The Basques weren’t the first to explore the seas… or were they? The Basques didn’t invent boats… or did they? The Basques aren’t aliens from outer space… or are they?
Seriously, the Basques played an important part in the development of shipbuilding and seafaring. We know that they were outstanding navigators, but their contributions go beyond that, to also improving ship technology. As a sort of nexus between northern and southern Europe, they fused technologies to make things even better.
Baiona was a hub of shipbuilding expertise, and this is one factor that drove innovation. Even by 1131, Baiona was building ships, an activity that only increased when Aquitaine became English in 1154 and the King of England gave the citizens of Baiona fishing and whaling rights in 1170.
In the 1100-1200s, the Basques began building cogs, also called cocas, which were inspired by northern cog-designed ships. In contrast, in the Mediterranean ships called caravels were more common.
One of the innovations that came from all of that activity was the Bayonne rudder. Northern ships tended to use a stern rudder, one that was in the back of the boat, but Mediterranean boats had a quarter rudder, or one that emanated from the side. The stern rudder was a significant improvement for maneuverability and also allowed for larger ship designs.
These boats also employed another Northern European technology in how the hull was made. In the Mediterranean, people used the carvel technique in which the panels were mounted flush against one another. This led to a tighter seal against water but also required greater skill and time to make the interlocking plates. The Basques adopted the clinker technique used in the North in which the planks were overlaid on top of one another, much like roofing tiles. This was faster and required less precision.
Basque or Bayonnese cogs also were flatter in the hull so that they were better at transporting horses and thus better for military action where soldiers and their mounts had to be transported. They could also hold more cargo and thus had an advantage for trade.
The Basques employed a combination of iron nails and wooden treenails. Treenails were used in the north but were bad in the warmer souther waters where iron nails were used more. The Basques used both – iron for strength and treenails for flexibility.
Basques also used a unique technique to shape their wood. They would shape the oak trees as they grew so that they had the form needed for the ship. This reduced joints and made elements stronger. This technique, called ipinabarres, also allowed people to better manage forest resources.
The strong Basque – or more specifically Baiona – shipbuilding tradition led to Basque shipwrights being recruited to places like England to build ships. The English were commissioning ships to be built in Baiona by as early as the 1200s. And, by 1294, Basques were in London building ships.
Basque innovation continued through the centuries. In the 1700s, for example, Antonio de Gaztañeta brought scientific principles to shipbuilding, which not only standardized design but also reduced waste. He redesigned the hull such that ships-of-the-line, the biggest ships at the time, had greater stability without sacrificing speed.
Albaola is a “sea factory” that is trying to revive the traditional shipbuilding practices of the Basques by reconstructing the San Juan, which was a whaling boat that sunk off the coast of Labrador.
A full list of all of Buber’s Basque Facts of the Week can be found in the Archive.
For decades, the story of Basques and Basque Americans who served in the United States Armed Forces during World War II lived quietly within families and local communities — preserved in fading photographs, personal letters, and stories shared at kitchen tables, yet largely absent from the public historical landscape.
Today, that story is finally beginning to take physical form.
The Basque American community has officially announced both the location and the conceptual design of the National Basque World War II Veterans Memorial— the first national memorial in the U.S. dedicated exclusively to honoring WWII veterans of Basque origin.
The Memorial is a project of North American Basque Organizations, Inc. (N.A.B.O.), developed in close collaboration with the long‑term historical research initiative Fighting Basques: Memory of WWII, led by the Basque homeland association Sancho de Beurko. Together, these efforts seek not only to commemorate the past, but to bring into public view a long-overlooked chapter of American and Basque history.
A national fundraising campaign launched in 2024 supports both the continued historical research and the construction of the Memorial, with completion envisioned by the end of 2026.
The Legacy of the “Fighting Basques”
Years of archival research, oral history, and sustained collaboration with families have now made it possible to identify more than 2,150 men and women of Basque origin who served in the U.S. Armed Forces during WWII, including members of the U.S. Merchant Marine.
Geographic distribution of the “Fighting Basques” at the time of enlistment (via authors).
At the time of their enlistment, these veterans lived in thirty U.S. states, as well as Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico — covering nearly 60% of the United States’ territory. They served in every branch of the U.S. Armed Forces and in every theater of operations worldwide.
The majority were American born: approximately 85%were citizens by birth, mostly the children or grandchildren of Basque immigrants. Yet more than 260 veterans were born in the Basque Country itself, and others came from Basque communities across ten different countries, from Argentina and Mexico to the Philippines and the United Kingdom. Over half of these emigrants were not U.S. citizens when they enlisted.
Their paths to service were diverse, but their commitment was shared. Together, they represent an extraordinary and still underrecognized contribution to the history of World War II.
