A Hardy and Distinctive Cultural Heritage

The Basques are a distinct European ethnic group whose culture, history and language are different from those of their French and Spanish neighbors. Although they are without political sovereignty, the Basques have long occupied the region straddling the border of Spain and France, from the Western Pyrenees to the Bay of Biscay.

There is speculation that Basques are the direct descendants of the cave painters who left their mark 70,000 years ago at sites such as Lascaux and other caves throughout the region, according to the book “Amerikanuak” (University of Nevada, Reno Press, 1995). (The title of the book, by William Douglass, means “Basques in America” in the Basque language.) Other experts, Douglass notes, claim their appearance is more recent, between 5,000 to 3,000 BC. Either way, they are one of Western Europe’s oldest indigenous peoples.

There are seven Basque provinces, four in Spain and three in France. Over the years, Basque activists have sought to declare their region an independent state.

Traditionally, the Basques were subsistence farmers, but they were also noted metallurgists, whalers, sailors, shipbuilders, maritime traders and pirates.

Christopher Columbus’ first expedition was dependent upon Basque ships and sailors, writes Douglass, director of the Basque study program at the University of Nevada, Reno. Subsequently, they were heavily involved in the Spanish colonization of South America, and, by the 1700s, in the Christian missions of California. They would go on to become an integral part of the sheep-ranching industry that flourished in California and the West until the middle of this century.

Today, there are about 60,000 self-identified Basques in the United States, almost half of them in California, with strong contingents in Nevada, Idaho and Montana. More than 1,500 Basques live in the San Bernardino-Riverside area, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.