Encyclopedia of World CulturesVolume I - NORTH AMERICA - B potx

Settlements The settlement pattern of the Baffinland Inuit was based on small reasonably permanent winter encampments that were the primary residence for family groups ranging in size fr

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28 Baffinland Inuit

Baffinland Inuit deep concern about maintaining the language and ensuring

itsuse in theworkplace aswell as in the home

Orientation Identification The Baffinland Inuit constitute the

east-ernmost groupof whatiscommonlyreferredto asthe Central

Eskimo,adesignationthat also includes theCopper, Iglulik,

Netsilik, and CaribouInuit.The BaffinlandInuitare a

hunt-ingpeople who have occupied theirland foroverfour

thou-sandyears.They refertotheirterritory asNunaseak,which

means "beautiful land." Today, the Baffinland Inuit are

under the jurisdictionof the Northwest Territories

govern-ment. There is, however, an active movement toward a

reinterpretation of their political status within Canada,

whichisbasedonthe settlement of land claims, thecreation

ofa systemofself-government,and therecognitionof

aborig-inal rights within the constitution of Canada The rather

massivechanges that have occurredoverthe lasttwenty-five

yearshave resultedin manydisruptionstotraditional social

patternsthatmustbe dealt withbyallsegmentsof the

popu-lationasthe BaffinlandInuitstruggletoreconcile tradition

with change andto create a newform of adaptation

Location The BaffinlandInuitoccupythe southern

two-thirds of Baffin Island Theirterritoryextends from

approxi-mately620 to72°N The northeastern sectoroftheir

terri-tory is mountainouswith small glaciers, the southern sector

hasrollingterrain, andtothewestthe surface becomes flat

The climateismarked byintensecoldinthewinterwith

day-time temperatures averagingabout -30° F.Summer

tempera-tures average50°Fandexceptfor theareasof glaciersmostof

thesnowmelts eachseason.TheseafreezesinOctober and

begins break-up in July In some years, however, pack ice

neverclears from thearea.

Demography In 1988 the population of the Baffinland

Inuit was approximately 7,200 The largest community,

Iqualuit (Frobisher Bay), is thetransportation, supply, and

government centerfor the territory and hasapopulation of

3,625 The Davis Strait communities of Kangitugaapiq

(Clyde) and Qikitarjuaq (Broughton Island) have

popula-tions of approximately 550 and 450, respectively;

Pangnirtung, about1,100; Kingmiruit (Lake Harbor), about

350and, fartherwest, Kingait (Cape Dorset), about 1,100

The population is growing at a rate of2.8percent per year,

whichis asignificant decrease from earlierestimatesofover4

percent.Inallcommunitiesthereis apredominanceofyoung

people, with almost 45percentof the total population under

eighteenyears ofage. The existenceof settlements ofeven

400 people, coupled with this shiftin age composition, is a

new development with major social and economic

conse-quences.

Linguistic Affiliation The Baffinland Inuit speak

Inuk-tituk, whichisthe language spokenfrom northern Alaskato

Greenland Although therearedialects and changes from

re-gion to region,the BaffinlandInuitcan communicatewith all

theCentralEskimo groups aswellaswith theInuitof Quebec

and Labrador Inuktitukis now writtenbyusingsyllabic

sym-bols thatweredeveloped bymissionaries. Englishisthe

sec-ond languageofmost youngBaffinland Inuit, but thereis a

History and Cultural Relations

The Baffinland Inuit have prehistoric origins that date back

toapproximately 2200 B.C Many material culture traits as well

asthe seasonal useof territory have remainedamazingly con-sistent overthislong periodoftime.The earliestInuit to oc-cupythe territory are referred to as the pre-Dorset and Dorset cultures The Inuit usually refer to this cultural phase as Tunit Dorset adaptation was based on small, well-crafted stone, ivory, and boneimplements used to harvest and proc-ess marineand landmammals, freshwater fish, and migratory birds Sometime during the first thousand years the kayak, snowhouse, and dogsledcame into usethroughaprocess of diffusion combined with local development Around A.D

1200, a different culturaladaptationcalled the Thule culture became evidentthroughout the territory and centered on the hunting of whales Archaeological findings indicate that the Thule culture, like the population that preceded it, originated

inAlaska and spread rapidly eastward The Thule Inuit are the direct ancestors of the Baffinland Inuit oftoday Sustained contact with Europeans began around 1750, when whalers first entered the area They introduced trade goods and disease and altered to some extent the general pat-ternof seasonaladaptation, especially after 1850, when they began to overwinter near the present-day communities of Pangnirtung and Kingmiruit Whalers were the primary Euro-pean presence until the early 1900s, when the decline of whales ended this activity.Whalers were replaced by fur trad-ers, who first entered some parts of the territory around 1910 and remained a powerful economic and social force until about 1965 Although whalers introduced bartering and the seasonal employment of Inuit as crew members, it was the fur traders who instituted formal exchange and a system of eco-nomic control based on debit and credit The trading era brought about occasional periods of prosperity, especially in the 1920s, but for the most partresulted in difficult economic times and adeterioration of the Baffinland Inuit's indepen-dent pattern of subsistence Nevertheless, when the elders of today refer to traditional times, or even to "the good old days," they meanlife during the fur trade era