Gardnerville, Nevada: A Meaningful Home
After an intensive year-long process of research, site visits, and deliberation, N.A.B.O. has announced that the Memorial will be built in Gardnerville, Nevada, at Heritage Park, located in the town’s historic downtown.
Aerial photo of Heritage Park, Gardnerville (Nevada), the future site of the National Basque WWII Veterans Memorial. (Courtesy of the Town of Gardnerville).
This location is deeply meaningful. Rooted in a rich immigrant past, Gardnerville has long been — and continues to be — an important center of Basque American life in Nevada. Founded in 1879, the town later became one of the state’s most significant sheep-raising hubs, sustained by a dense network of boardinghouses, hotels, bars, and restaurants that served generations of Basque sheepherders and their families.
Today, Gardnerville remains home to an active and engaged Basque community. With just over 6,200 residents, the town represents nearly 2% of Nevada’s Basque population and hosts the Mendiko Euskaldun Cluba. Since its founding in 1981, the club’s events and annual festivals have been widely attended, drawing participants from across the state and beyond, and serving as a regional reference point for Basque culture.
The Town of Gardnerville has also expressed its support for the Memorial project, recognizing its historical, cultural, and educational value for the community and working collaboratively with the organizers as the initiative moves forward.
Gardnerville is also closely linked to families whose wartime service became legendary—such as theEtchemendy brothers, often described as the most decorated group of brothers in Nevada. Born in Gardnerville to Basque immigrant parents, their names will soon return home, permanently engraved at the Memorial.
Meet the Etchemendy brothers, from left to right: Leon (wearing an eye patch after being wounded at the Battle of Leyte), John, and William. (Courtesy of the Etchemendy family).
Bizi leku: A Place to Live, A Place to Remember
The Memorial’s conceptual design, titled Bizi leku — Basque for “The Place to Live” — was created by Basque architect Maider Bezos Lanz (BZS Architecture).
Constructed in Corten steel, the design evokes themes of migration, settlement, and belonging. It reflects the experience of adopting a new homeland while maintaining deep cultural roots—a defining feature of the Basque American story.
“Echoes of two wars, 1936-1945” aims to disseminate the stories of those Basques and Navarrese who participated in two of the warfare events that defined the future of much of the 20th century. With this blog, the intention of the Sancho de Beurko Association is to rescue from anonymity the thousands of people who constitute the backbone of the historical memory of the Basque and Navarre communities, on both sides of the Pyrenees, and their diasporas of emigrants and descendants, with a primary emphasis on the United States, during the period from 1936 to 1945.
THE AUTHORS Guillermo Tabernilla is a researcher and founder of the Sancho de Beurko Association, a non-profit organization that studies the history of the Basques and Navarrese from both sides of the Pyrenees in the Spanish Civil War and in World War II. He is currently their secretary and community manager. He is also editor of the digital magazine Saibigain. Between 2008 and 2016 he directed the catalog of the “Iron Belt” for the Heritage Directorate of the Basque Government and is, together with Pedro J. Oiarzabal, principal investigator of the Fighting Basques Project, a memory project on the Basques and Navarrese in the Second World War in collaboration with the federation of Basque Organizations of North America.
Pedro J. Oiarzabal is a Doctor in Political Science-Basque Studies, granted by the University of Nevada, Reno (USA). For two decades, his work has focused on research and consulting on public policies (citizenship abroad and return), diasporas and new technologies, and social and historical memory (oral history, migration and exile), with special emphasis on the Basque case. He is the author of more than twenty publications. He has authored the blog “Basque Identity 2.0” by EITB and “Diaspora Bizia” by EuskalKultura.eus. On Twitter @Oiarzabal.
Josu M. Aguirregabiria is a researcher and founder of the Sancho de Beurko Association and is currently its president. A specialist in the Civil War in Álava, he is the author of several publications related to this topic, among which “La batalla de Villarreal de Álava” (2015) y “Seis días de guerra en el frente de Álava. Comienza la ofensiva de Mola” (2018) stand out.
“Bizi leku is conceived as a welcoming space,” explains Bezos Lanz. “A symbolic home that brings together all the names engraved on its surfaces, allowing them to coexist in peace and dignity — united by shared history and memory.”
The Memorial is envisioned not simply as a list of names, but as a living place of remembrance — one that honors individual lives, family histories, service, and sacrifice. A complementary digital memorial will provide access to biographies and educational resources, extending its reach far beyond the physical site.
Looking Ahead: A Shared Responsibility
The National Basque WWII Veterans Memorial seeks to preserve the memory of an entire generation while offering visitors — Basque and non‑Basque alike — a space for reflection, learning, and gratitude.
“As a community, we are creating a permanent national place to remember, honor, and thank Basque veterans who proudly served during World War II,” says historian Dr. Pedro J. Oiarzabal, director of the Fighting Basques project. “It represents a long-overdue public recognition and a place of pride, service, and belonging — one that connects individual stories to our shared history, much like the National Monument to the Basque Sheepherder dedicated in Reno, Nevada, in 1989.”
