Molly Mendiguren sent this photo of her lauburu tattoo.
She writes “Taken right after I got it. Chose the basque red & green colors over the plain black.”
The full size photo can be found in the Tattoo Gallery.
Eskerrik asko Molly!
Mikel Laboa: First notes for a march…
One of the pioneers of modern Basque music, Mikel Laboa, recently died (Dec 1, 2008). Beginning in the 1960s, Laboa was a cornerstone of much that followed, from the rediscovery of traditional Basque instruments such as the alboka and the txalaparta to influencing even some of the hard rock and heavy metal bands that the Basque Country is now quite known for. In this Guest Column, frequent contributor David Cox gives a retrospective of both Laboa’s work as well as his place in Basque culture.
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Link dump
I’ve been meaning to share this set of links for a while and just thought I’d “dump” them on you before I either forget or they get outdated. 🙂
Last.fm, an online music station of sorts, has a channel dedicated to Kortatu and similar artists. I haven’t spent a lot of time with it yet, but if you are looking for some classic Basque rock, tune in here.
OK, this one I’m not sure what to make of… the concept looks intriguing, but I don’t think I understand it well enough. Baskinbox seems to be a Basque gift box, with information about food, hotels, recreation, etc. But, I’m not quite sure what is actually included in the box. Can anyone help me out?
Aimee Eiguren, a very distant cousin of mine on my mom’s side, has a blog of her own, Bowl of Soul. In her most recent post, she describes her first trip to Euskadi to visit the homes of her ancestors and shares a great recipe for Basque Omelette.
NABO, the North American Basque Organization, tries to help the various Basque clubs in efforts that are too big for any individual club. This includes organizing summer camps for kids, hosting the national Mus championship, and much more. On this page, they describe the ongoing effort to create a Basque Studies Consortium, the goal of which is to create a clearing house, of sorts, for Basque Studies, a place people can go and see what the most recent research in areas related to the Basques has uncovered.
The Nevada State Museum recently installed a 1902 Sheepherders Wagon, built for the Campbell Ranch. According to the site, the first-ever sheepherders wagon was built by James Candlish of Wyoming in 1884, and it soon was adopted by sheepherders all over the American West.
Continuing the historical theme, this article in the Idaho Statesman describes the early history of the Basques in Boise, Idaho. It focuses on their involvement in the restaurant and hotel businesses. In particular, they quote an 1893 Stateman article that reported that “Yturraspe & Uberuaga will on Monday, January 1st, take charge of the City Restaurant and lodging house, which they have purchased from Russ Luark.”
This site, which gives a number of images on bordering of different styles, also has a page dedicated to Basque bordering. I’m not sure how useful these images or these pages would be for one doing this kind of work, but maybe in the least these patterns will inspire.
An interesting little diversion, using a pattern you can download for free from this site, you can create a simple three-dimensional dodecahedron calendar in a number of languages, including Euskara.
The Taller de Artesania Lorratz has a great gallery of images, including paintings, drawings and mosaics. The drawings, in particular, are of Basque buildings, with baserriak, churches, castles, and even a windmill. The images are accompanied by the name and location of the building. There are also some children’s arts and crafts images.
And, finally, for this update at least, NABO recently welcomed a new member to its fold. Euskaldunak: Association des Basques du Quebec is the latest club to both become part of NABO and put a presence on the web. The page, in both French and Euskara, seems to be still a work in progress, but there are photos and announcements regarding the group’s recent events. Zorionak!
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Euskadi geurea
The tattoo photos keep coming in.
The latest tattoo belongs to Mikel Lataburu. On his arm, he has the phrase “Euskadi geurea,” which translates to “Euskadi is ours.” He had it done by a Kurdish friend of his in Istanbul, where Mikel currently resides. He says it is a beautiful Sunday day in Istanbul and that he hopes everyone has a relaxing day.
This, and all the other tattoos, can be seen in the Photo Album.
Eskerrik asko, Mikel!
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Euskara Umearentzat
My Euskara is very poor. I have a basic understanding of the grammar, but my vocabulary is very limited and I don’t have the declensions nor the conjugation of the verbs in my head.
Even so, I’d like to pass what little I can on to my daughter, to at least give her an exposure to the language. Maybe, someday, when she is old enough to decide for herself, she may choose to study Euskara in some depth. At the very least, I want her to be familiar with the sounds and some basic vocabulary for when we might visit family in Euskadi.
During one of our trips, we found this great book, Nire Lehenengo Hitzen Liburua, which is sort of a Baby Einstein book but in Euskara. It is a book of pictures, with different topics on each page (like animals, the kitchen, transportation, and so on). In fact, we have a Baby Einstein book that is very similar. This book has the name of each item in both Euskara and English, so it is great.