Around 1912, the first missionaries entered the region and the evidence points to a rapid replacement of a shamanistic-based system of belief by that of Anglican Chris-tianity.The missionaries were soon followed by the Royal Ca-nadian Mounted Police who represented the government of Canada and looked after Canadian sovereignty of the terri-tory A more active government representationstarted to de-velop in the late1950s when it became apparent that the liv-ing conditions and health of Inuit had deteriorated Tuberculosis was the major health problem, although influ-enza and even common colds could cause hardship and death By the mid-1950s, a medical ship would visit all Baffinland Inuit communities each year and seriously ill indi-viduals of any age were evacuated to spend one to several years recuperating in a southern hospital or sanatorium By the 1970s, small nursing stations were built in the communi-ties, with aregional hospital in Iqualuit The rate of tubercu-losis has been significantly slowed, but evacuation, now car-ried out by airplane, is still relied upon

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BaffinlandInuit 29

The development of the six present-day communities

began in 1960 when the government started to implement a

wider range of programs The first communities comprised

shacks without water, sewage treatment, or other services By

1965, government housing programs were initiated and as

services accumulated the community became more

perma-nent Schools were created for primary grades, but some

teenage youth would be sent to boarding schools outside the

region for vocational training or academic upgrading

Settlements The settlement pattern of the Baffinland Inuit was based on

small reasonably permanent winter encampments that were

the primary residence for family groups ranging in size from

twenty-five to fifty individuals Family groups identified

themselves geographically and socially by the suffix -miut

which means "the people of a particularplace." The territory

utilized by Inuit was defined geographically through the

des-ignation of many place names, and there was a network of

trails and travel routes, indicating the potential for the

move-ment of people over long distances The winter residence was

the central point from which smaller, seasonal camps would

be established in order to harvest specific resources The

pat-tern of occupation was formed by groups of related families

living within a region Certain activities such as the late

win-ter breathing-hole hunting of the seal could support larger

groups and tended tobring people together At other times,

especiallyduring inland trips forcaribou,smaller social units,

usually composed only of male hunters from closely related

families, were more productive Duringmuch of this century,

the presence of fur traders throughout the region had an

in-fluence on settlement since they encouraged or coercedInuit

to maintain smaller social groups over a larger territory and to

locate their settlement with respect to potential benefits from

trapping rather than hunting

The settlement pattern and territoriality of particular

Baffinland Inuit groups did not necessarily exclude other

in-dividuals or family groups from usingterritory, but since

kin-ship linkages within one particular area were better defined

than between areas, there was a tendency to maintain loose

boundary distinctions Certain of these boundary

distinc-tions are still maintained today through the arrangement of

family housing units within the new settlements Older

pat-ternscan also be recognized in thepolitical structure and

in-fluence of particular individuals orfamilies on the economic

and social life in these new communities

Today, the Baffinland Inuit live in six centralized

com-munities and practice a mixed economy of hunting and wage

labor Children attend primary and secondary schools, the

families are housed in centrally heated government-built

dwellings that are serviced for water and sewage, and there is

access to social programs and basic health services All the

communities are linkedtogether and tosouthern Canada by

a system of air transport, but there has been no substantial

migration to southern Canada

Economy The traditional economy of theBaffinland Inuit was based on

seasonal harvesting that tookplace within the framework of

settlement and territoriality described above Marine

mam-mals were the primary species harvested by the Baffinland

Inuit, including, in general order ofimportance, ringedand bearded seals, beluga whale, walrus, andpolarbear Avery generalizeddescriptionoftheseasonaleconomiccycle can be applied to theBaffinlandInuitas awhole,though each area had a particular pattern In the winter, the primary activity was hunting for seals attheirbreathingholes oralongthefloe edge where permanent icegives way to openwater.Winter was thetimeoflowestproductivity, andtraditionallytheease

of survival was often a functionofthe amountoffood that couldbestoredfromfallhuntingandfishing As winter gave way tospring,sealsbegan tosunthemselvesontop of the ice, makingthemeasier tofindandharvest.InMay, beluga whale and migratory birdswouldbegintomove into the region and anadromousfishmove to the ocean.Springwasan important hunting time, since surpluses of food could be obtained When dogsleds were in wide use, these surpluses would be stored for dog food During the summer families relied on fishing near coastal or inland lakes or rivers and on the gath-ering of seaweed and clams, as well as berries and roots By September, theweatheroftenmadecoastal traveldifficult, so people moved to fishing sites for Arctic char, but on calm dayssealhuntingwasoftenproductive Early fall was marked

by longinlandhunts forcaribou, with caribou fur at its best for the preparation ofwinter clothing The transition from fall to winter was marked by the movement ofbelugawhale and, in certain areas, walrus along the coast These species could often be harvested in large quantities and stored for winter use

