Reno Basques cope with culture gap
by Sumita Louis, Outpost Staff
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Like most teenagers, 15-year old Marie Lou Etcheberry is striving to find her identity. But as a Basque teenager living in Reno, she finds herself caught between two cultures.
"I think I am an American-Basque," she says as she prepares to perform a group folk dance, dressed in a traditional blue and white Basque costume. "Right now I'm learning the language (Basque), but it's very hard. I like the folk dances a lot. But I am more American sometimes in the way I dress or talk . . . I also think I'm mostly Basque." She giggles, looking as confused as she sounds. She runs away, her pretty face wearing an embarrassed smile.
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The Zazpiak Bat Basque dancers performing at the Reno Hilton recently. Photo by Sumita Louis. |
Older Basques lament that many children of first-generation Basques born in the United States have more or less eschewed the old ways, not consciously but in some subtle way.
"It is easy to say that the Basque parents are at fault, at some level, but like most immigrants they are so involved with work and other responsibilities that they often don't have time to inculcate Basque traditions in their children," says Lorraine Erreguible, who runs Louis Basque Restaurant with her husband Louis.
Today, the Basque community in Reno is trying to come to grips with the cultural gap its children face. Like every other immigrant population in America, the Reno Basques struggle to retain their heritage in the face of American pop culture. Most Basque parents try hard to revive their community's fast-disappearing culture and traditions in the hope that their children carry on the Basque way of life, said Robert Yturvedi a Basque postal worker in Reno.
Adjusting to the American way of life has not been easy for Reno's Basque immigrants. Juan Ibargure, a library assistant at the University of Nevada, Reno, has lived in this country for seven years.
"Things are very different in the U.S.," he says. "Here the people are obsessed with acquiring material goods. Back home possessions are not that important. I try to live here as I did back home. While I am critical of this society now, I am sure after some time I will come to accept the "bad" things even if I try to avoid them."
Ibargure fled the Basque country in 1990 to avoid being conscripted into the Basque Army. An 18-month stint in the army is compulsory for all Basque men. He first came to New York, where his uncle and aunt helped him with his immigration papers, and then moved to Reno.
Now married to an American of Italian descent, Juan has no regrets about leaving his homeland. In fact, he is now an American citizen. But like other Basque immigrants, Ibargure worries about the loss of values and the disappearing culture among his people here.
"Very few traditions are left among Reno Basques. Only in Boise are they keeping the old way of life alive," the 29-year-old says. "Reno is a transient city. No one stays here very long. Our Basque culture is going to end up as folklore and disappear into the myths of the American West."
But what can be done to change this trend? "It all depends on the next generation. If a Basque family is keen on inculcating some of the important traditions in its children, then the Basque heritage will live on," says Lorraine Erreguible.
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Lorraine's daughter sometimes helps out at Louis Basque Corner. Photo by Sumita Louis. |
That is easier said than done. Of the couple's six children and five grandchildren, the latter seem more interested in their Basque heritage than their parents. "I don't consciously feel I am Basque," said Lorraine's daughter. "At heart, I suppose I am more American than Basque. Of course I do like the dancing and the food. But the language is very difficult to learn. In fact, my daughter is more receptive to the old culture."
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The Reno Basque club president accepts an award from visiting NABO officials. Photo by Sumita Louis. |
Reno's Basque community has been actively working to stave off this cultural impasse. The Reno Basque Club was set up in 1967 to provide a forum for the Basque population to gather and celebrate important festivals. Supported by NABO, the Reno Basque Club has 200 members.
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Dancers move to the throbbing drumbeats as the dance comes to an end. Photo by Sumita Louis |
"We have many more Basques in Reno, but they are not members," said Marie Lou Urrutia, club president. "We always try to get more members to join the club, but many of the members are the older generation and when they die, their family loses touch with the club. That is why we don't have too many young members. The first-generation Basques get busy doing other things outside of Basque. Unless they have a strong love of the culture and the people they don't have the time to get involved with us."
Back at the Hilton, the young dancers are dancing faster and faster as the rhythmic drumbeats pick up to reach the final crescendo. All too soon the folk dance is over. The audience breaks out in appreciative applause. Both dancers and audience seem to realize the importance of keeping their culture alive.
copyright 11/15/97 Nevada Outpost http://www.jour.unr.edu/outpost