Diaspora, History

Commemoration of the bombing of Gernika amongst the Basque diaspora

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I received this request for assistance from Daniel Clarke, who needs help researching how the diaspora commemorated the bombing of Gernika.  Feel free to write Daniel directly or to post your comments here.

Dear all,

I am a student at the University of Cambridge, England, working as part of a project looking at memory, heritage and identity in post-conflict situations, with five case studies around Europe (www.cric.arch.cam.ac.uk).

Specifically, I am working in Gernika – based at the ‘Gernika Gogoratuz’ peace research centre – examining the way in which memory of its destruction in the Civil War has persisted through the years.

Particularly given the difficulty of open commemoration in the Basque Country itself during the dictatorship, I am interested in what kinds of transmission of memory were taking place amongst the Basque diaspora.

I would love to hear about any such practices within the community, either public commemorative events, programmes, monuments etc., or simply reflections on the ways in which the memory of the event has been transmitted unofficially through family customs etc.

I am particularly interested in the situation pre-1976 (when the public commemorations appear to begin in Gernika), but information on such activities in any period would be much appreciated – if possible including when they were started, by whom etc.

Eskerrik asko!

Daniel Clarke (dcc35@cam.ac.uk)

Euskadi, Photos

Along the Basque Coast

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During my last trip to Euskal Herria, I made a point of traveling from Munitibar, where my dad is from and where I was staying, to Donosti via the coast.  It’s a trip I’ve made several times in the past and well worth the cost of a rental car, but this time I tried to take pictures of the towns along the way.  I started at Ondarroa, passing through Mutriku and Deba, with a small detour to Elorriaga in the mountains, on to Zumaia and Getaria (home of Juan Sebastian de Elcano, the first person to circumnavigate the world), missing Zarautz (I went through Zarautz but because they were having their fiesta, there was no easy place to park for a photo), on through Orio and finally reaching Donosti.  I returned via Mount Igeldo and took a picture of the landscape beyond Igeldo, along a very small and windy road.

These pictures then represent about maybe one third of the Basque coast, missing west of Ondarroa (including Bermeo, Lekeitio, and Portugalete; I’ve been to several, but haven’t done the drive along the coast there) and east of Donosti, into France, again, a route I haven’t driven.

1-ondarroa2-mutriku3-deba4-elorriaga5-zumaia5b-zumaia6-getaria7-orio7b-orio8-donosti8b-donosti8c-donosti8d-donosti8e-donosti8f-donosti9-road-back

 

Euskadi, History

The King’s Way

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kings-way.2Jon Zuazo, a friend of mine in Munitibar, Bizkaia, just finished renovating his family’s ancestral baserri, Aixabide. He has taken pains to use as much of the original wood as possible, beams that are literally hundreds of years old. In showing me his house, he recounted some of the history, a history that I found both intriguing and very interesting.

The baserri has been rebuilt at least twice since it’s founding. The exact date when the original baserri was founded isn’t clear, but it existed at least since 1366. It was originally called Ajorabide, or Ajora’s Way. Ajora was a Basque female name in that era. The baserri was founded with the permission of the local lord, as it was along one of what were known as the Caminos Reales or, in Basque, Errege Bideak, or the King’s Ways. These were roads with special importance for the local economy, in this case, that connected the coast with the interior. Wine was transported from the interior to the coast, and fish was transported in the opposite direction.

Oxen were used to transport the cargo. It turns out that oxen move at the same speed, regardless of the terrain. Thus, these roads were built to be the most direct route between the interior and the coast, going up and over the mountains rather than around. Furthermore, as a team of oxen went the same speed, in a day they went a given distance. At the time, there were lots of, literally, highway robbery and it wasn’t safe for teams to remain outdoors at night. Thus, at inkings-way.1tervals of distances that could be traversed in one day, houses were established at which the teams could stay. At these houses, for a fee, the oxen could be fed and rested and even replaced with a fresh team. For a further fee, the men themselves could find room and board. One of these houses was Ajorabide.

Remnants of these roads can still be seen in the mountains of Euskal Herria. One passes near Munitibar, near Aixabide. Today, it looks like a very deep trench scarred into the earth, overgrown with vegetation, as shown in the two photos. At one time, however, these roads were the lifeblood of trade in Euskal Herria, and more than one baserri was established to facilitate that trade.

Euskadi, Music

The new millennium in Basque music — a decade of delights

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Euskal Musika, (Basque-language pop, rock and folk) has flourished for four decades, but the past 10 years have seen a musical and lyrical maturing. With the end of the era dominated by Negu Gorriak, Hertzainak and Itoiz, Basque music searched for a new touchstone identity and came up with a multitude of them. In this Guest Column, David Cox examines Basque music of the last decade and offers his top ten list of the very best.

Those who have visited Buber’s Basque Page in the past know of David Cox’s passion for Basque music.  He has contributed a number of Guest Columns focused on various aspects of Basque music in the past.  This article touches on some of the best music the Basque Country has to offer.  David has found several links to YouTube videos that showcase some of the very best.  This article is a great starting place to sample the richness and variety of Basque music.