Dogsleds were theprimarymeans oflandtransportation until about 1965,when the snowmobilewas introduced In-troductionof thesnowmobile, along with the motor-powered freighter canoes and, most recently, the four-wheel drive overland vehicles, meant that new economic strategies needed to be created since this technology had to be

pur-chasedandsupportedthroughlarge sums of money At pres-ent, it costs an Inuit hunter approximately thirty thousand dollars (Canadian) toobtainandoperate theminimal equip-mentneeded.Since theArcticenvironmentishard on equip-ment, fullreplacement, atleast ofsnowmobiles, isnecessary everytwo to threeyears.The types ofeconomic activity used

to generateincome havechanged over time The reliance on the debit andcreditsystemof thefur tradebegantodisappear around 1965 At that time, universal programs of social assistance such as family allowances and old-age benefits wereapplied to the Inuit, and there was also thecreation of more permanent wage employment in the new settlements The transition betweenthe relianceontrapping and the employment patterns of today was bridged for many Inuit by thecreationof anindustrybased on Inuitsoapstone carving Thisindustry still flourishes insome of the Baffinland com-munities,especially Kingait andKingmiruit The economyof Iqualuit is based on the provisionofservices to the inhabi-tants of this community and the region The economy of Pangnirtung hasrecently beensupported throughthe devel-opmentofatourist industry basedonthecreation of aunique national parksupplementedbycommercial fishing in winter The national park has also affected Broughton Island on Davis Strait Throughoutthe territory, there continues to be

anemphasis on hunting inpartbecauseof itsimportanceto thefoodeconomybut alsobecauseofits values for maintain-ingand enjoyingamoretraditional life-style Thesale of furs

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30 Baffinland Inuit

and sealskin has beenbadly damaged by pressuresfrom the

animalrights movement. Eventhoughmany Inuitnow

par-ticipate in wage employment that may range from driving

trucksorheavyequipmenttoservingascommunitymayor or

administrator,manyjobsarestill heldbynonnatives.The

de-velopment of schools and the creation of academic

voca-tionalprogramsshouldbringaboutashiftinthissituation. It

is nowpossibleforInuittolook forwardtoemploymentas

pi-lots, managers, andpoliticians, and anumber of small

busi-ness ventures have been attempted Nevertheless, the

eco-nomicoutlookisstillnot secure, and thereis thepersistent

question ofhow the youth oftoday will be able tosupport

themselves

Kinship

KinGroupsandDescent Thepatternof socialcohesion,

ordivision,within BaffinlandInuitsocietyisdeterminedto a

largemeasurebythe densityandtypeof kin-based

relation-ships thatexist withinany one segment ofthepopulation.

The nuclear family isaprimary social unit, butit isthe

ex-tended familythatis the most importantsocial entitywhen

considering the integration that occurs between the social

andeconomicroles ofindividuals Extended familiesarealso

linked through kinship to form the larger territorial group

thatisoften referredto as aband.The Baffinlandsystemof

kinshipisbilateral andrecognizespositionsfortwoascending

andtwodescendinggenerations Thekinshipsystem

encour-ages interpersonalbehavior based onrespect, affection, and

obedience Althoughthesecategoriesof behaviorapply only

topairsofindividuals, theyalsoplayapartwithin thelarger

systemsince they help toregulate orchannel the sharingof

food and materialsincludingmoney,the flow ofinformation,

theageorsexualdivision ofroles,and theexpressionof

lead-ership,withinasocialgroup Thestructure ofkinshipgroups

indicates abias towardrelationshipsbetween males, yetnot

tothe extentthatcould be calledapatrilinealform of social

organization

Kinship Terminology. Within Baffinland Inuit society,

twotypesofterminologicalprocessesoperateto create a

kin-shipnetwork The firstisthat which establishes the formalor

idealsetoftermsthatidentifyfixedkinshippositionsin

rela-tionship to a speaker. These positions are based on the

consanguinealtiesofbiological family andonthe affinalties

acquired through marriage The second, and in relation to

everydayusage,themoreimportantprocess,isthealternative

way inwhich thetermsof the formaloridealsystemare

incor-porated into an alternative, or "fictive," system of

relation-ships. Becauseof this secondprocess, there isoftenamajor

distinction between the true consanguineal or affinal

rela-tionship and thetermthatis actuallyused Thename isthe

primary factor that creates this apparent contradiction

Throughout Baffinland, newbornchildrenarenamed aftera

deceased person or persons-a child can have as many as

seven names. Aspeakerwill therefore referto this childon

the basis of thekinship relationshipthat existedbetween the

speaker and the deceased person. Because of this process,

mostindividualsarerecognized bymanydifferent fictive

kin-shipterms.The fictivekinshipestablishedthroughthename

alsomeans that the behavior follows the fictive rather than

the actual kinship designation, and this can cross sexual

lines Although such reckoning isoftenused in a symbolic

sense,especiallyasthe childgrowsolder,it isnevertheless

im-portantand persistent

Marriage and Family

Marriage Traditionally, marriage tookplace through an

arrangement made for childrenbyadults when thetwo chil-drenwereyoung.Sincetherigorsof lifecouldnotguarantee the eventualjoiningofthese individuals, itwas not uncom-mon forparentsto create such anarrangementjust priorto

themarriage Menusually movedto thevillage of the wife's parents.Theduration of thisdependedonthe socialposition andeconomic circumstancesof the twofamilies andonthe overallavailabilityof eithereligible malesorfemales.

