04.- The Basque Immigrants to the US

04.1 FROM RURAL EUSKAL HERRIA
What were these Basques like? Nearly all of them came from the rural areas of Euskal Herria, predominantly from Navarre and Iparralde, and later from Bizkaia. Euskara was their mother language, and a significant number of them spoke Spanish or French with difficulty and with a strong accent. Many learned or improved their Spanish in the west itself. Even today it is common to find first-generation American-born Basques who can express themselves in three or four languages.

04.2 PRINTED SKILLS
From the outset, Euskara played an important role in the communication and activity of Basque-Americans. Emigration to the US was in large measure from parts of Euskal Herria in which Euskara was the language of choice. We have already mentioned the weeklies Escualdun Gazeta (1885) and, above all, California'ko Eskual Herria (1893), vehicles of communication among Californian Basques, produced entirely in Euskara, both founded and directed by Basques born or settled in California. Their mastery of English and Euskara thus being clear.

04.3 AMERICAN BASQUE COUNTRY
A significant anecdote: Even today, in remote areas of the US, a traveler who, after crossing the desert arrives at, for example Jordan Valley, Oregon, a place that Americans would describe without shame as being in the middle of nowhere, may be surprised by a Basque handball court dating back a hundred years, by a Basque restaurant, or by streets and businesses bearing familiar names.

04.4 GAURE ECHIE DA SAURE ECHIE
But he will be even more surprised when he sees a sign reading "Yturri Blv." or "Basque Station," and when the owner of the service station shows him, from among other stickers on sale, an Basque shield with the inscription "Zazpiak Bat". Or, the same man may give him a tourist brochure bearing the statements "Gaure echie da saure echie" (sic), i.e. "Our home is your home." The man is Aiden Madariaga, a westerner in the classic style, seventy-seven years of age, born right in Jordan Valley. He has never been to Europe. The conversation unfolds in Euskara, an Euskara spoken with the Basque accent of Oregon. Such scenes may surprise the Basque visitor from Euskal Herria, who will not expect, in deep America, to run across people who, being American, are at the same time absolutely Basque at heart, even never having stepped on the soil of European Euskal Herria. That's America.