!e Basque Diaspora: One Step Forward

Benan Oregi and Joseba Arregui

I know others that have envied our herit- age, I’ve heard ‘I wish I were Basque’. I think because we have a comraderie, or closeness that is envied in this scattered world.

(Woman, 58 years old, resident in the US, second generation). Oiarzabal, 2005

!e Basques the Basque system of common law. !e Basque people call themselves Euska- Spanish-French border was established ldunak, those who speak the Basque in 1512, and has been maintained since language, and their land is known as then, dividing the Basque Country be- Euskal Herria, a name which could have tween Spain and France. derived from the Basque Word for ‘sun’. Still the imposition of the border did !e Basque Country, 20.664 km2 not bring the end to their unique sys- in extent, is divided into seven territo- tem: ‘when the Basques entered into the ries, four of them on the southern side, consolidating French and Spanish states, within Spain, and three of them, on the each province did so with the agreement northern side of the Pyrenées, within that it would maintain control over its France. !e Basques have never formed traditional cultural and political organi- a unified nation-state incorporating all zation. !e Basques understood that seven of their provinces. Historically, they had binding legal contracts that they have constituted a loose confed- regulated common interests with the eration united in defence of the Basque crown. At the heart of these agreements culture, language, customs, and fueros was the all-important issue of preserv- BENAN OREGI AND JOSEBA ARREGUI 109 ing the fueros (Arregi and Crull, 1996: and sub-dialects of Euskara (Luis Lu- NET)’. cien Bonaparte, 1869). Nowadays, a Actually, the end came with the ins- standardized language has been created tauration of liberal Republics in both since 1968 based mostly on one of the France and Spain: ‘the fuero system en- literary dialects, and is being used in the dured more or less untouched for cen- mass media, education and so on. Dur- turies, until the French revolution of ing the last years, the decline of the last 1789 and the end of the second Spanish centuries in the percentage of speakers Carlist War in 1876. As both France and has turned into a slow increase, due to Spain attempted to forge unitary states the support of the Basque Autonomous within their territorial boundaries (a goal Government and its affirmative action that remains incomplete today in both policy that has enabled its introduction countries), they abolished the fueros. in education. Abolition provoked limited resistance in France, but in Spain it engendered the Basque nationalist movemen (Arregi Basque emigration: the first wave and Crull, 1996:NET)’. !ese crucial Pierre Lhande stated in 1910 that ‘to events lie at the heart of the history of be an authentic Basque, three condi- Basques abroad. !e initiatives target- tions were requested: To have an unpro- ing Basques in the world developed by nounceable name, to speak the language the Basque Government in Spain offer of the sons of Aitor, and to have an uncle an interesting case of para-diplomacy in America’. Basque whalers and cod performed by a sub-state actor using the fishermen were well known to be among possibilities offered by modern technol- the best fishermen and seamen in Eu- ogy to retain Basque culture and rein- rope. !ey sailed to Greenland, Iceland, force Basque identity worldwide. to Finnmark, on the northernmost tip of Norway. Eventually the Basques arrived !e Basque language and culture: in New Found Land and stablished the ancient roots in a modern world first European industry devoted to the !e Basque language, one of the oldest processing of whale products. still spoken, remains a mystery. Most Place-names in the Newfoundland philologists and anthropologists main- area and Canada, such as RED BAY or tain that the Basques have occupied the Isle-aux-Basques, Portutxoa, Placentia same territories for at least 5,000 years, Bay, as well as several gravestones do give and, as American author Mark Kurlan- proof of the arrival of the Basque sailors sky (1999), following José Miguel de by the sixteenth century. Many Basques Barandiarán, puts it, are thought to be took part in this Age of Discoveriy that descendants of the Cro-Magnons, who turned European enterprises into global lived in the area 40,000 years ago, with achievements. Among these Basques of the oldest remains dating to the Low global relevance we would like to men- Palaeolithic. Around 600,000 speakers tion Juan Sebastian de Elcano, one of use one of the nine different dialects the first man who circumnavigated the 110 AEMI JOURNAL 2008-2009 globe, Ignacio de Loiola, founder of the were pushed to join religious orders Society of Jesus (Jesuits), and Francis or leave the place looking for a bet- Xavier (Xabier), one of the most promi- ter future in far away lands. Secondly, nent Europeans in Asia. the loss of the fueros, or the rights