Polyga-mous unionsexisted, and there could be unions that repre-sented significant agedifferences between thepartners Domestic Unit Newdomesticunits werecreated whena

couple had their first child This nuclear unit usually re-mained within the parental dwelling, but asthe number of childrenincreased, a newresidence would be createdusually

closeto theparentalhome Sinceadoptionofgrandchildren

by grandparentswas common,the actualdevelopmentofnew

nuclear families could be delayed. In the new communities

there has beenabreakdown ofarrangedmarriages,andyoung adults often express theirindependence through exercising theirown choice ofpartner There is also a tendency espe-ciallyforyoungwomen to remainunmarried,butpregnancies often occurand the child is usually adopted byparents or

other members of the extendedfamily.

Socialization The socialization of children hasundergone significant change since the creation ofmodern communi-ties Inthe past, the immediate family, including especially

the grandparents,wasresponsible for muchof the

socializa-tion.Childrenwereinvolvedin acontinuous processof

edu-cationthat tendedtoshiftitsemphasisasthe child matured The early stages ofdevelopment were defined by tolerance andaffection.Asachildgrewolder,affectionwasreplaced by

a stress on independence Learning took place by example

andwas often integrated with play. Male roles and female roleswerepart ofthis play. As achildgrewolder, playgave way to moreusefulwork,and therewas anemphasisontasks that would beincorporatedintotheir older andmore produc-tive stages of life The productive stage couldbegin before marriage and lasted untilagesetlimitsonthetypeof

activi-ties a male or female could carry out. At this point they

moved into a stage in which theybecame morevaluable as

possessorsofinformation, including family historyandmyth.

Intoday'sworld thecomplexityofcommunity lifemeansthat this processhas broken down Theprimary exceptionis dur-ing thespringandsummerwhenchildren,parents,and elders

are often together in smaller hunting camps For the most part, however, the school, television, and otherimported

in-stitutionshaveeitherreplacedor, moreoften,come into con-flict with traditional ways ofsocializing the young.

Sociopolitical Organization

Intraditional Inuitsociety therewas no active politicallevel

oforganization Thekinshipsystemoperatedto maintain

so-cial control and resolve conflict Theleadershipnotedabove

wasneitherpersistentnoracquired throughanyformal

proc-ess. Most leadership was exercised most effectively only

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Basques 3 1

within the extended family Territory didnotcarry political

connotation orboundaries Again,it wassocialorganization

that tendedtolimitorfacilitateaccess toterritory.There was

noownership ofeither land or resources.Atendency toward

possessing'rights"to aparticular territorywassimplya

func-tionofthe size ofasocial unit and thetime inwhichithad

persisted in the use ofa particular territory Rights to

re-sources werepart ofeveryone'sheritage,and these rightswere

bestexpressedthrough the almost universal process of

shar-ing The lack of traditional political and leadership roles

withinthe culture of the BaffinlandInuit hasmeantthat the

development ofnewpolitical realities within theareasofland

claims,self-government,orcommunity organization hasbeen

difficultto create.Although young people have attempted to

developpolitically,it isstill hard for them to express

leader-ship across a large segment of the population

Religion and Expressive Culture

Inthetraditional world of the Baffinland Inuit, spirits

perme-atedevery aspectof life Some of these spirits were benevolent

and helpful; others were not The powers of certain spirits

wereintegratedwith the powers of certain individualsinorder

tocreateashamanistic power Ceremonies, feasts, and

cele-brations were held, mostof which were linkedto different

phasesof theecological or natural cycle Amulets were widely

usedandawide rangeoftaboos observed Direct intervention

between the spirit world and living Inuit was carried out

through the shaman The change toChristianitywithin the

framework of theAnglican church began in the early 1900s

andrapidlyspreadthrough all of the population The roleof

the Christian religion has continued to develop, and the

Bible remains theonly piece ofliterature thatisavailable to

the Inuit in their own language

Bibliography Anders, G., ed (1967) Baffinland-East Coast: An Economic

Survey Ottawa: Departmentof Indian Affairs and Northern

Development, Industrial Division

Boas, Franz (1888) TheCentralEskimo Sixth Annual

Re-port of the Bureau of American Ethnology for the Years

1884-1885, 399-669 Washington, D.C

Freeman, Milton M R (1976) Inuit Land Useand

Occu-pancyProject: Report 3 vols.Ottawa: Department of Indian

andNorthern Affairs

Graburn, NelsonH H (1963) Lake Harbour, Baffin Island:

AnIntroductiontotheSocial and EconomicProblemsofaSmall

EskimoCommunity.Ottawa:Department ofNorthern Affairs

and National Resources, Northern Co-Ordination and

Re-search Centre

McElroy, Ann (1977) Alternatives to Modernization: Styles andStrategies ofAcculturativeBehaviorofBaffinIsland Inuit.3 vols NewHaven, Conn.: HumanRelations Area Files

