Gloria Totoricagüena is the Secretary of International Relations of the NABO organisation in the USA, and she is also a university professor. After completing her thesis on the Basque dispersion, she graduated in the London School of Economics last December 2000. The objective of such research was, by joining political science and sociology, to examine the situation of the Basque centres in the world, divulging the manner in which their members maintain their ethnic personality. We have spoken to her on occasion of her recent visit to the Basque Country.

-What exactly is NABO?
The North American Basque Organizations, Incorporated (NABO), was founded in 1974 with the objective to promote and preserve cultural and social activities of the Basque people; to cultivate understanding and friendship between Basques themselves and between Basques and non-Basques; to educate and enlighten the public about Basque themes; and to advance open communications between Basques in the United States and Basques around the world. It is a service organization to the Basque associations in the United States that are members of this collaborative union. Before the 1970s it was quite unusual for Basques in the American West to create exchanges or to travel the long distances to each other’s functions. Today because of the networks established it is not unusual for Basques from San Francisco to drive the 12 hours to arrive for Boise’s Jai Aldi, or for Boiseans to drive seven hours for the Reno Basque Festival. NABO organizes Basque cultural activities, and sport and card-playing competitions between the associations of the United States. It functions similarly to a confederation because it may not infringe on the autonomy of any individual Basque Center, and these organizations can choose to participate in joint projects, or they may completely abstain.
All Basque organizations are self-funded and do not depend on any public subsidy. Each creates their own fund-raisers, charges a small fee to members, and charges participants for activities. Basque cultural functions are well attended by the non-Basque population throughout California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, and New York, and the Basque Center events are utilized as an educational tool for non-Basques. However, as the generations are now farther away from the actual emigrant from Euskal Herria, often the Basque Centers and clubs must educate their own members concerning Basque topics from the homeland, and from the host society. Many Basques in the United States do not know anything about the history of their ancestors' emigration from Europe, nor are they familiar with the history of Basques in the United States.

-How many Basque associations form NABO?
There are currently thirty-five different Basque organizations in the United States that are members. The Vancouver, Canada club is also associated with NABO and its members are invited to participate in our functions and celebrations. Each Center has its own history and particular interests, but all share in the common goal to preserve the Basque language and Basque culture. All have elected Boards of Directors who serve voluntarily and various committees of volunteers who organize dinners, dances, euskara classes, Basque cuisine classes, choirs, dantzari taldeak, tournaments of mus and briska, and pelota championships.

-Which are the most important activities carried out by the federation?
Its annual activities include a "music camp" similar to the adolescent "colonias" offered to teenagers in the Basque Country. The NABO Music Camp program offers two weeks of instruction in Basque dancing, singing, accordion, tambourine, mus, pelota, history, cuisine, and language. Many of our youngsters are third or fourth generation Basques who do not have much knowledge about Euskal Herria or about Basque culture except to know that they are Basque by heritage. This camp gathers Basque youth from around the United States and gives them the opportunity to meet other Basques their own age, to learn new information and skills that they can then take back to their own Basque communities in order disseminate the knowledge. The number of music camp participants varies from 40-80 and the camps are held in the summer, rotating between different clubs in Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Nevada, and California. Instructors are from the United States and Euskal Herria.
The Kantari Eguna is held in Gardnerville, Nevada and is enjoyed by all music lovers. Bertsolaris, choirs, and instrumental musicians participate with pieces of original music and lyric, and also with established Basque music. In some years there have been competitions with prizes and in others the artists perform for exhibition.
NABO organizes an annual pelota championship with players from the Centers in California, Idaho and Nevada. Though several of the Centers in other States have frontones, many are in disrepair and there are not enough players who can practice in order to compete.
Mus tournaments are the highlight of the year for many members with each club organizing their own tournament to send their winners on to the NABO National Championships. The winners of the NABO tournament then participate in the International World Mus Tournament. The 2001 World Mus Tournament will be held in July at the Euskal Etxea in Boise, Idaho.
An annual calendar project displays photography from the homeland and from events of the United States Basques' activities. The calendar mixes French, Spanish, Euskara, and English and notifies us of all clubs’ events, summer picnics, dances, and annual festivals. The newsletter "Hizketa" is published three times a year and besides giving current events information regarding NABO and individual NABO clubs, it also educates the reader on topics of euskara, and homeland history, anthropology, and culture.