The Memorial’s dedication is planned for no later than December 2026, coinciding with two significant anniversaries: the 85th anniversary of the U.S. entry into World War II and the 250th anniversary of American independence.
Yet this Memorial is not only about the past. It is about how memory is carried forward — through care, participation, and collective commitment — so that these stories remain present and meaningful for future generations.
The National Basque WWII Veterans Memorial will take shape through shared remembrance and community involvement. As the fundraising campaign continues, each contribution — large or small — helps transform memory into a lasting public space of recognition and gratitude.
In this way, the Memorial becomes more than a site or a structure. It becomes a place where history remains alive—because a community chooses to remember, together.
Over 100 years ago, in 1921, José Miguel de Barandiaran began publishing a series of articles under the banner of Eusko-Folklore. His work was interrupted by the Spanish Civil War but in 1954 he resumed publishing what he then called his third series of articles. These appeared in the journal Munibre, Natural Sciences Supplement of the Bulletin of the Royal Basque Society of Friends of the Country. While various writings of Barandiaran have been translated to English, I don’t believe these articles have. As I find this topic so fascinating, I have decided to translate them to English (with the help of Google Translate). The original version of this article can be found here.
More appearances of Mari
IN AMEZQUETA
Our mother saw how Mari de Txindoki left. She lived in the mill when she was little. Once, some men brought a pile of sacks of corn to the mill on a cart, and our mother unloaded the sacks from the cart onto the men’s shoulders. And, while the men were returning, as she was waiting for them, at night, she saw something burning and flaming coming out of the Txindoki chasm and disappearing [going] toward San Miguel. Our mother was frightened. Later, when the men had returned, she told them that she had seen something burning and flaming heading toward San Miguel [de Aralar]. They then replied that it was undoubtedly Mari. In the chasm where she [Mari] entered, everything was scorched.
(Reported in 1930 by Ignacio Altuna, from Amézqueta.)
IN BIDARRAY
The story of the apparition of Arpeko-Saindua (the saint of the cave) on Bidarray Mountain is similar to those recorded in previous legends about Mari. The themes of the blast of fire that enters a cave at night, the young woman who mysteriously disappears, the threatening voices of the night, and the curse and punishment of those who desecrated the cave all converge here, as in other stories about Mari.
On November 14, 1938, I visited the cave of Arpeko Saindua, accompanied by my friend Don Gelasio Arámburu and the Jatxou children’s colony.
We arrived at Bidarray station early in the morning. We crossed the Nive over the bridge called Onddoene’ko zubi (Onddoene Bridge). It is said that this bridge was built in one night by the legendary spirits whose name is lamin. We took a path to the right that climbs alongside the Bastan-erreka stream. We pass close to Arranteia (the swimming pool). Further on, we cross the stream in a narrow ravine over the Inpernuko-zubi (Hell’s Bridge), and continue along the path to cross the stream again higher up and take the path that climbs to the Arrusia baserri located on the southern slope of Mount Zelharburu. Still traveling uphill for 300 meters, heading west-northwest, we reach the Arpeko Saindua cave. Its entrance faces east-southeast. It is open in the banks of pudding stone and sandstone that form the southern escarpments of Mount Zelharburu. It has a vestibule 5 m wide, 5 m deep, and 6 m high. To the left, a meter and a half above the floor of the vestibule, there is a narrow gallery that is accessed by ten stone steps (fig. 1). It is a humid place: water drips from the ceiling. At the end of the gallery (fig. 1, x), there is a stalagmite column that reaches the ceiling: it measures 1.10 m in height and 0.20 m in average width. It resembles a human torso (fig. 2). A little water runs across its surface. This is the supposed saint of the cave. The etxekoandre, or lady of the Arrusia baserri, named Margarita Ibarrola, tells me the following:
A young girl got lost on Mount Euzkei [Iuskai, Iuskadi]. They only found her head. From then on, at night, for many years, voices were heard. “Wait! Wait!” someone shouted from the side of Mount Euzkei.
On one occasion, at midnight, they saw a light enter Zelharburu’s cave. Others said they had seen twelve lights. The surrounding villagers went to the cave and there saw the statue of the saint. From then on, the voices were not heard.
In front of the stalagmite column, there are candlesticks resting on rock outcrops. In them, devotees place the candles they offer to the “saint” and rub their bodies or sick limbs with the water that runs down the supposedly petrified “saint.” She is invoked in cases of skin and eye diseases. Those who suffer from eczema (negal in Basque) are the ones who have particular devotion to the “saint” of this grotto.
While still inside the cave, we saw three women arrive from the Itxassou side with two girls. One of them, a young girl, lit a wax candle, traced a cross in the air with it in front of the stalagmite, and left it at its foot to be consumed there.