WILLIAM B KEMP

Bannock

ETHNONYMS: Banac, Nimi,Punnush The Bannock are a Northern Paiute-speaking minority populationamongtheNorthernShoshone, bothofwhomin thepast lived in southern Idaho south of the Salmon River and extending eastward into northwestern Wyoming and southwestern Montana Most now live with the Northern Shoshone on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation near Po-catello, Idaho.They apparentlylived originally in northeast-ernOregon,but migrated into the general region of the Snake River where they lived among the Shoshone speakers in peaceful cooperation In the nineteenth century they were loosely organized in seminomadic bands They had band chiefs whoinherited office through the male line subject to community approval They shared most of their culture traits with the Northern Shoshone Their culture was basically BasinShoshonean with an admixture of Plateau Indian and PlainsIndiantraits, such as the use of the horse and ofbison-hunting parties There were about 2,500 Bannock and Sho-shoneIndianslivingonthe Fort Hall Reservationin1980.It

is not known what thepopulation breakdown is

See alsoNorthern Shoshone

Bibliography Madsen, Brigham D (1958) The Bannock ofIdaho Caldwell, Idaho: Caxton Printers

Murphy, Robert F., and Yolanda Murphy (1986) "Northern Shoshone and Bannock." InHandbookofNorthAmerican In-dians Vol 11, Great Basin, edited by Warren L.d'Azevedo, 284-307.Washington, D.C.: SmithsonianInstitution

Basques

Higgins, G M (1967) South Coast-Baffinland: An Area

Economic Survey Ottawa:Department of Indian Affairsand

Northern Development, Industrial Division

Kemp, William B (1984) "Baffinland Eskimo." In

Hand-book of North American Indians Vol 5, Arctic, edited by

David Damas, 463-475 Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian

Institution

ETHNONYMS:Bascos, Eskualdunak, Euskaldunak,Vascos

Orientation Identification The European Basque homelandis inthe western Pyrenees and straddles the French-Spanish border Althoughfrequently designatedas eitherFrench orSpanish

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32 Basques.

Basques,the Basquepeopleconstitute oneofEurope'smost

distinctive ethnic groupsintheirownright.Theseven

tradi-tional regions within the Basque country, further

distin-guishedbydialectical differences inspoken Basque, provide

subethnic distinctions within the Basque population

BasquesenteredNorthAmerica aseitherSpanishorFrench

nationals,butBasque-Americansinvoke Basquenessastheir

primaryethnicidentity

Location There are small numbers of Basquesin British

Columbia, Quebec, and the eastern seaboard in Canada

Basquesarepresentinevery stateof the UnitedStatesbutare

concentratedinCalifornia,Idaho,and Nevada Basques are

particularly noted for an identification with sheepherding

andare therefore presentto some degreeinthe open-range

livestock districts of all thirteenstatesoftheAmerican West

Florida, NewYork, and Connecticut have significant Basque

populations as well

Demography The Basque-Canadian population assuch

has not been enumerated, but probably numbers no more

than 2,000to3,000individuals The 1980 U.S census

esti-mated the Basque-Americanpopulationatslightlymorethan

40,000 The three largest concentrations by state include

California (15,530), Idaho (4,332), and Nevada (3,378)

The Basques of North America are primarily rural and

small-town dwellers, although there are urban concentrations in

New York City (port ofentry), Miami, Greater San

Fran-cisco, Greater Los Angeles, Stockton, Fresno, Bakersfield,

Boise, and Reno

Linguistic Affiliation First-generation Basque

immi-grants are usually fluent in Basque (Euskera), an

agglutina-tive language employing the Roman alphabet but with no

knownaffinity with any other tongue Basque immigrants are

also fluentinSpanishand/or French.Basqjue-Canadiansand

Basque-Americans are more likely to be bilingual in Basque

and English (French in the case of Quebec) than to retain

their parents' fluencyinSpanish or French.It israreforthe

second generation ofNewWorld-bom individuals to retain

fluency in a second language Rather, they arefully assimi

lated linguisticallyintothe American mainstream

Basques, asEurope's earliestand most efficientwhalers,may

have entered NorthAmericaprior tothe voyages of

Colum-bus There is documentation of Basque whaling and

cod-fishing activity along the Labrador coast by the early

six-teenth centuryandevidence of Basque loan words in some of

the Atlantic coastal Canadian Native American languages

Canadian archivists and archaeologists have discovered a

sixteenth-century Basquewhaling station (used seasonally)

and sunkenwhaling shipatRedBay, Labrador Placenames

such asPort-aux-Basques, Placentia, and Biscay Bay also

tes-tify to a Basque presence in Canadian coastal waters This

ac-tivityremained intense through the eighteenth century and

lastedwell into the nineteenth With the exception of this

maritime involvement, the Basque presence in Canada

re-mains virtually unstudied Some French Basques became

es-tablished inQuebecaspart of that area's overallFrench

im-migration In recent yearstherehas been a Basque festival in

the town ofTroisPistoles Inthe twentieth century, a small

colony of Basques (associated with the timber industry) has

emergedinwesternBritishColumbia,and several ofits fami-lieshave relocated to the Vancouver area

