guide book.  Mugalari has traveled himself extensively and this blog is his attempt to do for the Basque Country what would have been nice for him in other parts of the world.

And speaking of visiting the Basque Country, the region of Debagoiena, which includes the famous University of Onati as well as the shrine Arantzazu, has a website devoted to tourism in the area. This includes guides, photos, and information about hotels and more to help you in your visit to the heart of Gipuzkoa.

I ran into this next site just searching for Basque images on Google.  It is amazing what you find sometimes.  I’ve often been asked, especially by adherents of the Society for Creative Anachronism, what the Basque dress of the Middle Ages was.  It’s hard to find much about that in English, though I guess I would think there is quite a bit in Spanish and Basque.  In any case, this site has quite a few images devoted to the dress of Basques from that era.  Some very interesting images.

Finally, the Basque Country, like the UK and other parts of Europe, was recently hit by some winter weather, and this blog of EiTB captures some of the resulting spectacular scenery, including this image of a snow-covered La Concha.  The Basque Country looks very different in white than it does in the typical green we are more familiar with, though just as striking and beautiful.

Diaspora, Euskadi, News

Euskadi to export Mondragon’s cooperative work model to US

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Joe Guerricabeitia originally posted this on the Seattle Euskal Etxea website.  I really enjoyed it and, with his permission, repost it here.

America is a nation of democracy. The Founding Fathers designed it so; Alexis de Tocqueville praised it. During the last half century America solidified this democracy such that every American man, woman and child was given the right to affect their lives through an equal right to vote. Still, for a nation which often touts its democratic roots as one if its hallmark characteristics, the idea of direct worker involvement in US corporate affairs is often branded as leftist, socialist and sometimes even categorically painted with the wide, red-brush of McCarthy’s communism.

Here in Washington state, where commercial aeronautics was born under the Boeing banner, some have argued that worker unions and their collective bargaining recently drove the big “B” to establish its second 787 Dreamliner production line in South Carolina, where amongst other things workers are not unionized.

This makes the increasing popularity of worker driven cooperative business  models within the US, all the more interesting.  Most notable has been the decision by the United Steel Workers Union to court and co-opt the Basque, worker-owned cooperative model of Mondragon Cooperative Corporation (MCC). The United Steel Workers Union, is after all, North America’s largest industrial trade union.

Following an age of corporate outsourcing and off-shore manufacturing plants US workers have looked to the world to find a sustainable model for future US growth and have landed right in our Aitxitxe (grandfather) and Amuma’s (grandmother’s) backyard.  The US Steel workers have looked at the example set by the Basques of Mondragon and decided that the very same could be done here,  and why not?

As Americans we are a nation of do-it-yourselfers (DIY’ers). We live by, “if you want something done right, do-it-yourself.” We are a proud nation of entrepreneurs, so well known for our creativity and that which is often described as the American Spirit, that every year foreign nationals  inundate us with applications for work, and study visas. This spirit, is ingrained in us and has driven the proliferation of big-box DIY chains like Lowe’s and Home Depot. As Americans we  swap home and automotive repair tips like baking recipes with our friends.

As Basques we are hard-working, family-centric people. We know our neighbors. In Euskadi and throughout the diaspora we have earned a reputation of ingenuity, pioneering spirit and hard work, all traits that carried us into new worlds either by boat or by plane, wherever there was work and opportunity available.  Always with us we  brought our traditions, our language and often times our families.

Mondragon’s cooperative work model is simply one of the oldest traditions, repackaged: the baserria.  Like the ever-disappearing baserritarra (traditional farmer from a baserria [farmhouse]) could tell you the baserria was and in some cases still is a modern day worker-owned cooperative. Often centralized around families this microcosm of sustainability, traditionally revolved around farming and ranching but newer generations have hybridized this tradition by allowing the older generations to continue to farm and ranch as their forefathers had done, while the youth have pursued greater educational opportunities and a chance to join Euskal Herria’s burgeoning manufacturing and business sectors.

The “baserriak” cooperative model is not “new” to the US, only new to US workers. The cooperative model has always been with Basques even in the diaspora in the form our Euskal Etxeak or Basque Centers, where the economy of currency has been swapped for heritage and tradition, sport and dance, language and culinary delights.

To our American brothers and sisters we say, “Ongi etorri!” or Welcome! May the cooperative model work as well in for Americans as it has done for so long with the Basques.

Garaipena, neke askoren ondorena “Success is the result of a lot of hard work.”

References

In Cleveland, Worker Coops Look to a Spanish Model By Judith D. Schwartz from Time.com; 12/22/09; Accessed 12/28/09

US Seeks Inspirtaion in Basque Cooperative Model By I. H. – E. S. from, eitb.com; Published 12/28/09; Accessed 12/28/09

‘One Worker, One Vote:’ US Steelworkers to Experiment with Factory Ownership, Mondragon Style By Carl Davidson from, SolidarityEconomy.net; Published 10/27/09; Accessed 11/25/09

Books

Obabakoak by Bernardo Atxaga

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obabakoak-atxagaObabakoak by Bernardo Atxaga is one of my favorite books.  Certainly I have a little bias because it is by a Basque author, but it is simply a marvelous book, regardless of any personally leanings.  I read it for the second time this summer as part of the New Mexico Euskal Etxea’s book club and rediscovered all of the charm and wonder that I first encountered over a decade ago when I first read it.

Using the fictitious Basque town of Obaba as a framing device, Atxaga tells a series of tales that are essentially independent short stories, but all with some connection to Obaba.  Some take place in Obaba itself, others focus on people originally from Obaba.  The town of Obaba serves to bring some cohesiveness to the collection.

I had forgotten some of the stories that really are great.  Whether dealing with one man’s exploration of an old forgotten Spanish town, or the dreams of a man trying to escape his life through an elaborate crime, or even just the story of a man revisiting the mysterious circumstances surrounding the disability of an old grade-school friend, each story has a different style and different approach that individually explore the human condition in such a wonderful way, but collectively demonstrate the great skills of their author.

While the English version is a result of both Atxaga’s skill as a writer in Euskara as well as the translator’s ability to reword that Euskara into English, such that the line between author and text is a little blurred, the way words are used is just delightful.  Take, for instance, this description from the chapter entitled “Nine Words in Honour of the Village of Villamediana”:

Imagine, for example, that you have a cockroach living in your house and one day it occurs to you to christen that cockroach Jose Maria, and then it’s Jose Maria this or Jose Maria that, and very soon the creature becomes a sort of small, black person, who may turn out to be timid or irritable or even a little conceited.  And obviously in that situation you wouldn’t dream of putting poison down around the house.  Well, you might consider it as an option but no more often than you would for any other friend.

That last line just completely changes the entire feeling of the paragraph.  Or this one, from the same chapter:

What else was solitude if not a situation in which even the ticking of a clock can be companionable?

Overall, the stories, it seems to me, belong to that class of fiction that Borges contributed so much to, magic realism.  These stories surprise the reader with their plot, but also explore those corners of the human experience, both the dark and light corners, that make life so rich, that make being human so, well, human.  His characters all have their shortcomings, all have their foibles, and are the richer for it.  There are no happy endings.  There are endings that are happy, but just because that happens in real life at times.  Just like real life, there are sad endings, and tragic endings, and Atxaga has all of those.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is simply interested in a collection of great stories.