I returned to Zelharburu on April 20, 1945, and saw that the cult of the saint of the cave continued as before.
On the walls of the cave are many votive offerings: rosaries, crosses, medals, combs, handkerchiefs, shirts, and berets that the sick leave, believing that the illness that afflicted them remains in these garments. There is also a collection box where devotees deposit alms (cash and paper money). Since the collection box is broken, anyone can steal the money deposited there: many 10- and 20-franc bills can be seen. In the hollow beyond the stalagmite, we saw several bronze coins from the last century: some French and some Spanish. They were undoubtedly thrown there not to cover the expenses incurred by the care of that “sanctuary,” but for the supposed “saint” venerated there, and only for her. The almost inaccessible nature of the place where they were thrown shows that their donors did not want those coins to fall into human hands.
Both the devout pilgrims of Itxassou and one of the shepherds from the region named Antonio Intxaurgarate told me that, on one occasion, the owners of Arrusia closed the cave and began charging an entrance fee to those who came to visit the “saint.” Soon, all of the sheep of Arrusia fell into disgrace, tumbling down the rocks. The family of Arrusia then realized that this was a punishment sent by Arpeko Saindua and reopened the cave.
A pilgrimage is held here annually on Trinity Day, consisting mainly of dancing. Groups of young people of both sexes from the surrounding neighborhoods and villages attend.
There are procedures to attract Mari, and there are also those to remove her.
If she is invoked three times in a row, saying: Aketegiko Damea! “The Lady of Aketegi!”, Mari then appears and she sits herself on the head of the person who invoked her. This is the information we gathered from a report from Cegama.
But there are also means, mainly of a religious and magical nature, to which the power of preventing any action by Mari is attributed.
We have already recorded some cases of this kind on various occasions. Now I will simply transcribe the brief report that a resident of Mañaria sent me in 1930. It reads somewhat literary:
One afternoon, three or four of us were going for a walk, spending time in the mountains, taking time in the shade of a tree, and were talking and resting beside a stream. Suddenly, an old shepherd appeared and also rested beside us.
We talked with the old man for a long time and talked about many things, and finally, we recalled the storms that had raged here and there during this summer, etc. We talked about the weather in so many ways, each of us offering his own opinion. At this point, the old shepherd stood up and, thoughtfully, looked at us to tell us something important about the weather. Then he began to explain very seriously the cause of the storms. “Look! If the Lady of Amboto is inside the cave on Saint Barbara’s day, the following summer will be calm and abundant [in crops, etc.]; but if on that day she is outside the cave, the following summer there will be terrible storms and upheavals. And on Saint Barbara’s day last year, that Lady of Amboto walked in fire and flames along the Mugarra (1) side, and that is why all the storms, tempests, and evils this year are here.”
(1) Mugarra is a mountain located above Mañaria.
SUMMARY OF THE MYTHOLOGY OF MARI
Taking a look at what we have published so far about Mari, both in EUSKO-FOLKLORE and in “Mari o el genio de lasmontañas” (in Homage to D. Carmelo de Echegaray, San Sebastián, 1923), in “Die prähistorischen Höhlen in der baskischen Mythologie” (in Paideuma, Leipzig, 1941), and in “Contribución al estudiode la mitología vasca” (in Homage to Fritz Krüger, Mendoza, 1952), we could briefly summarize the main features of the conceptual and mythological world formed around this legendary name or divinity.
Names
Mari is the most general, alone or associated with the place where the numen resides:
Basoko Mari’e (the Mari of the forest) as she is called in Urdiain.
Aldureko Mari in Gorriti.
Puyako Maya (Maya de Puya) in Oyarzun.
Mari Munduko (Mari de Mundu or Muru) in Ataun.
Marie Labako (Mari of the oven) in Ispaster.
Mari Muruko (Mari de Muru or Buru) in Elduayen.
Mari-mur in Leiza (according to my informant José Joaquín Sagastibeltza). Mamur is the generic name of certain beings who, according to beliefs of the Vera region, appear at night in the form of monsters.
Marije kobako (the Mari of the cave) in Marquina.
Mariarroka in Olazagutía.
Mariurraka in Abadiano.
Mariburrika in Garay and Berriz.
Andre Mari Munoko (Lady Mari de Muno) in Oyarzun.
Andre Mari Muiroko (Lady Mari de Muguiro) in Arano.
Muruko Damea (the lady of Muru) in Ataun.
Aralarko Damea (the lady of Aralar) in Amézqueta.
Putterriko Damea (the lady of Putterri) in Arbizu.
Illunbetagaineko Duma (lady of Illumbetagaina) in Lakunza.
Beraingo lezeko Dama (Lady of the Cave of Berain) in Lakunza.