that In the south of the American conti- the Basque people had kept for centu- nent, the conquest of indigenous lands ries. Since the Middle Ages every King attracted many Basques. Basque sailors, of Castilla had had to swear under the missionaries, merchants and mercenar- holy tree of Gernika that he would be ies began to spread and settle in the respectful with those rights, while the newly established Spanish colonies dur- Basques would swear their loyalty in ing the next centuries: the percentage of exchange. !e defeat in the two Carlist Basques among the governors of Peru, Wars (1837 and 1876) brought the end the founders of new cities and settle- of the system and the loss of this unique ments in the Rio de la Plata area, or even political system that the Basque people in first positions of the Mexican territo- had kept for ages. Since then, Basque ries and beyond, is spectacular. During young men had to serve for years in the this colonial era, soldiers, merchants and Spanish army, and that change made missionaries from the seven territories thousands leave their villages and then established themselves mostly in Peru, jump ship in ports around the world. Mexico, Cuba, Chile and Venezuela. !is as well as the five revolutions !e first Basque institution founded in that took place in Europe in the late Mexico was La Hermandad de Nuestra 1800s (industrial – liberal – agricul- Señora de Aranzazu (1671), religious tural - demographic – transportation) brotherhood hosted by the Franciscans and the personality of the Basque young (also Basques); fifty years later, the Real men, as has been noticed by authors like Compañía Guipuzcoana de Caracas was Moya (1998), made thousands escape established in Venezuela, with a totally from poverty and lack of freedom and different goal: to keep a Basque monop- depart towards a better life. Between oly in the commerce of products such as 1880 and 1910 thousands of Basque tobacco or cacao. citizens (most of them young men) left the Basque mountains and embarked Second wave: wars and crises for America, the Rio de la Plata being Among the factors compelling Basque their preferred destination. !is mas- emigration in the nineteenth century sive and sudden movement of people the following are of foremost impor- brought about depopulation, affecting tance. Firstly, the primogeniture inher- especially rural areas. Some small vil- itance system in rural Basque Country; lages lost entire generations of young the tortuous topography did not permit males, due to the ‘chain migration’ ef- the Basque farmers to divide their land fect. !e ‘American Dream’ resulted in among their siblings, and such was the such a fever among young adults that law of mayorazgo: the oldest would in- even the local authorities tried to stop herit the farmhouse. For the rest, they the phenomenon. In 1883, the Provin- cial Council of Alava published the arti- BENAN OREGI AND JOSEBA ARREGUI 111 cles that the local journalist José Colá y emigration’. But let us now focus on the Goiti had been writing with the purpose newer emigration. of deterring youngsters from falling into the hands of recruitment agents that !e !ird Wave: the Franco Re- used propaganda about the conditions gime and beyond of life and opportunities in places such During the Spanish Civil War (1936- as Uruguay. Colá wrote about the horri- 1939) thousands of Basques were vio- ble conditions of travel, the low salaries, lently forced to leave their country and the lack of security in those countries, or flee to exile as political refugees. Again, even the compulsory military service in the countries of destination for many of places like Uruguay, where twenty dif- them were located in America: Argen- ferent wars or revolutions took place in a tina, Chile, Mexico and Venezuela re- period of fifty two years. For the women ceived them with open arms. In the case he warned about the possibility of be- of Argentina, and thanks to the lobby coming a mistress or a prostitute if they work of the Committee organized by happened to emigrate. the Argentinean Basque colony, their Despite these efforts to deter it, President, Roberto Ortiz Lizardi, born emigration to America continued and of a Basque father and a Basque mother got even stronger. During those years, himself, passed a regulation on January Basque ethnic associations were founded the 20th, 1940, due to this successful in Argentina, Uruguay, Cuba, Mexico, mediation. !is extraordinary measure: Chile, and some others since the 1870s permitted the entrance to Argentina on. !eir main goals were to offer mu- of Basques without any distinction of tual support, the maintenance of culture origin and place of residence, the Com- and the celebration of their festivities. mittee Pro-Basque Immigration being Not only did they serve as landing plat- allowed to participate in the legalization forms for those who arrived, but also as process of all Basque passengers. homes away from home for those who !e arrival of