-When did Basque emigration to the United States commence?
Basque emigration to the United States came from Latin America before it came from Euskal Herria. Basques from Chile, Argentina and Uruguay made the voyage to the Pacific coast of North America when it was still under Mexican control (joining thousands of others of Basque heritage who colonized Mexico). Basque clerics, military personnel, and merchants were already present in what is now Arizona, New Mexico, and California. Contemporary Basque emigration began in 1848 with the annexation of California to the United States and the gold rush of 1849. The earlier emigration was from Nafarroa and Iparralde to California and southern Nevada, and later, 20^th century, emigration was mainly Bizkaian to Idaho and northern Nevada and eastern Oregon.

-What is the current situation with new immigration of Basques to the United States? Has the flow continued, and do these new immigrants affiliate themselves with the Basque Centers?
If the new Basque immigrants do not attend events or participate in activities, if they do not let it be known that they are from the Basque Country and now living in City X, there is no way for us to know they exist. There are students from Euskal Herria studying at the thousands of universities in the country, but many of these say they came to the U.S. to learn about American culture and enjoy U.S. campus life, not go to the Basque Centers and play mus with the elderly members, or endure through conversations with people trying to practice their beginning batua. They came for a temporary American experience and to practice English, not to learn folk dances and practice Basque. Others are professionals working with multinational corporations or international non-governmental organizations and are not usually placed in small towns where there are Basque organizations such as Bakersfield, Rock Springs, or Elko. They do not have the opportunity to attend Basque cultural activities or to join an association because there are none in their city.

-How is the current political situation of Euskal Herria perceived from NABO's point of view?
Though several Basques have served as political candidates and elected officials in government, the United States diaspora Basque Centers and organizations are basically non-partisan and non-political. They do not affiliate with United States political parties or allow partisan projects to be a part of the Center's functions and they do not endorse candidates or parties for elections, referendums, or initiatives. However, in researching United States Basques' political opinions and behavior, I found that many Basques crossed party lines to vote for fellow Basques. For example: in Idaho, Pete Cenarrusa has been elected as Secretary of State as a Republican in numerous consecutive elections. However, many Basques who stated they normally vote for the Democrats, admitted they vote for Mr. Cenarrusa because he is Basque and they want him to win specifically because he is Basque and so are they.
The politics of Euskal Herria is a different story. Emigrant generation Basques know much more about the actual situation because they are likely to keep in touch with relatives regularly, they speak Basque, French, and/or Spanish and they are able to read media reports regarding the state of euskara in Navarra, political violence, elections in Euskadi, etc. In general though, Basques in the United States are not as knowledgeable or as interested in homeland politics because the majority are economic emigrants and their descendents. This is opposed to Venezuela or Argentina where thousands of nationalist political refugees emigrated during, and after, the Spanish Civil War affecting the existing Basques and their diaspora organizations.
Individual diaspora Basques are interested in the movement for euskara, and NABO promotes language classes in each of the member organizations. Several clubs have Basque language classes and Boise has its own ikastola for twenty-eight children ages 3-7. Young Basques who have visited or lived in Euskal Herria often return to the U.S. with increased interest in politics and the future of the seven provinces. Some wear T-shirts advertising "Askatasuna", and "Presoak Kalera", but few have a clear understanding of the numerous political factors influencing the future of the Basque Country. Elections in Euskadi have a very low turn-out from diaspora voters eligible to participate. Those who do vote from the United States reported they favor the PNV first, and EH second. However, the majority report they do not know enough about homeland politics to choose a political party that represents their views. NABO Delegates do not discuss political parties, elections, or future political projects as a part of any meetings. It does have good relations with the government of Euskadi and the Office of Relations with Basque Communities Abroad in the Lehendakaritza. Several institutions in Iparralde have relations with NABO clubs, mostly those in California, for sending pelotaris, chefs, language teachers, and dance instructors. There have been fewer contacts or exchanges with institutions in Nafarroa.

