Basque Boise

This article appeared at Home & Away:

The Basques in Boise

Originally from an area occupying both Spain and France, the Basques bring a vibrant culture to this Idaho city.

By Andrea Gross

The Basque people bristle when folks call them Spanish or French. True, their homeland straddles the Pyrenees, occupying four provinces in north-central Spain and three in southwestern France, but they share little except land with their host countries. They have a distinct culture with its own foods, sports and dance.

This culture is front and center in Boise, Idaho, which has the largest concentration of Basques outside Europe. Many of Boise’s Basques are third-, fourth- or even fifth-generation Americans, and they’re firm believers in an old Basque saying: “What the grandparent chooses to forget, the grandchild embraces.”

A Block Devoted to Basques

With this in mind, they worked with the city to renovate and revitalize a small part of the old ethnic neighborhood where their grandparents and great-grandparents had lived. Basque Block, which runs along Grove Street between Capitol Boulevard and Sixth Street, was completed in 2000 and is now a spiffy tourist attraction as well as the genuine heart and soul of today’s Basque community. Along with two boarding houses that are reminders of life in the early part of the century, the block has a museum (the only Basque museum in the U.S.), a cultural center, two restaurants and a market.

As a special touch, the crests of the seven Basque provinces, the lyrics of old folk songs and the names of local Basque families are etched into the sidewalks along Basque Block.

Most people begin their visit to Basque Block at the Basque Museum and Cultural Center, which are open year-round. Here, visitors can learn more about the Basques of Europe and Idaho. One common misunderstanding: because the Basques were often sheepherders in the U.S., it is assumed they did similar work in Europe. Not exactly. Most had raised animals, often including sheep, on the steep hillsides of Europe, but that experience hardly prepared them for American-style sheepherding. In the United States, the Basques had to follow the sheep into distant mountains for months at a time, living away from wives and children, who were left on their own to adjust to their new homeland.

The cultural center is a friendly gathering place where people of all backgrounds can chat, sip kalimotxo (a drink that’s half red wine and half cola), play mus (a card game that’s a mix of bridge and poker) and learn a few words of Euskera, the unique Basque language completely unrelated to other Indo-European languages.

Oinkari is a Euskeran word that loosely translates to “dancer,” and Boise’s superb Oinkari Dancers are widely credited with raising the awareness of Basque culture in the United States. They are a professional group that, along with the children’s dance troupe known as the Boiseko Gasteak, performs publicly twice a year—at July’s San Ignacio Festival and December’s Sheepherders’ Ball. People who visit at other times of the year can try to catch a practice session at the cultural center.

Down the street from the cultural center is the Fronton Building, part of one of the old boarding houses that contains a traditional fronton court, which is similar to a handball court. An energetic game of pala, the Basque form of racquet ball, takes place many afternoons and evenings.

Simple Fare

Basque food is simple, based on farm-fresh produce, fish and meat. Although they are flavored with garlic and red peppers, the dishes aren’t overly spicy.

Bar Guernika Basque Pub and Eatery is a local favorite; chorizo sandwiches and warm croquetas (fritters) are special treats. Despite the restaurant’s name, which commemorates a Basque village that was bombed by the Germans during the Spanish Civil War, its atmosphere is convivial and bright. Leku Ona, opened in 2005 by Jose Maria Artiach, who was raised in Europe’s Basque country, is a fine-dining establishment offering traditional Basque meals. Seafood, especially ink fish and cod, is a specialty. Next door, Artiach’s Leku Ona Boutique Hotel offers Old World charm, Basque-style.

Epi’s Basque Restaurant in the suburb of Meridian is renowned for lamb dishes, which are derived from the Basque-American tradition. Of special note: lamb txilndron (stew). For a picnic in the surrounding hills, the Basque Market back on Basque Block has all the fixings—cheese, sausage, chocolate, olives and nuts. Fill a bota bag (available at the Basque Museum’s gift shop) with some good Basque wine, hold it high and pour it down.

If You Go

The annual San Ignacio Festival, held the last weekend in July, celebrates the religious feast day of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, the Basques’ patron saint and the founder of the Jesuit religious order. The Sheepherders’ Ball, held the Saturday before Christmas, is largely for locals though visitors are welcome and will especially enjoy the performances of the Basque dancing groups. Another Basque celebration, Jaialdi (the Basque word for big festival), is held every five years and features music, dancing, food and Basque customs. The next Jaialdi will be in 2010.

For more information on Basque Block, call the Basque Center at (208) 342-9983. Contact the Basque Museum and Cultural Center at (208) 343-2671. Additional information is available from the Boise Convention and Visitors Bureau at (800) 635-5240.

For vacation-planning help, contact your AAA Travel agent or AAA.com/travel.

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