these political refugees were staying longer, or never went back supposed a revival of the Basque institu- to their homelands. tions that they found in the host coun- Due to their successful integration tries. !e former social aid and cultural in the hosting societies Basques earned nature of these associations were rein- leadership roles in the new republics, for forced and homeland politics entered example, at the end of the XIX century, into their agenda. A new wave of fortune Errazuri was the President of Chile, seekers left the Basque country during Uriburu was the President of Argentina, the fifties and the sixties, looking for bet- and Idiarte Borda was in charge of the ter opportunities, but this time they pre- government in Uruguay. All three of ferred new destinations like the West of them were of Basque descent. Between the United States of America, and, for a 1853 and 1943, ten out of the twenty few hundred, Australia. !ese last wave two Presidents of Argentina were of of fortune seekers found new employ- Basque origin. Douglass and Bilbao ment working as sheepherders in the US refer to this period as ‘the old Basque and sugar cane-cutters in Australia. 112 AEMI JOURNAL 2008-2009 Regarding homeland politics, there Basques Abroad is placed within the is a clear distinction between on the Basque Presidency, at the highest level one hand Basques who headed towards of the Basque political structure. countries that hosted refugees such as !is same year Basque institutions Chile, Mexico, Uruguay and Argentina, started to contact Basques abroad. In who being intellectuals, professionals,… fact, only three years later, in 1982, a were much more active ideologically Basque World Congress was organized and politically and, on the other hand, and several representatives of the Di- those who emigrated in more recent aspora were invited to attend. It was years due to economic reasons (most in 1994 when the Basque Parliament from rural areas of the Basque Country passed a Law (Law number 8/1994) to and the vast majority towards English regulate the relations with the Basque speaking countries). !is more recent communities abroad. !e Law was ap- typology tends to join with other peo- proved thanks to the vote of all political ple of Basque origin who celebrate their parties represented in the Parliament, culture and speak the language, but they ‘because every single Basque family avoid politics. had a connection with the emigration’. Law 8 established an official register !e Basque Autonomous Govern- of Basque associations abroad and also ment and the Diaspora a series of rights that corresponded to: !e Basque Autonomous Government 1) members of those associations, 2) was established in Euskadi after the Stat- Basque-born emigrants who kept their ute of Gernika was approved in 1979. Spanish citizenship and 3) those who !e Statute of 1979 provided for the had been exiled during the Civil War. transfer of a wide range of powers to Two official institutions were created to the Autonomous Basque Community, help establish new Basque Clubs around which encompasses the three Basque the world and serve as stimulus for those provinces of Araba, Bizkaia and Gipuz- associations that had been founded one koa. Under the Estatuto de Gernika, the hundred of years ago but were still alive: Basques have created an autonomous !e Advisory Board for Relations with parliamentary government to enact laws Basques Abroad; and the World Con- regarding powers transferred from the gress of Basque Communities, to be central government to the autonomous held once every four years. region. Powers transferred thus far in- !e time had come for Basques who clude control of the public education lived abroad to have an institutional system, the Basque police force, indus- reference in the homeland that would trial planning, public health services, help them achieve their purposes. After and welfare/social security programs. In thirteen years since Law 8 was passed we addition, the Autonomous Basque Com- can argue without hesitation that the re- munity, has developed a unique foreign lation between Basques abroad and their action initiative that has relations with homeland has improved dramatically, the Basques Abroad as one of its core thanks not only to all the programs that areas. !e Directorate of Relations with are on-going, but also to all the multi- BENAN OREGI AND JOSEBA ARREGUI 113 directional links that are being created. tinction. Argentina is the country with Nowadays, the field of migration stud- the highest number of clubs (near 90), ies attracts public attention and is an and the second is United States (35). In area of increasing interest for citizens, both countries, their federations (FEVA politicians, academics, and so on. Cel- and NABO) play a key role. !e total of ebrations of Basque heritage and pride members is of about 25,000. But these in Argentina (with the annual Basque are the Basque activists abroad. !e National Week) and the United