Boise's Basque Museum offers sneak preview of Ellis Island exhibit

Luciana Aboitiz Garatea, a 104-year-old Basque lady from Lekeitio who arrived in New York at the age of 15, will be the special guest this evening as the Basque Museum hosts a preview of an exhibit on the history of Basque immigration to the United States, on display on Ellis Island in New York City from February to April 2010.

The preview event includes a performance by the Oinkari Basque Dancers and wine and pintxos at the Basque restaurant Leku Ona.

The exhibit is called "Hidden in Plain Sight: The Basques", and will also be partially available for viewing by the public during the international Basque culture festival, Jaialdi. In September, it will become the featured exhibit in the main gallery of the Basque Museum.

According to 2008 attendance figures, 4,000,000 individuals visited the Statue of Liberty and an estimated 2,000,000 traveled to Ellis Island. During the time that the exhibit is in New York, well over 300,000 people could potentially learn about the Basque people thanks to this opportunity.

Millions of immigrants, including the Basque immigrants arriving in the United States, were processed through the port of entry on Ellis Island after it opened in 1892. Nowadays, it is a national monument that includes Liberty Island where the Statue of Liberty is located.

Six rooms

The temporary exhibit will be held in six rooms that were once dormitories for immigrants waiting to enter the United States. Historical photographs will depict the place Basques left behind and the work that they did when they arrived. These will be contrasted with modern photographs of what the Basque Country is today and the extraordinary contributions the Basques have given and the accomplishments achieved in their new home, the United States.

The exhibit's goal is that the visitor leave with a greater understanding of the Basque people. "We hope that visitors will leave with the knowledge that the Basques are the oldest people on the Iberian Peninsula, that their language is unique in the world and that that the Basque Country has maintained its history, but is also a very modern, progressive society", says Diana Echeverria, a member of the board of directors of the Basque Museum, in an interview for eitb.com.

It also seeks to recognize the role of the Basques in the US, who have prospered and continue to contribute to their communities both through the sharing of their heritage and through their economic successes.