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Originally published May 3, 2006 by John M.
Ysursa. The content does not necessarily represent the views of NABO or the Basque Government.
The
Basque festival season kicks off this weekend in Fresno and it will run
all the way through October in Las Vegas.
Included in this run of Basque action are various NABO events.
 NABO began in
1973 with a handful of clubs and today we count over thirty
organizations from throughout the United States. At its inception,
one of its chief objectives was to "offer present member organizations
some cultural and educational experiences in Basque heritage not
possible through the sponsorship of smaller individual clubs" with the
goal of preserving Basque culture here in the United States. NABO
has pursued this goal in various ways, but admittedly we could do a
better of job of making our federation more visible and relating better
what it is that we're all about. So NABO is a sense is like an "uztarri"
(Basque for yoke).
The yoke (NABO) is
used to harness the strength of the oxen (our member organizations) to
all work together to keep the cart (Basque culture) moving along in
America.
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In
searching for an image to encapsulate the mission of NABO, the
uztarri
(Basque for yoke) comes to mind. In the Basque country,
the uztarri is used to harness two or more oxen to pull a cart.
This now serves as our analogy: the uztarri (the federation of
NABO) combines the strength of various oxen (NABO’s member
organizations) so together we can keep the cart (Basque culture)
moving into the future. |
Now
across three plus decades, NABO continues its efforts to serve as a
vehicle of linking together various Basque organizations that share the
same belief: that Basque culture is worth preserving here in
America. To do that NABO is putting forth the following
events:
Click on
NABO news & calendar
for the most current information.
In line with our recreation + education =
perpetuation motto, these events are in line with having a good
time, but NABO has also set its sights on popular edification.
That is why there will also be a
touring photo exhibit that is coming to a Basque club near you.
This summer the exhibit will be at the following picnics in
Ventura, Bakersfield, Elko, Rock Springs, Buffalo, Boise & Denver.
The ultimate goal across 2-3 years is to move this around to as many
Basque clubs as possible.
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The NABO
touring
photo exhibit is coming to a Basque
club near you. It's a visual overview of the Basque
country along with captions that serve to inform the viewer
about various aspects of Basque culture. |
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This is an exhibit of photos taken by Mikel Arrazola that were provided
us by Basque Government.
These impressive photos of people and places in the Basque Country will
not only be enjoyable to view, but with included captions they will also
serve as a means of informing the viewer about various aspects of
Basque culture.
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Sample:
LEGEBILTZARRA. For most of
their existence, Basques have been a nation without a state. For a
time during the medieval period there was the Kingdom of Nafarroa
(Navarre) that embraced all seven historic territories, but
self-determination was limited under a Basque monarch and soon this
kingdom was split by the emerging national powers of Spain and France.
Then in the 1930s in the hegoalde (south side) of Euskal Herria there
was another successful endeavor by three of the territories (Araba,
Bizkaia & Gipuzkoa) to form their own government, but alas Franco's
victory in the Spanish Civil War ended this brief foray. With
Franco's death in the 1970s, Spain embarked on another experiment in
democracy. Those same three territories that joined together a
generation before re-launched their effort of autonomy and today call
themselves Euskadi. While the optimum relationship between the autonomous region
of Euskadi and the Spanish federal government in Madrid continues to be
negotiated, Euskadi has forged ahead. This photograph of the
Basque Parliament in the capital of Vitoria-Gastiez is where
democratically elected representatives meet regularly to work on
legislation for the autonomous region of Euskadi. |
 Visit NABO's website, under
the direction of Philippe Acheritogaray at
www.nabo.us where you'll find
more specific information about our federation. |