I’m wondering if anyone has any other such books they’d recommend. I’m not sure I’m up for a book with actual sentences (though we do have some of those in them too). More, something that has pictures and names of the pictures, ideally in both Euskara and English. Maybe something more advance as well. What books have you found? Any suggestions?
By the way, Nire Lehenengo Hitzen Liburura can be purchased online from Elkar.
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Lauburu + Oak Leaves = Great Tattoo
Kevin Paul shares his tattoo, done by Tattoo 13 in Oakland, CA. It is a stylized lauburu in which each of the heads of the lauburu is an oak leaf. A great idea! Thanks for sharing Kevin. This, and all the tattoos, are in the Tattoo Gallery.
If you have a tattoo to share, feel free to send me a photo and a caption to blas@buber.net.
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72nd Anniversary of the Bombing of Gernika
Sunday, April 26, marks the 72nd anniversary of the bombing of Gernika. When I posted on a previous anniversary, I wrote that the Wikipedia article on the bombing briefly mentions that, in addition to Gernika and Durango, Gerrikaitz was also bombed. I was intrigued by this as my dad is from that town and I very much wanted to know more.
Joe Guerricabeitia’s dad is also from Munitibar/Arbatzegi-Gerrikaitz and he had the opportunity to talk to his grandfather about the bombing. In this posting on the Seattle Euskal Etxea’s blog, Joe describes his Aitxitxe’s experience and how they were very lucky not to lose the family basseri.
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The Basque Country: Insight into its culture, history, society and institutions
Finding nice overviews of the Basque Country — its history, culture, traditions, and language — is rare in English. There are, of course, The Basque History of the World by Mark Kurlansky and The Basque Country: A Cultural History by Paddy Woodworth. But, both of those are rather lengthy and certainly have their authors’ respective biases.
The Basque government has released a “handbook” about the Basque Country. Entitled The Basque Country: Insight into its culture, history, society and institutions, the stated goal of this publication is to introduce the Basque Country to immigrants, the diaspora, and tourists, to give them all some insight into the place they may live, their ancestors were from, or they are visiting.
I haven’t taken a close look yet, but it seems pretty comprehensive and, furthermore, as opposed to the two books mentioned above, is from a Basque perspective. I definitely look forward to delving into it in more depth.
A PDF of this handbook can be downloaded from the site above or a hardcopy can be requested directly by writing to an email address supplied on that site.
Thanks to John Ysursa of NABO for pointing this out!
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Oreka Tx and the Txalaparta
I had never heard of the txalaparta before my first visit to Euskadi in 1991, even though I was semi-active in Basque dancing and attended many festivals in the US. In fact, I only learned about it once a friend of mine, Mikel Lopategi, who was also in Euskadi at the same time, had learned about it and was trying to build his own. What little I had heard fascinated me. I thought the music was great and the concept even better. But, even my dad, having grown up in Munitibar, had never heard about it.
I went back in 1996 and visited a music store in Bilbao, asking for a compilcation or anything of txalaparta music. Even then, the person working there couldn’t find anything. Txalaparta was something old, maybe ancient, but which was still so new that no one knew anything about it.
That has changed in more recent years. A number of popular Basque musicians, such as Kepa Junkera, have incorporated txalaparta in their music. Even more impressive, there are now professional txalaparta duos who have released their own music. When I was in Seattle, we had the honor of hosting the Ugarte Anaiak, a brother duo who pushed the boundaries of the txalaparta by using stone and metal in addition to the traditional wood to make their sounds.
Maybe one of the most well known efforts is Oreka Tx. They are featured in an article appearing on Spinner. The article includes some samples of their music and discusses their most recent project, Nomadik Tx, their effort to bring Basque music and the txalaparta to other parts of the world. Well worth a read!
By the way, here is a video of Ugarte Anaiak, from YouTube. I couldn’t find a website for them in particular. Does anyone know of one?
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A Tribute to Aita Tillous
Joyce Inchauspe is a member of the Big Horn Basque Club of Wyoming. When she heard about Aita Tillous’ passing, it was snowing where she lives. She was inspired to make a little Basque snowman as a tribute to a man who they had the pleasure to host many times in Wyoming. She writes:
Father, may you be seated at the heavenly feast with all those you served so well, and that have gone before you to set the table with vino and cheese.
Joyce asks if anyone who speaks and writes Euskara could add a Basque prayer, she would be very grateful.
Eskerrik asko, Joyce!
