This article was translated by John R. Bopp
Lilit Marcus, Channon Hodge, and Diana Diroy have prepared an article and video for CNN about the weight and importance the Basque community has in Boise, the capital of Idaho.
We’ve spoken on the blog many times about the Basques in the US, and in reading those articles, you can get an idea of the role Basques have had throughout that country’s history and its influence today.
Boise is, without a doubt, one of the main foci of that Basque presence, as can be seen with activities like the Jaialdi which, every five years, brings thousands of Basques from all over the US and the world together. Please, don’t miss the amazing report written by Mark Bieter regarding the 2015 event. And this city, the most remote urban area in the US, was important enough to attract CNN’s attention, in order to talk about the Basques.
Of everything the reports discuss, without a doubt the most interesting parts for us regarding two aspects of Basques around the world, and they’re highlighted in the article. On the one hand, they talk about their ability to firmly preserve their roots, regardless of how much time has passed. And on the other, these communities’ inclusive attitude, able to absorb and integrate all those who join in. There was a very specific example of this in the article, an example we could call a “role model”: that of Pat Bieter, the “German Catholic from Milwaukee”, who learned Basque and was a huge promoter of Basque culture in Boise.
A magnificent article. But please, they’re not “tapas”. In Basque cuisine, they’re “raciones” or “cazuelitas” or, most commonly, “pintxos”. But never “tapas”; that’s a Spanish cuisine thing.
We’ll leave you with the CNN report, and the same report which was published in the Idaho Statesman, by Michael Katz.
CNN – 8/1/2018 – USA
Peek inside Boise, Idaho’s vibrant Basque community
Some U.S. cities have become practically synonymous with the ethnic and religious groups who have settled there, such as the proud Irish Americans of Boston’s “Southie” neighborhood (see also: every Wahlberg brothers project) and the Cuban Americans of Miami who fled their native island and brought food, music and culture along with them. Fewer Americans know that one of the world’s largest and most involved Basque communities is in within their national borders — specifically, in Boise, Idaho.
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Google translator. CNN doesn’t always allow Google’s automatic translation. You have to copy the text and paste it in the translator.
Idaho Statesman – 9/1/2018 – USA
Does Boise have the ‘most involved’ Basque community in the United States? CNN thinks so
CNN recently published a deep-dive into Boise Basque heritage in its “Peek inside Boise, Idaho’s vibrant Basque community” article. Author Lilit Marcus details Boise’s Basque Block and describes what makes Boise’s Basque neighborhood different from other such communities in the United States. Though it doesn’t have the most Basque people of any city in the United States, it does have the highest concentration, Marcus notes.
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Last Updated on Dec 20, 2020 by About Basque Country