-Do we know exactly how many Basques live in the United States?
No, but we do have an approximation. There are several factors that enter into the "counting" of Basques. First of all, who "counts" as a Basque? Only those people who consider themselves as Basques and self-identify as Basques? Or all those with Basque surnames, whether they define themselves as Basques or not? What about the people who have emigrated from Mexico, the Philippines, or Cuba and whose surnames are Ochoa, Echeverria or Navarro? Though their names signify they are Basque, they might say they are Mexican, Filipino, or Cuban. There is also the confusing factor that some believe a Basque is one who is born in the Basque Country, and that descendants of homeland-born Basque immigrants are not Basque. The Basque Studies Program (now the Center for Basque Studies) at the University of Nevada Reno played a significant role in modifying the United States census of 1980 and 1990 to include a place where the survey would ask for a person's ethnic identity, or identities. Previously respondents were asked their "nationality" which most confused with political states and Basques would have been classified as French or Spanish. The 1990 Census was the second survey utilizing ethnic identity, and not birthplace, as a category.
Because the specific data of the 2000 Census results are not yet finished, we can look at the 1990 Census statistics and compare it to the 1980 data. The following table shows States with more than 800 respondents reporting themselves as Basque, French-Basque, or Spanish-Basque.

Table I. Basque Population of the United States for 1990 and 1980

Respondents were allowed to select up to three designations for their ethnic identity and 78.9 percent of these Basques made it their first designation though they might have another ethnic identity as well (Douglass 1993:7).
These data reflect the number of people that specifically designated themselves on the Census paper form. However in interviews I have found that many people who do consider themselves as Basques did not mark it on the form. Some people did not understand the question, others did not think it important. I would argue there are many more thousands of Basques in the United States, however, there is currently no other manner to obtain a scientific count.

-For an emigrant, the notion of belonging to the country that he/she has left behind tends to dissipate with the passage of time. How can this process be avoided?
Some sociologists have argued that the importance of ethnic identity will lessen with the generations- the "straight-line assimilation" theory of immigrants. Supposedly each successive generation gets further and further away from their ancestors' cultural ethnic behavior and traditions. Others have argued a "third generation return" and that the culture and traditions that the son of the emigrant wanted to forget, the grandson wants to remember. However, in the case of Basques in the United States, there are no data to support either of these theories. The relatively small Basque communities (compared to those in Argentina, Uruguay, or Venezuela) have Basques who maintain their ethnic identity as an important part of their personalities and personal interests through four straight generations. In other cases, the first member of a family to be interested in manifesting their ethnicity might be a fourth or fifth generation Basque. Of course there are many others who do not consider their "Basqueness" an issue for public display. Who is to judge how a person should be Basque? If one does not participate in the Basque activities at the Centers, should this necessarily be interpreted as assimilation?
The number of Basque organizations in the United States is actually increasing, as are the membership numbers of those affiliated with Basque Centers and associations. In the 1980’s there were twenty member clubs of NABO. In 2001 there are thirty-five clubs, and as mentioned, not a result of new immigration.

-What could Basques from NABO be doing in the United States to improve the position of our small country?
Basques in the United States are enthusiastic about educating the public in regards to Basque language, culture, history, and traditions. When the Lehendakari Ardanza stated that the Basques in the diaspora are Euskal Herria's ambassadors, he spoke a truth with enormous yet untapped potential. The best advertising for tourism to the Basque Country could be by diaspora Basques themselves. Countering negative media representations of political events in the homeland could be spread by Basques themselves educating their friends in their communities and informing their local media about other views of the seven provinces. Basques in the US have also used their commercial networks to encourage investment in the homeland and to initiate exchanges of professionals. We have established student exchanges for homeland Basques wishing to practice English and diaspora Basques wishing to practice their euskara in homes and barnateguis. Individual Basques contact their Representatives and Senators to discuss the politics of homeland problems, though fewer and fewer understand it themselves. While Basques in the United States (and worldwide) are unlikely to draw attention to themselves and their work, we all need to continue to duplicate the positive reputation our ancestors earned by being trustworthy, honest, hard-working, and by keeping our given word. Inside our associations, we must strengthen the work of teaching and using euskara, encourage and maintain our ethnic identity and cultural traditions, as well as fortify teenagers with the dreams of traveling to Euskal Herria and knowing their homeland.

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Euskonews & Media 121.zbk (2001 / 5 / 4-11)