States census of voters in the homeland elec- (with Jaialdi Festival every five years) are tions contain near 38,000 people who gathering crowds of more than 30,000 live outside the borders and maintain people, showing their pride to be Basque. the right to vote. !ey do not corre- Law 8 has been developed into sev- spond with the former, since this second eral regulations that contain the legal group comes from nearly 60 countries framework for a handful of possibilities in all the five continents. Only one out of funding for cultural programs, aid of four of them voted in the last elec- for those who are in high need in Latin tions. !ere is still a third figure, corre- America (especially after the economic sponding to the descendants of Basques. depression of 2001 in some of those During the First Congress in 1995, countries), exchange programs, visits to some rough estimates were presented by the Basque Country, seminars, confer- Iñaki Aguirre, Secretary General of For- ences, and also institutional contacts, eign Action of the Basque Government. in which Basque emigrants often play In Argentina alone, 10% of the total a first hand role as facilitators. And, of population is of this origin, i.e. 3.5 mil- course, there is a Four year institutional lion. In Uruguay, they are 14% of the plan that is approved by the Basque total population, 420,000 (according to institutions since they receive the con- other reports, 25%, 750.000), all over clusions of each of the Congresses. As the country. In the United States there William Douglass puts it: ‘it is fair to say are about 50,000 families living mostly that Euskadi is among the most proac- on the West coast and the Midwest (in tive territories on the planet with respect the last US census, 2000, 57,000 peo- to maintaining ties with its emigrants ple declared themselves of Basque ethnic and their descendants (ibid, 2000:162)’. origin).Venezuela has roughly between 8,000 and 10,000 Basques. Mexico has an estimated 5,000 families in the Fed- Numbers of Basques Abroad eral District. In Chile Basques make up In August 2007, there were 5 federations about 20% of the Chilean population, and 162 associations of Basques officially some 260,000 people. ‘On the whole, registered with the Basque Government, we can soundly estimate’, the report representing 21 countries (many of concludes, ‘that the total population of them in America, some in Europe and Basque descent is about 4.5 million’. 3 in Australia). Members come from any of the seven territories, without dis- 114 AEMI JOURNAL 2008-2009 Emigration today: changing trends Technodiaspora: a new opportunity During the last meeting of the Advisory in the making Board, two phenomena where studied. New technologies allow the establish- !e first was a new kind of emigra- ment of ethnic communities through tion, short term, of hundreds of young the Internet. !is will not necessarily Basque people that leave for other coun- replace the traditional ones, but it does tries, mostly Europe and places like create new opportunities that will take China, Malaysia or elsewhere in Asia. us to a new scenario still difficult to im- !is is thanks to their high education agine. !e public and the private sec- and the opportunities offered by glo- tors, scholars, universities and all kinds balization. Globalization enables the of interest groups are fast becoming new freedom of movement for workers, the actors in relations with Basques abroad. relocation of companies and breaks the Numerous new initiatives are building borders within the European Union. new bridges for those who live far away; !e second of those phenomena was the globalization has opened new opportu- return movement that we are observing nities and it is now easier to find your from the countries that were receiving personal roots. All this is making it more emigrants. !e generally high standards and more feasible to rediscover the cul- in the homeland and the economic crisis tural origin for thousands of connected that affects Latin America has reversed Basques. the cycle. So, from being a country of Information and Communication emigrants, we have become a country of Technologies (ICTs) make it possible immigrants. to ask for public funding, to request As a result, the Basque homeland so- any kind of information, to search for ciety is undergoing a sociological shift in the meaning of a last name, to look for thinking about migration. Out of the 4.4 relatives and to participate in interest Million immigrants in Spain in 2007, groups or to chat every night with other only 98,108 were settled in Euskadi, al- people of the same ethnic origin. It also though this numbers are growing yearly. enables the opportunity of sending an e- Colombia, Bolivia, Romania, Morocco, mail to the Basque President, using the Portugal, Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina, computer. All these factors enable a new China and Algeria are the ten most im- real time relationship among Basques