Aketegiko Damea (the lady of Aketegi) in Cegama.
Anbotoko Dama (lady of Amboto) in Zarauz.
Amuteko Damie (the lady of Amute) in Azcoitia.
Arrobibeltzeko Andra (Lady of Arrobibeltz) in Ascain.
Anbotoko Señora (Lady of Amboto) in Aya, in Arechavaleta and in many other towns in Guipúzcoa and Vizcaya.
Anbotoko Sorgiña (the witch of Amboto) in Durango.
Aketegiko Sorgiñe (the witch of Aketegi) in Cegama.
Arpeko Saindua (the saint of the cave) in Bidarray and other towns in Navarre and Laburdi.
Gaiztoa (the evil one) in Oñate.
Sugaarra (the snake) in Ataun.
Yona-gorri (she of the red skirt) in Lescun.
Lady and Sorceress in the “Livro dos Linhagens” by Count Don Pedro (16th century).
The name Mari may have some connection with the names Mairi, Maide, and Maindi used to designate other legendary figures in Basque mythology, although the themes associated with these are different. The Mairi are the builders of dolmens; the Maide are male spirits of the mountains, while their female counterparts are the Lamin, or spirits of springs and rivers; the Maindi are perhaps the souls of ancestors who visit their former homes at night, according to beliefs in the Mendive region.
The name Maya undoubtedly has a connection with Maju, who is considered to be Mari’s husband and must be the same name that Lope Garcia de Salazar called Culebro, father of Jaun Zuria, and in Ataun they call Sugaar “snake” and in Dima Sugoi “snake.”
Forms of Mari
Legends attribute Mari to the female sex, as they do to most of the deities featured in Basque mythology.
Mari often appears in the form of an elegantly dressed lady, as we are told in the legends of Durango, in which she also appears holding a golden palace in her hands. She is similarly represented in the stories of Elosua, Bedoña, Azpeitia, Cegama, Rentería, Ascain, and Lescun. In the latter town, she wears a red skirt.
According to data collected in Amézqueta, during storms she appears in the form of a lady seated in a chariot crossing the air pulled by four horses.
She has been seen in Zaldivia in the form of a woman breathing flames.
A woman wrapped in fire, lying horizontally in the air, crosses space, as described in a legend from Bedoña.
A figure of a woman breathing fire, sometimes dragging a broom and sometimes chains, depending on the noise that accompanies her, so they say in Régil.
A lady riding a ram, according to legends from Oñate and Cegama.
A large woman whose head is surrounded by the full moon, according to what was seen in Azcoitia.
A woman with bird feet, they say in Garagarza.
A woman with goat feet, according to the “Livro dos Linhagens” by Count Don Pedro.
She appears in the form of a goat in Auza (Baztán Mountain).
She appears in the form of a horse, according to legends from Arano.
She was seen in the form of a heifer, according to a story from Oñate.
Many Cegamese have seen her in the form of a crow in the Aketegi cave.
According to the beliefs of those in Orozco, she lives in the great cave of Supelaur in Itziñe, where she and her companions appear in great numbers in the form of vultures.
In one legend from Oñate, she appears in the form of a tree, whose front part resembles a woman; in another, she is said to have appeared in the form of a tree that gave off flames from all sides.
In Escoriaza, they say that the Lady of Amboto sometimes made herself known in the form of a gust of wind.
She sometimes appears in the form of a white cloud, according to a legend from Durango. The same is also said in Ispaster.
She has sometimes been seen in the form of a rainbow.
In Oñate, Segura, and Orozco, they say they have seen her in the form of a ball of fire.
She often takes the form of a fiery sickle, according to accounts from Ataun, Cegama, and Zuazo de Gamboa.
In the Zelharburu grotto (Bidarray), she is seen petrified in the form of a human torso.
Despite the variety of forms in which legends present Mari, they all agree that she is a woman.
Mari generally takes on zoomorphic forms in her underground dwelling; other forms outside of it, on the surface of the earth, and when she crosses the firmament.
The animal figures such as bulls, rams, goats, horses, serpents, vultures, etc., that are mentioned in the legends concerning the underworld, therefore represent Mari and her subordinates, that is, the terrestrial spirits or telluric forces to whom people attribute the phenomena of the world. The cases of changes in form, mentioned in various stories, confirm this idea.
Mari’s Abodes
Mari’s ordinary abode is the regions beneath the earth. But these regions communicate with the earth’s surface through various channels, which are certain caverns and chasms. For this reason, Mari appears in such places more frequently than in others.
The origins of the Basque language are lost to time, or so we are told. However, new discoveries such as the Hand of Irulegi challenge some of those assumptions and reveal new and exciting insight. At the same time, researchers continue to chip away, examining the body of evidence to further our understanding of the origins of the language and its possible connection to other languages. As a consequence, old theories such as the relationship between Basque and Iberian are getting a new look.
