A Festival for Remembrance (Holiday)
Every time someone asks me what my heritage is I laugh. I try and explain to them that I am a lot of things but mainly Basque, German, and Polish. People say, “Basque? What is that?” I proceed to explain to them that the Basque people live in the westernmost part of the Pyrenees Mountains between Spain and France. I learned about my heritage because there is a Basque festival every year in the town where my mom is from. “Four of the provinces are in Spain (Guipuzcoa, Vizcaya, Alava, and Navarra) and three provinces in France (Soule, Labourd, and Basse-Navarre)” (Anderson).
The Basque people were separated into their own land but had a variety of normal working class jobs, such as peasants and fisherman. In the early Middle Ages they were skilled boat makers, whale hunters, and cod fisherman hunting far into the Atlantic. Many of those who lived more inland were sheepherders and farmers. The main city in their country, which would be considered their capital, is called Pamplona. This city has withstood a lot of battles and is still standing today. The Basque people survived through almost everything; even the great Roman Empire who tried to conquer them around 407 AD. The Romans tried to conquer the Basque people but in the end the Basque’s lived under minimal Roman rule. The civil wars that were fought in Spain, called the “Carlist Wars” caused the Basques to break up. “The wars were fought over people who wanted to retain the medieval legal structure of Spain and those who wanted to reform it using the principles of the French Revolution” (The Peoples of Europe). After all these wars and problems many fled to North and South America.
My great grandpa left Spain in the 1946 for a long journey to America, herding sheep for a man. Once my great grandpa paid off his debt to the man he was free to go and live his own life. He received his citizenship and started his own life in Elko, Nevada. My grandpa is one example of many other Basques who came to this great country. Throughout the years the Basque descendants have slowly forgotten their heritage and all their traditions. I myself, only have knowledge because there is a National Basque festival in Elko, Nevada. My mom’s from Elko, so I had the privilege of going to the festival a couple of times. The National Basque festival is held every year in Elko because many of the Basque people settled in Nevada for their animals to graze on the good land. The Basque people have different sorts of entertainment similar but different to those of the western civilization.
In Elko, they have the Basque festival at the beginning of July. First, the festival starts off with running from the bulls. The contestants have to be eighteen and are encouraged to wear a white shirt and pants and a red scarf and sash worn the traditional Basquo way. The contestants run from one part of the town to another. After this happens, little shops begin to pop up at the fair grounds and people from all over the nation come to Elko. Most of these shops are antique shops or shops where you can by art crafts and other little trinkets. A lot of them have not only Basque foods but other kinds as well. For instance, one booth might sell Indian tacos, which are similar to tostadas. Over the weekend, a huge festival begins. There are many games and contests the visitors can take part in. My uncles participated in a few of the events. One of them did a weightlifting competition where the contestants pick up a two foot by two foot granite or stone ball that is two hundred and fifty pounds the first round and three hunderd pounds the second round and see how many times they can roll it around their neck. There’s one weight competition where the contestants pick up one hundred and four pound weights in each hand and see how many times they can walk around two posts. My other uncle participated in wood contests that consisted of chopping down trees, sawing wood, and building sheds. There is a relay that consists of three tasks. The first person has to chop down a tree, the second has to carry weights and the third person has to use water to leverage a wooden door to open and let the water through. The kids participate in various games as well. One in particular is called soka tira, which is a form of Basque tug-or-war. Kids and adults participate in a handball game where they have to hit a ball with there hand against a concrete wall.
On the Saturday morning of the festival there is a huge parade that lasts for about a half an hour. It consists of adults and kids of all ages. They wear the Basque colors red, black, green, and white. The women wear a red and black skirt, white shirt, black vest, red scarf, and a white bandana. The men wear a black hat, white shirt, black pants, white socks and a red vest. The parade consists of various dances, beautiful parade floats that are decorated according to the year’s theme, important people, and a hefty amount of the people in the contests. Throughout the day there is Basque dancing, singing, and even a yelling contest. The contestants do a Basque yell called Irinzi, and who ever does the best one gets a prize. For lunch there is a huge feast. The traditional food is Basque beans, lamb stew, and sheepherder bread, which is made out of butter, sugar, salt, water, yeast and unbleached flour and is cooked in a Dutch oven. Towards the end of the day, there is a sheepdog contest where the owners give their dogs commands and which ever dog runs the sheep to the end point the fastest wins the contest. There is a contest called the sheep-hooking contest where only ranchers are allowed to participate. In this contest, the ranchers see who can hook the sheep the fastest out of the shoot and into their pens.
There are a lot of food contests, such as the best chili contest. Visitors are allowed to walk around and try samples of all of the foods entered into the contest. Some of the foods are even judged by the visitors themselves. On Sunday, there is a bread baking contest where the contestants bake bread and the visitors judge it. Later that day, there is a huge dance competition that only Basque people can participate in. The nights conclude with Basque people and visitors getting drunk, dancing, and watching a huge firework show seen throughout the town.