Basques enteredthe western United States as part of the Spanish colonialendeavor Several administrators, soldiers, explorers, and missionaries in the American Southwest and Spanish California were Basques After Mexican indepen-dence and subsequent American annexation of the area, therewas arenewal of Basque immigrationaspartof the Cali-forniagold rush Many of the prospectors came from

south-em South America, where Basques were the established sheepmen on the pampas Some saw anopportunity to repeat

in California a sheep-raising pattern under frontier condi-tions By 1860, there were establishedBasque sheep outfits roamingthepublic lands in southern California.Inthe 1870s they spreadthroughout California's central valleys and had expanded into parts of Arizona, New Mexico, and western Nevada Bythefirstdecade of the twentieth century, Basques werepresent inthe open-range districts of all thirteen western states.The Basquesheepherder was thepreferred employeein Basque- andnon-Basque-owned sheep outfits alike Restrictiveimmigrationlegislationinthe 1920s, withits anti-southem-European bias, severely limited Basque immi-gration into theUnited States, and by the 1940s, the Basque-Americancommunity wasevolvingaway from itsOld World culturalroots But alaborshortage during WorldWar IIand theunwillingness of Americans to endure the privations of thesheepherding wayof life prompted the U.S government

to exempt prospective Basque sheepherders from immigra-tion quotas Between 1950 and 1975, several thousand Basquesentered the United States on three-year contracts Thegeneraldecline of the sheep industry over the past fifteen years,coupledwith full recovery of the Spanish and French economies, has all but interdicted the immigration of Basques intothe American West Today there are fewer than onehundred Basquesherding sheep in the United States

Asecondary source of twentieth-century Basque immi-grationderived from the Basque game of jai alai Nuclei of professionalplayerswho have married U.S citizens or other-wisegained permanentresidency have formed around the le-galizedjai alai frontonsinFlorida, Connecticut, and Rhode Island Political refugees form a third modem, if modest, streamof Basque immigration in North America, as some in-dividuals rejected Franco's Spain and others fled Castro's Cuba

Settlements

Basque involvement in sheepherding is limited to the arid and semiarid open-range districts of the American West, where sheep husbandry entails transhumance-that is, the herds arewintered onthe valley floors and then trailed into adjacent or distant mountainranges for summer pasturage The annual trekmightinvolvecoveringas much as five hun-dred milesonfoot, although today the animals are more likely

to betrucked if the distance between the summer and winter rangesis considerable For the herder, while on the winter range, home is a sheep wagoncontaining little more than a bunk,table, and stove The wagon is moved about the desert winterrange witheither horses or a four-wheel drive vehicle

In thesummer months the herder lives in a tipi camped along streambeds in high mountain canyons He is visited every sev-eral daysby a camptender who brings him supplies on

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mule-Basques 33

back orby pickup truck The herder's lifeischaracterizedby

extremeisolation, the loneliness being relieved only by the

camptender's brief visit, theportable radio, afew magazines

andbooks, and theoccasional letter from a fiancee or family

Someformersheepherders acquired theirownranch

proper-ties Thesewereestablishedholdings and therefore have no

architectural features that might be regarded as uniquely

Basque Most small towns of the open-range districts have

one or more Basque hotels, whichare likely located within

sight of the railroad station (to facilitate the travel of newly

arrived herders from Europe) Again, they tend to be

pur-chased rather than constructed by their proprietors andare

therefore largely consonant with western American

small-townarchitecture, although some ofthehotels haveaddeda

fronton or handball court The typical hotelcontains abar,a

diningroomwhere mealsareservedfamily-styleatlongtables

to boarders and casual guests alike; and a second floor of

sleeping rooms usually reserved for permanent boarders,

sheepherders in townfor abrief visit, vacation, or

employ-ment layoff, and herders in transit to an employer

Economy Subsistence and Commercial Activities The Basque

fishermen in Canada were seasonal sojourners, who crossed

the Atlantictohunt whales andfish for cod The formerwere

rendered into oil and the latter weresalted for transport back

toEurope.Inthe United States, Basques,asmuchasany and

more than mostimmigrant groups, have been identified with

a singleindustry-sheep husbandry By thebeginning of the

presentcentury, they were present in all phases of it,

dominat-ing the ranks of the sheepherders and nomadic outfits that

moved about the public lands throughout the year Some

Basques also acquired their own ranch properties; others

worked ascamptenders and ranch foremen Still others

be-came involved as wool and lamb buyers and in livestock

transportation Inrecent years, open-rangesheephusbandry

inthe United States has declined owing to increased labor

costsand herder shortages, the abolition ofcertainpredator

control measures, thesuccessof environmentalistsinlimiting

livestock numbers on public lands, declining demand for

wool versus synthetic fabrics, and foreign competition for

meat products Consequently, the Basque involvement in

sheephusbandryisnow more historic than actual Many

for-merherders and owners returned to Europe; others converted

sheep ranches to cattle; and still others moved to nearby

small towns to engage in construction workorestablish small

businesses (bars, bakeries, motels, gasoline stations, and so

on) In San Francisco, Basques work as gardeners,

specializ-ing in carspecializ-ingfor dozens of urban, postage-stamp-sized yards

They wrested this occupational niche from

Japanese-Americans when the latter were interned during World War

11 In the GreaterLosAngeles area,severalBasques workas

milkers in largecommercial dairies Wherever jai alai (words

that mean "happy festival" in Basque) is legalized, Basque

players are recruited from Europe They tend tobetrue

so-journers, playing part of the yearinthe Basque country and

the remainderinthe United States Basque-Americans are

assimilated intothe wider culture and therefore display the

full range ofAmerican occupations andprofessions There

are Basque attorneys,medical doctors, and university

profes-sors, as well as a fewownersand chiefexecutiveofficers of

major businesses and financial institutions It is also true, however, that Basque-Americans have tended to cluster in smallbusinesses, trades, and unskilled occupations Inpart, thisis areflection ofthe Old World rural origins of their fore-bears and their ownupbringing in ruraland/or small-town America

