Footsteps in the Clay
Footsteps in the clay Towards a new awareness for the Bildts language Gerard Marcel de Jong December 2017, Pasaia San Juan/Donostia/St.-Anne Preface In 1984, my grandfather Gerryt Dirks – the man who embodied de Bildtse Post all his life, and gave his life for the Bildts cause – had the cameras of Dutch television show ‘Van Gewest tot Gewest’ as guests in his office, on the news floor of the paper I now run. They were doing an item about the future of and threats to the Bildts language – even back then, over thirty years ago. The presenter asks him: ‘How much time do you give 't Bildts before it’s extinct?’ He smiles briefly. ‘That’s a good question…” My grandfather strokes his letter opener, looks up, ponders for a bit, and decides: ‘I give 't Bildts as long as I live.’ Since January 1st 2018, the municipality ’t Bildt has ceased to exist. After 513 years, Bildts autonomy has come to an end, dissolving into the new Waadhoeke municipality. With the disappearance of autonomy, the language and culture will come under more pressure too. Not that this is anything new: Bildts has been under pressure my whole life. Through the Oare Wurden / Other Words project, I, a Bilkert, was allowed to stay in the Spanish Basque Country last May and June. There, at the Bay of Biscay, in the proximity of San Sebastián (Donostia in Basque), I had the freedom to live and work in ‘Hugoenea’, and I witnessed how proud the Basques are of their identity, language and culture.
[Show full text]