4 minute read

Basque Families

Basque Families In North America



For American Basques, especially those in the United States, Euskara is peripheral to Basque identity (Urla 1987; Urla 2000). Close-knit family groups are an important part of Basque-American culture. Basqueness is very much a family issue, and in families where only one parent is of Basque descent, the children are often raised with a high consciousness of their Basque ancestry. The families most actively involved in maintaining their ethnic heritage belong to Basque clubs where they meet regularly with other Basques in their community to enjoy traditional foods, encourage their children to learn Basque dancing, and celebrate their ethnicity. The North American Basque Organizations, Inc. (NABO) is a federation of the Basque clubs of North America and a group with liaisons to similar federations elsewhere and to the Basque government. Children can attend the NABO-sponsored Udaleku summer camp to improve their dance skills, study Euskara, learn to play traditional musical instruments, participate in Basque games and sports (such as the card game mus or the handball relative pelota), and sing Basque songs. These families consider Basqueness something to be worked at and sought after.



Outside the Basque country, European politics and issues such as the state of political prisoners are generally not a family concern. Catholicism remains the predominant religion among Basque emigrant families and their descendants. Gender roles in these families tend to resemble those of the surrounding majority culture.

Not all emigrant Basques have maintained the link to their ethnicity. Many descendants of early settlers in Latin America and some descendants of more recent emigrants to other parts of the world no longer identify themselves as Basque. Conversely, there are also many families who still consider themselves Basque although their children may only be one-half, one-fourth, or even one-eighth Basque.


See also: SPAIN


Bibliography

Astelarra, J. (1995). "Women, Political Culture, and Empowerment in Spain." In Women in World Politics: An Introduction, ed. F. D'Amico and P. R. Beckman. Westport, CT and London: Bergin & Garvey.

Boyd, C. (1997). Historia Patria: Politics, History, and National Identity in Spain, 1875-1975. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Bullen, M. (2000). "Gender and Identity in the Alardes of Two Basque Towns." In Basque Cultural Studies, ed. W. A. Douglass, C. Urza, L. White, and J. Zulaika. Reno, NV: Basque Studies Program.

del Valle, T. (1994). Korrika: Basque Ritual for Ethnic Identity, trans. L. White. Reno: University of Nevada.

Echeverria, J. (1999). Home Away from Home: A History of Basque Boardinghouses. Reno and Las Vegas: University of Nevada.

Escario, P. (1992). "El ama de casa, consumidora y prescriptora del consumo" (The housewife, consumer and prescriber of consumption). In El Ama de Casa, Hoy (The Housewife, Today). Elorrio: Eroski.

Euskal herriko soziolinguistikazko inkesta 1996 (Sociolinguistic survey of the Basque country). (1996). 4 volumes. Vitoria-Gasteiz: Eusko Jaurlaritza Kultura Saila; Gobierno de Navarra; Institut Culturel Basque. Vol. 1, Euskal herria (The Basque country).

Jauréguiberry, F. (1993). Le Basque à l'école maternelle et elémentaire (Basque in pre-school and elementary school). Pau: Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour.

Jones, A. B. (1997). Women in Spain. Manchester and New York: Manchester University.

MacKinnon, K. (1997). "Minority Languages in an Integrating Europe: Prospects for Viability and Maintenance." In Language Minorities and Minority Languages in the Changing Europe, ed. B. Synak and T. Wicherkiewicz. Gdansk, Poland: Widawnictwo Uniwersytetu Gdanskiego.

Mar-Molinero, C. (1995). "The Politics of Language: Spain's Minority Languages." In Spanish Cultural Studies: An Introduction: The Struggle for Modernity. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.

Morcillo Gómez, A. (1999). "Shaping True Catholic Womanhood: Francoist Educational Discourse on Women." In Constructing Spanish Womanhood: Female Identity in Modern Spain, ed. V. L. Enders and P. B. Radcliff. Albany: State University of New York Press.

Ostolaza, A. (1997). "Reparto de tareas domésticas" (Division of Domestic Tasks). Emakunde 28:52–55.

Pérez de Lara, N. (1995). "La Situación de las mujeres universitarias y los cambios sociales" (The situation of university women and social changes). In As mulleres e os cambios sociais e económicos, ed. R. R. Philipp and M. Carme García Negro. Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela.

Reher, D. S. (1997). Perspectives on the Family in Spain, Past and Present. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Rodríguez, A. (1996). "Las mujeres cambian los tiempos" (Women Change the Times) Hika 52–53.

Tejerina Montaña, B. (1992). Nacionalismo y lengua: Los procesos de cambio lingüístico en el país vasco (Nationalism and language: The processes of linguistic change in the Basque country). Madrid: Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas.

Tovar, A. (1957). The Basque Language, trans. H. P. Houghton. Originally published as La lengua vasca. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania.

Urla, J. (1987). "Being Basque, Speaking Basque: The Politics of Language and Identity in the Basque Country." Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, Berkeley.

Urla, J. (2000)."Basque Language Revival and Popular Culture." In Basque Cultural Studies, ed. W. A. Douglass, C. Urza, L. White, and J. Zulaika. Reno: Basque Studies Program.

White, L. (2001). "Basque Identity, Past and Present." In Endangered Peoples of Europe: Struggles to Survive and Thrive, ed. J. S. Forward. Westport, CT and London: Greenwood.

Zulaika, J., and Douglass, W. A. (1996). Terror and Taboo: The Follies, Fables, and Faces of Terrorism. New York and London: Routledge.

Other Resource

North American Basque Organizations, Inc. (2002). Available from http://www.naboinc.com/.

LINDA WHITE

Additional topics

Marriage and Family EncyclopediaMarriage: Cultural AspectsBasque Families - Family Size, Gender Roles, Daily Life, Language In The Family, Families And Political Prisoners