A Basque Jack of All Trades

Via The Brownsville Herald we learn about one interesting individual with a Basque background.

His name is Chuy Abete and in the article "Retirement on the road" he tells us about his Basque background and how his daughter is interested on reaching out to other Abetes around the world.

Here you have it:

Abete believes carpentry was the trade his family brought to this country from Europe, though he’s not exactly sure.

Abete’s father, a cabinetmaker at Gloor Lumber Co., first introduced him to the trade. “His parents came from New York. Their parents came from the Basque country,” he said of his lineage.The Basque country spans the French and Spanish border in the western Pyrenees.

The Basque language’s origins are unknown and unrelated to any other language in the world.

One of Abete’s daughters became interested in her Basque heritage and began researching her roots, trying to make connections with others. “She started communicating with all the Abetes she could find. There are Abetes in New York, they’re from Cuba.”

She found Abetes all over America. “The ones in Illinois we can trace back to our own tribe,” Abete said with a laugh, “through my dad.”

So, there you have it, is completely natural to be a citizen of any given country, and at the same time consider oneself Basque, unsurprisingly.

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