Books, History, Interviews, People

Christine Bender: Perils and Hardships Unimaginable

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A historian’s greatest challenge is to convey the excitement and drama of history.  This is especially true for more obscure subjects, as the reader doesn’t already come with some emotional attachment.  But this is exactly where Christine Bender excels.  By using fiction as her vehicle to explore historical events, Christine is able to delve into the hearts and minds of her subjects, imagining how they thought and felt during some of history’s most exciting and crucial times.  Using her own Basque heritage as inspiration, she focuses on the adventures of Basques during the Age of Discovery, when the world was being explored to extents previously unheard of.  Her most recent book, The Whaler’s Forge, examines that time when Basques first found the North American coast in their search for new hunting grounds.

In this interview, Christine describes how she chooses her subjects and how she puts herself into their shoes to explore both their character and the world around them, and she even gives us a glimpse of the subject of her next novel.

Eskerrik asko, Christine!

Food, Travel

Pintxos!

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Anyone who has visited the Basque Country, or even attended a Basque celebration in the US, knows the central role that food occupies in the culture.  Today, the Basque Country is famous for its “new Basque cuisine,” which I did have an opportunity to try at a restaurant in Donosti (and, it was very good).  However, for the average person, what really stands out are the pintxos!

donosti-bar1Enter any bar, in any town, and you will be confronted with a bevy of food just sitting on the bar.  Usually something delectable pinned to a piece of bread by a toothpick, pintxos are uniquely Basque.  In the rest of Spain you can find tapas, small dishes that are prepared to order and are what most tapas places in the US serve (this was how a woman from Valencia described it to me).  Pintxos are defined by the bread and the toothpick — the word pintxo means spike in Spanish.  And they are central to the bar-going experience in the Basque Country.  As you wander La Parte Vieja of Donosti, the Casco Viejo of Bilbo, or even the plaza of any small town, you stop at each bar, having a small glass of wine or beer, and maybe a pintxo.  They are part of the social txikiteo of Euskal Herria.

donosti-bar2When I was visiting just a few weeks ago, a good friend of mine who I met in Seattle and who now lives in Donosti, Gonzalo Aranguren, took me to a couple of the best pintxo bars in La Parte Vieja (though, I’m sure, this being the Basque Country, there is a lot of debate over which pintxo bars are the best).  We stopped first at Gandarias. This place was full of people, even on a Thursday night, both tourists and locals.  In fact, we ran into one of the men who used to be the head of the Basque governments relations with the diaspora.  We had one of their signature pintxos, solomillo.  It was awesome!  We then headed to another bar, Goiz Argi, one that Gontzal’s uncle always demands to go to whenever he visits. There we had a skewer of shrimp, not the wimpy shrimp you find on salads in the US, but prawns, grilled to order and served again on bread.  I’m not a huge seafood fan, but the prawns found in Euskal Herria are near the top of my list of favorite foods (though, certainly below jamon serrano!).  Combined with some zuritos — small glasses of beer — or kalimotxos, this is a great lead-up to dinner or even a substitute for a regular meal.

herriko-pintxos-allDonosti is well known for their pintxo bars, but even the smallest of towns has great food.  The Herriko Taberna of Munitibar, which is run by my aunt and uncle, is a great example.  As they prepared for a busy day of people coming to town for an anniversary mass, they went all out and filled the bar with pintxos.  They had the standard tortilla, both with and without chorizo, and jamon serrano with white asparagus, mayo, and hard-boiledherriko-pintxos2 egg, but also more exotic varieties including beef tongue with green pepper, breaded zucchini on a bed of, if I recall correctly, scrambled eggs and mushrooms, and baby eels with garlic and red peppers.  I didn’t get to try all of them, especially considering that they were meant for the paying customers, but it was an awesome display.  My dad’s two sisters, helping their brother and sister-in-law on busy days, along with that sister-in-law were mad women, preparing food that served, along with the drink, as the center around which the entire social interactions of the afternoon revolved.  The food and drink, which facilitate the social life of the Basque Country, are such an integral part of that life that it is impossible to imagine a Basque Country without it.

I had a lot of other great culinary experiences during my week visit besides the pintxos.  As I mentioned, I got to try a herriko-pintxos1great restaurant specializing in new Basque cuisine in Doherriko-pintxos3nosti, very near the University on Avenida de Zumalacerregui (I wish I could remember the name).  I don’t remember many of the dishes now, but there was one that was on a bed of rice, almost a risotto, and it was great.  One night for dinner, when my cousin and her boyfriend came over as well, my aunt made octopus galician-style.  I’m not a big fan of octopus, especially the texture, but it was very tasty and not at all rubbery.  And the desserts!  I have to admit, I have a huge sweet tooth and gain 5-10 pounds every time I visit, probably because I cannot resist the desserts.  Natillas, arroz con leche, cuajada (mamia in Euskara) — all are simply awesome.

If you are interested in trying your own hand at pintxos, a great site that includes lots of recipies is Todo Pintxos.

Euskadi, Websites

Hirurogeita Lau (64)

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Florence Destin wrote to tell me about the clothing company 64.  64 is the region number of the Atlantic Pyrenees department in southwest France.  Their clothing features designs that emphasize those values traditionally associated with the Basques — food, sports, and more.  The brand is well known within France, but the company is hoping to expand to other markets.  Hence, Ms. Destin, who is responsible for e-marketing for the company, contacted me.  They have some particularly cute items for kids.