The Basque festival is not put on for any particular reason. The festival happens annually so that the Basque people in North America have a chance to get in touch with their roots and see what their old traditions are like. The Basque festival is a wonderful celebration that sadly only comes around once a year at the beginning of July.
The Basque people were separated into their own land but had a variety of normal working class jobs, such as peasants and fisherman. In the early Middle Ages they were skilled boat makers, whale hunters, and cod fisherman hunting far into the Atlantic. Many of those who lived more inland were sheepherders and farmers. The main city in their country, which would be considered their capital, is called Pamplona. This city has withstood a lot of battles and is still standing today. The Basque people survived through almost everything; even the great Roman Empire who tried to conquer them around 407 AD. The Romans tried to conquer the Basque people but in the end the Basque’s lived under minimal Roman rule. The civil wars that were fought in Spain, called the “Carlist Wars” caused the Basques to break up. “The wars were fought over people who wanted to retain the medieval legal structure of Spain and those who wanted to reform it using the principles of the French Revolution” (The Peoples of Europe). After all these wars and problems many fled to North and South America.
My great grandpa left Spain in the 1946 for a long journey to America, herding sheep for a man. Once my great grandpa paid off his debt to the man he was free to go and live his own life. He received his citizenship and started his own life in Elko, Nevada. My grandpa is one example of many other Basques who came to this great country. Throughout the years the Basque descendants have slowly forgotten their heritage and all their traditions. I myself, only have knowledge because there is a National Basque festival in Elko, Nevada. My mom’s from Elko, so I had the privilege of going to the festival a couple of times. The National Basque festival is held every year in Elko because many of the Basque people settled in Nevada for their animals to graze on the good land. The Basque people have different sorts of entertainment similar but different to those of the western civilization.
In Elko, they have the Basque festival at the beginning of July. First, the festival starts off with running from the bulls. The contestants have to be eighteen and are encouraged to wear a white shirt and pants and a red scarf and sash worn the traditional Basquo way. The contestants run from one part of the town to another. After this happens, little shops begin to pop up at the fair grounds and people from all over the nation come to Elko. Most of these shops are antique shops or shops where you can by art crafts and other little trinkets. A lot of them have not only Basque foods but other kinds as well. For instance, one booth might sell Indian tacos, which are similar to tostadas. Over the weekend, a huge festival begins. There are many games and contests the visitors can take part in. My uncles participated in a few of the events. One of them did a weightlifting competition where the contestants pick up a two foot by two foot granite or stone ball that is two hundred and fifty pounds the first round and three hunderd pounds the second round and see how many times they can roll it around their neck. There’s one weight competition where the contestants pick up one hundred and four pound weights in each hand and see how many times they can walk around two posts. My other uncle participated in wood contests that consisted of chopping down trees, sawing wood, and building sheds. There is a relay that consists of three tasks. The first person has to chop down a tree, the second has to carry weights and the third person has to use water to leverage a wooden door to open and let the water through. The kids participate in various games as well. One in particular is called soka tira, which is a form of Basque tug-or-war. Kids and adults participate in a handball game where they have to hit a ball with there hand against a concrete wall.
On the Saturday morning of the festival there is a huge parade that lasts for about a half an hour. It consists of adults and kids of all ages. They wear the Basque colors red, black, green, and white. The women wear a red and black skirt, white shirt, black vest, red scarf, and a white bandana. The men wear a black hat, white shirt, black pants, white socks and a red vest. The parade consists of various dances, beautiful parade floats that are decorated according to the year’s theme, important people, and a hefty amount of the people in the contests. Throughout the day there is Basque dancing, singing, and even a yelling contest. The contestants do a Basque yell called Irinzi, and who ever does the best one gets a prize. For lunch there is a huge feast. The traditional food is Basque beans, lamb stew, and sheepherder bread, which is made out of butter, sugar, salt, water, yeast and unbleached flour and is cooked in a Dutch oven. Towards the end of the day, there is a sheepdog contest where the owners give their dogs commands and which ever dog runs the sheep to the end point the fastest wins the contest. There is a contest called the sheep-hooking contest where only ranchers are allowed to participate. In this contest, the ranchers see who can hook the sheep the fastest out of the shoot and into their pens.
There are a lot of food contests, such as the best chili contest. Visitors are allowed to walk around and try samples of all of the foods entered into the contest. Some of the foods are even judged by the visitors themselves. On Sunday, there is a bread baking contest where the contestants bake bread and the visitors judge it. Later that day, there is a huge dance competition that only Basque people can participate in. The nights conclude with Basque people and visitors getting drunk, dancing, and watching a huge firework show seen throughout the town.
The Basque festival is not put on for any particular reason. The festival happens annually so that the Basque people in North America have a chance to get in touch with their roots and see what their old traditions are like. The Basque festival is a wonderful celebration that sadly only comes around once a year at the beginning of July.
posted by angela jacobs at
2:52 PM
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