News

All visitors to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island will be able to learn about the Basques and the history of Basque immigration to the United States as an exhibit put together by Boise''s Basque Museum &' || 'amp; Cultural Center opens on Ellis Island on Saturday.

"Hidden in Plain Sight: The Basques" offers an overview of the Basques, indicating high points in their history, important aspects of their culture (language is specifically featured) and information about the Basque Country, both historical and how it is today. Visitors can see photographs, artifacts, videos, an interactive audio exhibit on Euskara, and will have the chance to read brief narratives that will enlighten, and hopefully challenge them to learn more about our culture.

Those behind the exhibit are hoping that the thousands of visitors through Ellis Island learn about the Basques, or at least learn something they did not know before. "The Basques have been extraordinary contributors to world history and have made an impact with their presence in the United States," Patty Miller says.

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.

For Boiseans, the exhibition is not so much about the efforts they have made to keep Basque culture alive in the United States, but a way of honoring their ancestors, who immigrated from the Basque Country against insurmountable odds and laid the foundation for what they have today in the capital city of Idaho State.

As Patty Miller reminds us: the Oinkari Basque Dancers are celebrating 50 years of history; the Biotzetik Basque Choir has been performing for over 25 years; the Basque Museum &' || 'amp; Cultural Center is celebrating its 25th year this year, and the Euzko-Etxea of New York has been in existence since 1913. "These entities represent the determination of Basques to continue to celebrate their history and culture, and they are very proud to represent the thousands of immigrants who came to the United States," Patty says.

Basque Museum &' || 'amp; Cultural Center

For the Basque Museum, one of the core pillars of Basque culture in Boise, this is by far the largest exhibit it has created; now that it has opened on New York''s Ellis Island, it has the potential to reach thousands more people than in Idaho.

Other major exhibitions the museum has completed in the last decade include a photograph and oral history project entitled, "Inner Strength: Portraits of Immigrant Basque Women"; the completed restoration and interpretation of the Cyrus Jacobs/Uberuaga House, Boise''s oldest residence built by a pioneer family and used as a Basque boarding house from 1910 to 1969; and "Basque Whaling: Danger &' || 'amp; Daring on a Distant Shore", which tells the story of 16th century Basque whalers.

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 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 made and the accomplishments achieved in their new home, the United States.

The text has been developed by the Basque Museum''s Curator, Michael Vogt, with the assistance of scholars at Boise State University and other consultants from around the country.

Artifacts and photographs are from the collection at the Basque Museum and others will be on loan from the Museo Vasco in Bilbao.