The Hand of Irulegi, which contains inscriptions that further support the connection between Basque and Iberian. Image from Wikimedia Commons.
The central tenant of the Basque-Iberian hypothesis is that the various tribes that inhabited the Iberian peninsula before the arrival of the Romans spoke a language or collection of languages that were related to Basque. When the Romans came, most of those tribes became latinized and the only remnant of that family of languages is Basque.
This theory had its heyday between the 1500s and 1700s. The basis for the original theory was from the historian Flavius Josephus (1st century AD), who said that Tubal, grandson of Noah, founded the people of the “Tubeli, who are now called Iberians.”
With time, the Basque-Iberian theory lost favor, as modern Basque is of little help in deciphering the few Iberian texts that have survived to present day. Further, Basque-Iberian advocates pushed their ideas too far, to suggest that many Italian place names could be interpreted this way, for example. And, as with all things Basque, politics inserted itself. People argued that there was no way that Basque was an indigenous language to the peninsula, attacking the historical basis of the language as a way to undermine the fueros. However, perhaps the biggest problem with the Basque-Iberian theory is that, while some words seem recognizable from a Basque perspective, the overall meaning of the texts is undecipherable, meaning we can’t use Basque to understand those texts.
On the other hand, there is evidence that suggests the languages are linked. There are names that are similar in the two languages, for example Araxes/Araiza and Ararat/Aralar. And there are non-linguistic traits that suggest a connection, including that both cultures used horned headdresses. The theory regained respect when scholar of the Basque language Wilhelm von Humboldt argued that Iberian place-names could be divided into two families: one with a Celtic origin and another that “follows the phonetic system of the Basque language.”
More recently, researchers like Eduardo Orduña Aznar and Joan Ferrer I Jané have delved further into the relationship between Basque and Iberian. They have found that, for example, the number systems are very similar (here the Iberian word is in bold and the Basque word in italics): banbat (one), bibi (two), laurlau (four), borstebost (five), okreihogei (twenty), orkeiborstehogei ta bost (twenty-five). As the last example demonstrates, the two languages seem to compose larger numbers in a similar way.
Orduña has expanded his analysis to consider kinship terms. For example, he finds possible connections ataaita (father), uni(n)unide (wet nurse), -kidei-(k)ide (companion), amongst others. Beyond word similarities, he argues the two grammars are related. Both use the suffix -en to denote possession. Finally, there is a word on the Hand of Irulegi that says efaukon, which is similar to an archaic Basque word meaning “he/she gave.”
Orduña is careful to say that his analysis is no proof that the two languages are linked. However, he concludes that there are enough similarities and evidence to suggest a link and that warrants further research.
A full list of all of Buber’s Basque Facts of the Week can be found in the Archive.
On Friday, February 13, and Saturday, February 14, the Basque American community and guests will gather at the Basque Cultural Center of South San Francisco for a deeply meaningful occasion: the official announcement of the city and architectural design of the National Basque World War II Veterans Memorial.
These events take place within a very special context—the celebration of the 44th anniversary of the Basque Cultural Center, an institution that for more than four decades has served as a cornerstone of Basque cultural life, memory, and community in the United States. Framing the Memorial announcement within this anniversary highlights the continuity between past, present, and future that defines this moment.
Image: illustrative concept only; the final memorial design will be unveiled at the event on February 14.
A weekend of remembrance, gratitude, and shared purpose
The weekend will include two complementary events.
On Friday, February 13, a private donor appreciation dinner will recognize those who have helped bring the Memorial project to this important stage. The dinner is hosted by the North American Basque Organizations, Inc. (N.A.B.O.), the group leading the effort to build the Memorial.
On Saturday, February 14, a public presentation will take place at 2:00 p.m. The presentation will be delivered by Dr. Pedro J. Oiarzabal, historian and research project director, who will publicly unveil both the host city and the designconcept of the National Basque World War II Veterans Memorial, marking a major milestone in the project’s development. This talk is free and open to everyone. Seating is limited, so early arrival is encouraged.
For the first time, the National Basque WWII Veterans Memorial moves from vision to place—anchored in a specific landscape and shaped by a design conceived as a permanent space of remembrance, education, and public history.
Honoring lives, stories, and living memory
The Memorial honors more than 2,150 WWII veterans of Basque descent who served in the United States Armed Forces, including the Merchant Marines—most were children of immigrants, whose service has often remained absent from broader national narratives.
This history is not distant or abstract. It is still embodied today in living memory. Among those we honor are two centenarian women veterans, Basque Californian Anna Biscay andBasque Idahoan Regina Bastida,both 104 years old, whose remarkable lives and service remind us that this project is ultimately about people—about courage, resilience, and devotion to duty. Their stories, like so many others, give a human face to the history the Memorial seeks to preserve, and continue to inspire new generations.