Trade Inthe American West thereis aBasque ethnic net-work that, if far from absolute, provides a certain Basque cli-entele to Basque-owned businesses and tradespeople The Basque hotels are particularly patronized by Basque-Americans, although all depend upon their wider American clientele as well In this regard, they trade on the excellent reputation of Basque cuisine and their fame for providing a unique ethnicatmosphere

Division of Labor In both Old World and Basque-American society there is considerable egalitarianism be-tweenthe sexes Althoughdomestic tasks remain largely the purview of women, they are not regarded as demeaning for men Conversely, whether running a ranching operation, a Basque hotel, or a town business, women work alongside their menfolk performing virtually any task

LandTenure In Old WorldBasque society, farm or busi-nessownership is a point of personal pride and social prestige,

anattitude discernible among Basque-Americans Practically noneentered the United States with the intention of remain-ingsalaried sheepherders Rather, the occupation was seen as

astepping-stoneproviding savings either to return to Europe andpurchase land or to acquire a ranch or town business in the United States Those Basques who remain salaried em-ployees manifest an extremely high level of home ownership

Kinship

Kin Groups and Descent The Basque-American com-munity isstitched together by extended consanguineal (reck-oned bilaterally) and affinal ties Recruitment of herders from Europe typically involved sending for or receiving a request from a brother or cousin willing to come to the United States Therefore, each Basque-American colony is more likely to be made up of family clusters rather than unrelated families and individuals The degree of interrelatedness is enhanced by local endogamy involving an Old World-born ex-herder and

a Basque-American spouse or two first-generation Basque-Americans Extended Basque-American families tend to maintain close ties, gathering forbaptisms, graduations, wed-dings, and funerals, andisfurtherintegrated bygodparental ties

Kinship Terminology Basque kinship terms are of the Eskimo variety Sibling terms differ according to whether the speakerismale or female Basque kinship reckoningisquite consonant with that in the wider North American main-stream

Marriage and Family Marriage Few Basques enteredthe United States with the intentionof staying.Also, the immigrants weremainly young males The sheepherding occupationwasinimicaltofamily life, and the only married herderswere sojourners who had left their spouses and children in Europe Gradually, some Basques became oriented to an Americanfuture and either

