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
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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