portant countries of origin of those im- no matter where they live. Indeed, ICTs migrants. Regarding emigration, out of break the ‘space-time’ barrier that has the 71,005 people who moved in the for many centuries limited the relation Basque Country (including Navarre) to between Basques in the homeland and a different Basque historical territories, abroad. or even Spain, only 1,406 of them chose Regarding the potential of ICT and as their final destination to settle abroad how they can help minority cultures in - the United Kingdom and France being general, and more precisely, the oldest the two main destinations (INE, Na- language in Europe, the following has tional Institute of Statistics). to be mentioned: BOGA a computer program is being used by thousands of BENAN OREGI AND JOSEBA ARREGUI 115 students that try to learn the basics of William Douglass, former Director of our complicated language not only in the Center for Basque Studies at the the Basque clubs abroad but also in 21 University of Nevada in Reno, urged Universities of Europe, America and the Basque authorities that were follow- Australia. As for the Basque Diaspora ing his words in the audience, to rescue members, they are becoming aware of the history of the Basque emigrants: the importance of being connected. As …We are only at the beginning when a result, many Basque clubs and fed- we look at the enormous potential of erations have their own web pages. !e tracing the history of specific Basque Basque Government offers information colonies in specific periods of time and about their programs through their main how they became associated, without page www.euskadi.net, and is sending a forgetting the importance of biogra- weekly bulletin to more than 10,000 e- phies built from archives and passed mail addresses. In addition, they send down orally… Intellectually this work a paper magazine they send every two is urgent, because sources are lost over months to more than 36,000 homes time… It is the substance necessary for abroad. Virtual communities have been the creation and maintenance of a tradi- established by the Society of Basque tion that… may serve as a basis for the Studies-Eusko Ikaskuntza (www.eusko- future of the different Basque identities sare.org). One can find what is now scattered around the Diaspora (William going on in any of the Basque com- A. Douglass, 1999). munities through private pages such as !is acted a wake up call for the Direc- www.euskalkultura.com, is able to get torate for Relations with Basques Abroad. the way to learn the basics of the Basque Four years later, during the opening of language through www.habe.org or can the 2003 in Vitoria, the Basque Govern- even see how to dance an intricate step ment introduced a new Collection of of a Basque ancient dance through www. publications under the name Urazandi dantzan.com. As well as this, Basque (From Overseas). Since then, twenty vol- studies are on the increase in the world umes have been edited up to compiling academic map, as well. For example, the the history of the most important Basque Center for Basque Studies at the Univer- Clubs all over the World, written by aca- sity of Nevada, in Reno (USA) offers an demics and top researchers from those on-line course in English about Basque countries. Personal memories of emi- emigration studies, and various kinds of grants are being collected in the Euska- top level publications are being distrib- ldunak Munduan series, of which eight uted to the most important universities issues have been produced. !e purpose internationally. of this collection is to offer a space for private life stories. In fact, there are thou- Gathering history to launch the sands of families with a lot to tell about future emigration, and some of their members During his opening speech at the Second are starting to read their family letters World Congress of Basque Communi- and put together the history of those who ties that took place in 1999, Professor had had to emigrate. 116 AEMI JOURNAL 2008-2009 Furthermore, an annual award was cre- Conclusions ated in 1999 under the name “Andrés For more than 800 years Basques have de Irujo” (1) been going abroad. !is collective ex- In the last eight years, researches from perience is a treasure of high value in Uruguay, Argentina, Chile and both sides our contemporary transnational and of the Basque Country have been distin- knowledge driven world. !e experi- guished with the award. Last July, 2007, ence of the Basques abroad has made us the Fourth World Congress of Basque rethink the nature of Euskadi has politi- Communities was held in Bilbao. Regard- cal, economic, social and cultural reality ing the compilation of this chapter of our far beyond the original 7 territories of history, a new step forward was presented: Euskal Herria, opening new posibilities. the birth of Digital Urazandi. Digital Ura- In the light of this, we consider Euskadi zandi (2007) is a new series based on the as a transnational and