BOISE, Idaho (AP) - Idaho has 7,900 residents who claim Basque heritage, 2,000 of them in Boise. Those numbers are self-reported on government surveys, so the actual Basque population could be much higher. Contrary to myth, though, Idaho is not the most populous Basque state in the U.S.
California holds that honor.
But what Idaho Basques lack in raw numbers, they more than make up for in concentration, visibility and distinctiveness. Basques began arriving here more than a century ago, flourishing as they integrated themselves into civic and social life while preserving their unique heritage and cultural identity. Their strong and unique presence made Boise a natural pick for the first Jaialdi festival in 1987, and for those that have followed every five years since 1990.
“What we do have is a very concentrated, more recent immigration that is very visible and vocal,” said Gloria Totoricaguena (Toto-REE-ka-GWAY-na), a second-generation Boise Basque and scholar who did her Ph.D. dissertation on what is known as the Basque diaspora. She’s written seven books on Basques, including one specifically on Basques in Boise.
“When you have a state like Idaho that has a low population to start with, then any group of immigration makes a big splash,” she said. “What we have in the Treasure Valley is concentration, not population.”
Beginning in the early 1800s, Basques left their homeland in northern Spain to escape civil war, economic hardship and political oppression. Leaving Spain, they sought opportunity, a measure of acceptance and peace. They flocked to the Americas, initially to places such as Argentina, Chile and Mexico, where their descendants today number in the millions. They began to filter into the U.S., as did other eager new arrivals, to chase the gold and silver strikes in the West. When they arrived, however, they saw greater opportunity in feeding and outfitting the miners than in digging for precious metals themselves.
Essentially stateless in their homeland, but with a culture and identity that predates even the Roman conquest of Europe, Basques readily assimilated here while still maintaining their strong cultural identity. To the extent that they encountered prejudice and discrimination, it was more for their religion — Catholicism — than for ethnicity.
Ben Ysursa, who retired as Idaho’s secretary of state this year after three terms and more than 40 years in the office overall, remembers the stories told by his predecessor, Pete Cenarrusa, a fellow Basque who held the office for 36 years. Among them: a young Cenarrusa growing up in Bellevue and whupping a schoolyard bully who picked on him for being Basque.
More important, said Ysursa, whose grandparents were first-generation arrivals here, was a strong sense of community among the Basques living here.
“Pete always thought the fact that Basques usually took care of their own problems internally, that the local communities had no problem having a celebration with Basques,” Ysursa said. “They respect the community and the mores of the community, and worked hard. The perception was that Basques will take care of themselves. You don’t have to worry about them.”
And indeed, Basques did take care of themselves — from the boarding houses where recent immigrants started new lives here and sheepherders found a respite from their isolated lives to the Basque Mutual Aid societies that were formed to provide community assistance. Boise Basques created one in 1908.
“Basque society in the homeland is very much about you and your neighbor,” Totoricaguena said. “Civil rights or political rights are not given to an individual; they’re giving to a community, a town, to an area like a neighborhood, who you can see from your farmhouse. That value of we, us, our, is different from I, me, mine. Basque values are plural, and so that affects their integration into their community.”
BASQUES BY THE NUMBERS
Total United States residents of Basque descent (2013 estimate): 56,673
Top 10 states
California - 18,413
Idaho - 7,906
Nevada - 5,092
Oregon - 2,626
Washington - 2,271
Texas - 2,140
Arizona - 2,019
Colorado - 1,925
Florida - 1,642
New York - 1,451
Other states/territories: 11,260
IDAHO BASQUES: MYTHS AND MISCONCEPTIONS
1. Idaho (or Boise) has the largest concentration of Basques outside of the Basque region of Spain/France.
Not even close. Idaho doesn’t even have the most Basques in the U.S. California does, with more than 18,000, according to 2013 Census estimates.
2. Most Idaho Basques came here from Spain.
Most Basques who came to Idaho in the late 1800s and early 1900s had previously immigrated to the United States, Mexico or South America and were relocating here. Basques who arrived later, from the 1930s on, mostly came from Bizkaia, Spain, and within that region, from a small triangle between Bakio and Ondarroa on the coast and inland to Durango.
3. Basques came here to be sheepherders.
Basques relocated to Idaho after the discovery of gold and silver. Rather than mine the metals, they became ranchers or farmers to feed the miners.
4. Basques were drawn to sheepherding because that’s what they did in the Basque Country.
Like most immigrant groups, Basques took low-level jobs that no one else wanted. Also, sheepherding required little upfront investment, because sheep could be raised and tended on public land, and English was not required. Basques who went from Europe to Argentina in the 1820s developed ranching and herding skills there, not in the Basque Country.
5. Paella is a Basque dish.
Paella, a pan-cooked dish of rice, vegetables and various meats or seafood, originated in Valencia, on Spain’s eastern coast. The Basque variety contains chicken, chorizo and seafood.
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Information from: Idaho Statesman, https://www.idahostatesman.com
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