Anna Biscay (left) and Regina Bastida, two centenarian women veterans of Basque descent, both 104 years old, whose lives and service reflect the living memory the Memorial seeks to preserve. (Biscay photo via authors; Bastida photo via Library of Congress, 2013).
“Echoes of two wars, 1936-1945” aims to disseminate the stories of those Basques and Navarrese who participated in two of the warfare events that defined the future of much of the 20th century. With this blog, the intention of the Sancho de Beurko Association is to rescue from anonymity the thousands of people who constitute the backbone of the historical memory of the Basque and Navarre communities, on both sides of the Pyrenees, and their diasporas of emigrants and descendants, with a primary emphasis on the United States, during the period from 1936 to 1945.
THE AUTHORS Guillermo Tabernilla is a researcher and founder of the Sancho de Beurko Association, a non-profit organization that studies the history of the Basques and Navarrese from both sides of the Pyrenees in the Spanish Civil War and in World War II. He is currently their secretary and community manager. He is also editor of the digital magazine Saibigain. Between 2008 and 2016 he directed the catalog of the “Iron Belt” for the Heritage Directorate of the Basque Government and is, together with Pedro J. Oiarzabal, principal investigator of the Fighting Basques Project, a memory project on the Basques and Navarrese in the Second World War in collaboration with the federation of Basque Organizations of North America.
Pedro J. Oiarzabal is a Doctor in Political Science-Basque Studies, granted by the University of Nevada, Reno (USA). For two decades, his work has focused on research and consulting on public policies (citizenship abroad and return), diasporas and new technologies, and social and historical memory (oral history, migration and exile), with special emphasis on the Basque case. He is the author of more than twenty publications. He has authored the blog “Basque Identity 2.0” by EITB and “Diaspora Bizia” by EuskalKultura.eus. On Twitter @Oiarzabal.
Josu M. Aguirregabiria is a researcher and founder of the Sancho de Beurko Association and is currently its president. A specialist in the Civil War in Álava, he is the author of several publications related to this topic, among which “La batalla de Villarreal de Álava” (2015) y “Seis días de guerra en el frente de Álava. Comienza la ofensiva de Mola” (2018) stand out.
A milestone for collective memory
Since the inauguration of the National Monument to the Basque Sheepherder in 1989, the Basque community has not had the opportunity to take part in a national initiative of this scale—one dedicated to recognizing its wartime service and shared sacrifice on American soil.
The National Basque WWII Veterans Memorial is not conceived merely as a list of names, but as a space that acknowledges lives, families, migration journeys, and a shared sense of responsibility shaped by war.
An invitation to be part of history
As the project enters this new phase, community participation remains essential. This Memorial is the result of a collective effort—one that depends on individuals, families, and organizations who believe that this history deserves a permanent place in the American landscape.
Supporting the Memorial—whether through donations, sharing its story, or participating in upcoming events—means taking part in a historic moment.
Those who wish to support the Memorial may do so through our secure online donation page:
Your contribution to support the Memorial is tax-deductible Educational Fund of North American Basque Organizations Inc. (EIN: 82-0489192). All donors making a donation in excess of $1,000 will be publicly recognized on a Donor wall unless they choose otherwise.
The February 13–14 events are more than an announcement—they are an invitation to take part in a historic moment, and to help shape a memorial that belongs to us all.
Together, we can ensure that the service and sacrifice of WWII veterans of Basque descent are honored, remembered, and passed on to future generations.
“The people of Biscay are excellent in the art of navigation, pilots and warriors, … in handling maritime affairs, where all of them, without exception, prove to be excellent pilots and skilled in the art of soldiery, attacking armed enemies with the same ferocity as the violent fury of the terrifying onslaughts of the Atlantic Ocean (…)” Giovanni Botero (1544-1617)
“The people of these provinces are quick-tempered and swift, passionate and warlike; they are the best people in the world for the sea.” Martín Fdz de Enciso, Suma de Cosmografía, 1519.
This is how the Basques and their association with the sea have been described by historians. Perhaps no better testament to the maritime proficiency of the Basques is the College of Biscayan Navigators in the city of Cádiz.
The island-city of Cádiz today. Image from Gilmar.
Basque maritime history goes back at least as far as 1131, when Alfonso the Battler, King of Navarre and Aragon, is documented as building ships in Baiona. In 1191, Richard the Lionheart embarked during the Fourth Crusade with a fleet of Basque-Gascon ships. Not only were Basques important mariners, but they had made significant developments to ship technology, including the Bayonne rudder, or baionnoiz.
By the end of the 1200s, the Basques had important roles in the commerce of Europe. They had established trade with Bruges and were instrumental in transporting goods, primarily iron, in Andalucía. Basque maritime expertise was also used in the reconquest of Andalucía from the Moors, especially the siege of Sevilla. As a result, villages such as Getaria were granted exceptions in how much tax they had to pay in Sevilla for goods sold.