deterritorialized digitalization of the written production of reality that encompasses Basques in 21 the Basque Diasporas during the twenti- different countries world wide. In plan- eth century. !e first volume, Hemero- ning the future we are moving towards teca de la Diáspora Vasca, comprised of a 7 (original territories) + 1 (generic for 9 DVDs, contains the digitalization of Basques in the world) scenario. !e ex- 134 different magazines published by the perience gathered by previous genera- Basques abroad during the last 100 years, tions abroad is not only a question of most of them in America. It gathers a total saving the past, It is also and foremost of 180,000 pages that can be consulted about preparing ourselves for today and conveniently by researchers. the future. Recovering the experience If the first Digital Uranzandi focuses and knowledge of Basques abroad is on what the Basques abroad published, also fundamental in order to 1) gener- the second one wants to gather what has ate empathy to new inmigrants in the been published about Basques in the local Basque homeland and 2) train new gen- printed media. !is second phase of the erations in ‘integrating without losing project will target articles or references identity;. If done so, new generations of about the Basques (even publicity) that Basques will be better prepared for liv- have been published in local newspapers ing and working in an internationalized in those cities where important Basque and multicultural world. We are living Communities were settled. An agreement a transition era, in which the history of was signed in 2006 between the Basque Basque migration is being constructed Government and the Federation of Basque but, at the same time, we are also prepar- Institutions of Argentina (FEVA) on the ing for the future, imagining the myriad one hand, and three universities of Argen- of opportunities that await in Diaspora tina on the other. Students and Basque collaboration. youngsters will be trained to record mil- lions of references. For the near future, it is foreseen that Digital Urazandi will also cover another series focused on oral his- tories. BENAN OREGI AND JOSEBA ARREGUI 117 Notes migrants in Buenos Aires. University of Cali- (1) Andrés de Irujo founded together with Ixaka fornia Press, 1998. Lopez Mendizabal a publishing house in Oiarzabal, Agustín and Pedro. La identidad Buenos Aires, Ekin, which during the Fran- vasca en el mundo. Erroteta, 2005 (printed in coist regime, became the most important the US) printing service for the Basque culture (hun- Totoricaguena, Gloria. Identity, Ethnicity and dreds of books, magazines, and so on that Politics in the Basque Diaspora. 2004. Reno: could not be published in the homeland were University of Nevada Press produced from their exile in Argentina). Watson, Cameron. Modern Basque History. Center for Basque Studies. University of Ne- Bibliography vada, Reno, 2003 Arregi, Joseba I. and Crull Andra. “Basque Euskaldunak Munduan, Building the Future. 1st ” Nationalism and the Spanish State . Fourth World Congress of Basque Communities. World Bulletin SPRING/SUMMER volume Central Publishing House of the Basque Gov- 5, Nos. 1-2 1996. in http://carbon.cudenver. ernment, 1995 edu/fwc/Issue10/Europe/basque-1.html. Euskadi munduan eraikitzen. 2nd World Con- Aguirre, Iñaki. Euskaldunak munduan, build- st gress of Basque Communities. Central Pub- ing the future. 1 World Congress of Basque lishing House of the Basque Government, Communities. Central Publishing House of 1999 the Basque Government, 1995 Aurrera goaz. 3rd World Congress of Basque Douglass, William A., Bilbao, Jon. Amerikan- Communities. Central Publishing House of uak, Basques in the New World. University of the Basque Government, 2003 Nevada Press, 1975. Zubigintzan, 4th World Congress of Basque Douglass, William, A. Interstitial Culture, Vir- Communities. Central Publishing House of tual Ethnicity, and Hyphenated Basque Identity the Basque Government, 2007 in the New Millenium, in Nevada Historical Homenaje al comité pro-inmigración vasca en ar- Society Quarterly, volume 43, 2000 gentina (1940), Central Publishing House of Gallop, Rodney. A book of the Basques. Univer- the Basque Government, 2006 (2nd Edition) sity of Nevada Press, 1998. First edition, Mac- millan, London, 1930 !e basque country in figures at: Irigoyen, Alberto. Laurak Bat de Montevideo. http://www.lehendakaritza.ejgv.euskadi. 1876-1898. Primera euskal etxea del mundo. net/r48-467/en/contenidos/informacion/ Central Publishing House of the Basque Gov- euskadi_en_cifras/en_8835/euskadi_en_ ernment, 1999 cifras.html Kurlansky, Mark. !e Basque History of the Information about the basque language: World. Alfred A. Knopf Canada, 1999 nd www.euskara.euskadi.net/r59-734/en/ Lhande, Pierre. L’ émigration basque. 1910. 2 Information about programs for the basque edition, Elkarlanean, May 1998 communities abroad: Moya, Jose C. Cousins and strangers. Spanish im- http://www.euskadi.net/euskaldunak