On 28 July we had a surprise. Ainhitze and her brother Sabin, came for dinner at North Greenview. It was a happy coincidence that our paths crossed in Chicago. Somehow, meeting Ainhitze made the whole Chicago experience more real, while also reaffirming our strong European common heritage. Our conversation, which focused very much on the situation of the Basque Country (Euskadi) today in Spain , was full of subtext and "undercurrents" that would have most likely escaped a non-European.
Ainhitze and Sabin were here on their way to Boise, the capital of Idaho, together with their parents and another sister, to participate in the International Basque Festival that takes place there every five years. Jaialdi, as the festival is named, celebrates the Basque culture, which is prominent in southwestern Idaho. What? Yes, that's right, Basque culture is prominent in southwestern Idaho. We were surprised too! In fact, some 15,000 people with ties to Euskadi live in Idaho, making it one of the largest concentrations in the world outside Euskadi. The organisers of Jaialdi were expecting up to 45,000 people from around the world in the City of Trees - as Boise is also known - to celebrate this week. Who would have guessed?!
Below is a more detailed historical explanation of the Basque presence in the Americas, taken from the website of Boise's Basque Museum and Cultural Center (by the way, Boise also boasts a Basque-language pre-school - important, if you consider the fact that Basque is very likely the only pre-Indo-European language in use today in Europe, and thus worth of preservation for the sake of human diversity):
"There has been a Basque presence in the Americas from the age of Columbus. Basques under the crown of Castile were among the explorers, priests and Conquistadors of the Spanish Empire. Placenames like Trepassey, Biscayne Cove, Durango and Biscayne Bay remember their foundations. Basques began to come to English-speaking America during the 1848 California Gold Rush.
The first wave of Basques were already part of the diaspora who were living in Chile and Argentina and came when they heard word of the discovery of gold. When the gold rush did not pan out for most Basque immigrants, the majority turned to ranching and sheep-herding in California's Central Valley, and later in northern Nevada and southern Idaho. Many more Basques arrived from the Basque Country upon hearing of the success of their comrades in America.
Basque immigration was effectively cut off by the 1921 National Origins Quota Act. Basque immigration was restored by Nevada Senator McCarran's 1952 immigration act, which allowed a quota of 500 Basques (technically 'Spanish Sheep Herders'). "
(L)
The first wave of Basques were already part of the diaspora who were living in Chile and Argentina and came when they heard word of the discovery of gold. When the gold rush did not pan out for most Basque immigrants, the majority turned to ranching and sheep-herding in California's Central Valley, and later in northern Nevada and southern Idaho. Many more Basques arrived from the Basque Country upon hearing of the success of their comrades in America.
Basque immigration was effectively cut off by the 1921 National Origins Quota Act. Basque immigration was restored by Nevada Senator McCarran's 1952 immigration act, which allowed a quota of 500 Basques (technically 'Spanish Sheep Herders'). "
(L)
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