The Land of My Fathers: A Son's Return to the Basque Country

Author's Note

AUTHOR'S NOTE The tiny homeland of the Basques-barely a hundred miles in diameter-straddles the crest of the western Pyrenees Mountains between France and Spain. It is a land of deep oak forests, green mountain valleys , and the rugged seacoasts of the Bay of Biscay. In these mountains and on these shores dwell an ancient people called Basques. Where they come from, nobody knows. They probably wandered into the Pyrenees millennia ago. Many Basques claim they are the pure descendants of ero-Magnon man, who evolved in an isolated setting here, fiercely resisting all invaders . This assertion has received some support from scholars working with archaeological, linguistic, and most recently DNA evidence, but no one has yet come to an incontrovertible conclusion. One thing is certain. The Basques are a distinct people who by blood and language are unrelated to the Indo-Europeans who dominated the rest of Europe. The mystery of their origins has never been unlocked . In his A Book o/the Basques, British historian and folklorist Rodney Gallop lamented the lack of books havXU ! ing to do with the nature and character of the Basques. The two reasons he gave for this gap in history were the impenetrable reserve of the people and the reluctance of those few Basque writers to talk about the makeup of their ancient race. Literature and history were not lacking in their views of the Basque character. Writers of antiquity depicted them as "fierce and turbulent barbarians." Scholar Le Pays described them as "always laughing, joking and dancing. Joy begins there with life and ends only with death." There were also detractors. One historian described them as "spiteful and vindictive and full of prejudices." A Norman pilgrim, Aimeric Picaud, went even further. He said the Basques were "black, perfidious, faithless, corrupt, violent , savage, given over to drunkenness and evil living ." Picaud's intemperance may have stemmed from the fact that Basque brigands had relieved him of his valuables when he crossed the Pyrenees. Rodney Gallop knew whereof he spoke. Unlike so many others who wrote about the Basques, he had lived long in the Basque provinces. His conclusions portrayed the Basques as "a people of loyalty and rectitude , dignity and reserve, independence and a strong sense of race, a serious outlook tempered by a marked XIV sense of humor, a cult of tradition, a deep rooted simplicity and a courageous view of life." I spent the greater part of two years, 1960-61 and 1965-66, in the Basque Country, along with my wife, Joyce, and our three children. Nearly all of that time was spent in mountain and seacoast villages, where I gathered many impressions about the Basques and their homeland. As a son of Basque-born parents, I was not to be put off by the famous Basque reserve. I was readily accepted by family and their friends. There is a saying that one Basque cannot lie successfully to another Basque. I found that to be true. My aim of penetrating the true Basque character, its strengths and its weaknesses, its good deeds and its shortcomings, was fulfilled. The traits and secrets of the Basque people and their robust minds are contained in these impressions. They are my offerings in understanding the nature and character of my people. Rodney Gallop would be pleased. xv THE LAND OF" My FATHERS ...