After the reconquest of Andalucía and Gibraltar, Basque ships were frequent in the Mediterranean. A century earlier, after Cádiz had been retaken, the city was a shambles with few inhabitants after the Muslims had been expelled. Basques and others from the Cantabrian coast were a major part of the resettlement. These new inhabitants were granted special legal and commercial privileges to encourage settlement and economic growth. Cádiz’s strategic location meant that it became a key stop for merchant fleets going from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic and beyond.
Basques were valued as pilots, as leaders of the ships, a position that had many demands: They had to possess courage, audacity, and fortitude in the storms and dangers of the sea, and also the courage to attack and defend themselves against enemies. They had to pass an exam and had to master the use of the astrolabe, the compass, and nautical charts.
At one point, Basques had a monopoly on piloting ships past the Strait of Gibraltar from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic. Ships would have to stop in Cádiz and take on a pilot to lead them west.
All of this is a backdrop to the College of Biscayan Navigators that was founded in Cádiz. Not much is known about the College. The College is attested to in 1500, however it must have been founded long before that – there is some hint that it could have ben established in the 1200 or 1300s. And a brotherhood of Basque sailors in Cádiz is mentioned in around 1403. They seem to have met in a chapel that they built in the old cathedral of the city, Santa Cruz in Cádiz. The college disappeared around 1583.
Very little is known about its function either. It is thought that it was a technical-scientific-commercial institution, where knowledge of navigation was imparted. More than a formal school, it was a guild that still enjoyed sanction by the crown. Navigators such as Elkano and those that made their way to Iceland and beyond may have learned there. The lack of records of voyages was despite the decree by law that pilots keep logbooks of their journeys. The Basques kept their secrets.
A full list of all of Buber’s Basque Facts of the Week can be found in the Archive.
Not growing up in the Basque Country and not being exposed to the history and culture on a daily basis, there is so much I simply don’t know, so many figures that made an impact on the culture that I’ve never heard of. Gabriel Aresti is one of those. While I’ve heard his name in connection with a poem or song, I had little appreciation for his contributions. And, with so many things associated with the Basque Country, Aresti as a figure is complicated. His importance to Basque culture is undeniable but his politics make him controversial for some.
Gabriel Aresti Segurola was born on October 14, 1933 in Bilbo. While his father spoke Euskara, he only did so with Gabriel’s grandparents, so Gabriel grew up with Spanish as his first language. However, he learned Euskara on his own, starting when he was 12 years old, and he wrote primarily in Basque.
When he was 21 years old, he published his first poems in “Euzko-Gogoa” in Guatemala. He soon became known to the Basque public and by 1957 was a correspondent for Euskaltzaindia, the Basque Language Academy. A few years later he began winning prizes for his work, first for his poem “Maldan behera” and then his play Mugaldeko herrian eginikako tobera.
Aresti is most well known for his works Harri eta Herri (Stone and Country, 1964), Euskal Harria (The Basque Stone, 1968) and Harrizko Herri Hau (This Country of Stone, 1971). This series of “stone” (harri) works, linking stones to the Basque people and culture, delves into the lives of the people of the Basque Country. His poems, which “take place in an urban environment and are written in free verse” were praised for “their modernity, innovative spirit and their left-wing humanism” (source). Perhaps his most famous poem “Nire aitaren etxea” appears in Harri eta Herri. Because of his controversial ideology, it took some time for Aresti to find a publisher for Harri eta Herri.
In addition to his original works, Aresti also made significant contributions to Basque literature through translation. He translated the works of several authors to Basque, including Federico García Lorca, T. S. Eliot and Giovanni Boccaccio. Anecdotally, he was working on a translation of James Joyce‘s Ulysses when the Guardia Civil raided his home and confiscated the manuscript – it was never seen again.
Aresti became a major proponent for the unification of the Basque language. He used both colloquial language and an early form of a unified Euskara in his works.
Near the end of his life, he became a publisher, establishing the publishing house Lur. Several important Basque authors got their start with Lur, including Ramon Saizarbitoria, Arantxa Urretabizkaia or Xabier Lete. However, Aresti’s own work, Kaniko eta Beltxitina, was censored by his colleagues and friends at Lur and so he broke his association with the publisher.
His ideas, often sympathetic with communism and class struggle, put him at odds with both Franco’s regime and with the nationalist parts of Basque society. For example, one of his talks was interrupted by a group of young Basque nationalists who accused him of diluting the Basque nationalist struggle by promoting a more general class struggle. He became strongly associated with communism, which for some tarnished his contributions.
He died in 1975 at the age of 41.
Some of his work has been translated into English.
A full list of all of Buber’s Basque Facts of the Week can be found in the Archive.