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34 Basques

sentbackor wentbacktoEurope forbrides(fewmarried

non-Basques).Many ofthe brideswereof the"mail-order" variety,

the sisterorcousinofanacquaintance made inthe United

States AsBasquehotelsproliferatedtheybecamea sourceof

spouses.The hotelkeepers sentbackto Europeforwomen

willingtocometo America asdomestics, andfew remained

single forlong.Inthisfashion,the basis ofBasque-American

familylife and communitywasestablished

DomesticUnit MostBasque-American householdsareof

the nuclear family variety and are largely indistinguishable

from their American counterparts For those Basques

en-gagedinranching, thenotionoffamily,or atleast offamily

privacy, isstretched to include ranchemployees.The latter

sleepinabunkhouse,buttheyarelikelytotake their mealsin

the kitchen of the main house If the outfit includes Old

World-born herders with limitedor noEnglishskills,theyare

likelytobe afforded special attentionbythefamily.For

fami-lies engagedinthe hotelbusiness, homeistheentire

estab-lishment, whichistruly afamily enterprise.Specialattention

islikelytobe accordedto the permanentboarders-retired

herders withno interest inreturning to Europe

Inheritance InEurope, farm property is transmitted to a

single heirineach generation.This is less noticeable among

Basque-Americans Few Basque-American businesses or

ranchesremain in thesamefamily for two or more

genera-tions

Socialization Child rearing among Basque-Americans is

similar tothatinmainstream American society.The

excep-tion isthat first-generation American-born children are

im-bued with an urgency to excel in academics and athletics

through thesecondaryschool level This has beeninterpreted

astheneed to proveoneself in American terms as a

counter-measure to anti-immigrant and, at times, specifically

anti-Basqueprejudice

Sociopolitical Organization

SocialOrganization After thefamily, the most important

socialinstitution isthe hotel or boarding house For the Old

World-born herder it is a townaddress, a bank, an

employ-mentagency,anethnichaven, a source of advice and

transla-tion assistancewhendealingwith the wider society, a place to

leave one's city clothes while on the range and one's saddle,

rifle, andbedrollwhen on a return visit to Europe, a possible

source of abride,and a potential retirement home For the

Basque-American, it is a place to recharge one's ethnic

bat-teries, practice one's rusty Basque, learn something about

Old World Basque culture, dance to Basque music, eat

Basque cuisine, hirehelp, possibly board one's children

dur-ingthe school year, and hold baptism and wedding receptions

aswell as wakes Overthe pastfourdecades, Basque social

clubs have emerged in many small towns and cities of the

AmericanWest There is now a Basque festival cycle in the

region,lasting from late May through early September, with

many of the socialclubs sponsoring a local event Several of

the clubs have their own folk-dance group In Bakersfield,

Boise, and San Francisco, the Basque club has its own

physi-calplant for meetings, dances, and banquets

Political Organization Basque-Americans tend to reflect

the conservative politics of rural western America, usually

registering asRepublicans The most notable Basque

politi-cians include Nevada's former governor and U S senator Paul LaxaltandIdaho's Secretary of State PeterCenarrusa Basque-Americans have minimal interestinand knowledge

ofpoliticaldevelopmentsintheEuropeanBasque homeland

Inthe 1980s, representatives of the government of Euskadi (Eusko Jaurlaritza), including its president, several parlia-mentarians, and ministers have visited the Basque settle-mentsof theUnited States The Basque government has pro-vided some financial aid to Basque-American organizations andcultural endeavors and currently publishes an English-language newsletter regarding events in the Basque home-land In 1974, the Basque clubs of the UnitedStatesformed NABO,or North American BasqueOrganizations, Inc.Each of the nineteen member clubs elects a NABOdelegate The organ-ization meets periodically to coordinate the Basque festival cycle and to promote special events These include sponsor-ship of national handball and mus (a Basque card game) championships, the U S tours of Old World Basque per-forming artists, and an annual summer music camp for Basque-Americanchildren at whichthey learn Basque folk musicandareinstructedinthe txistu (a flutelikeinstrument played simultaneously with the drum)

Social Control Peerpressure amongBasque-Americans is pronounced Basques have a group reputation for honesty

(one's wordisdeemedtobe as good as awrittencontract) and hardwork Anyone jeopardizing this perception through scandalousorfrivolousbehavior is likely to be both criticized and ostracized

Conflict Basqueshave experienced a degree of discrimi-nation intheUnited States They are sometimes perceived to

be LatinsorHispanicsby persons ignorant of the subtleties of southern European ethnic differentiation The close identifi-cation of Basques with sheepherding, a denigrated occupa-tion intheAmericanWest,and the activities of the nomadic ("tramp" totheirdetractors) sheep bands in competing with settled livestockinterests for access to the range were addi-tional sourcesof anti-Basque sentiment and even legislation More recently, the sensationalized newspaper coverage of conflictintheBasque country, andparticularly the activities

ofthe ETA organization, have madeBasque-Americans sensi-tive tothepossible charge of being terrorist sympathizers

Religion and Expressive Culture

Religious Beliefs Basques are Roman Catholics, with strongJansenistovertones On occasion, thechurch has as-signeda Basque chaplain to minister to the Basques of the American West.In Old World Basque society there was a be-lief inwitchcraft and supernatural dwellers in mountain cav-ernsand forest fastnesses There is little carryover of this tra-dition to the Basque-American context

Religious Practitioners With some exceptions, Basque-Americans are not particularly devout The isolation of sheep camp and ranch life precluded regular church attendance Basque-Americandemographics in which a small population

is scattered over anenormous geographic expanse militated against the development of a Basque ethnic church Con-versely, few Basques have converted to other religions and a number ofBasque-Americans attend parochial schools and Catholicuniversities

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Beaver 35

Arts There are several Basque folk-dance groups and

txistu players in the American West There are also a few

bertsolariak, or versifiers, who spontaneously comment on

any subject in sung verse The literary spokesman of the

Basque-American experience is Robert P Laxalt, whose

book, Sweet Promised Land, described his father's life as a

sheepmanintheAmerican West and his return visit tohis

natalvillage The Basque festival incorporates several Old

and New World features includingamass,folkdancing,

so-cialdancing, barbecue, athleticevents(woodchopping,stone

lifting, weight carrying,tugs-of-war) and possibly sheep

hook-ingandsheepdog trials.In1989,theNationalMonumentto

the Basque Sheepherderwas dedicated in a public park in

Reno,Nevada It contains aseven-meter-highcontemporary

sculpture by the noted European Basque sculptor Nestor

Bastarretxea

Medicine There is nothing distinctively Basque about

theirNewWorld medical beliefs orpractices

Death and Afterlife Standard Christian beliefs in

heaven, purgatory, and hell obtain Funerals aretaken

seri-ouslyand mobilize the widest range of kinship and friendship

ties Basque-Americans will travel hundreds of miles to

at-tend the funeral of a familymember, fellow villager, or former

companion

Bibliography Douglass, William A.,and Jon Bilbao (1975) Amerikanuak:

BasquesintheNewWorld.Reno:Universityof NevadaPress

Douglass, William A., and Beltran Paris (1979) Beltran:

BasqueSheepman of theAmerican West Reno: Universityof

Nevada Press

Laxalt, Robert P (1986) Sweet Promised Land Reno:

Uni-versityof Nevada Press

WILLIAM A DOUGLASS

Bearlake Indians

ETHNONYMS:Saht6gotine,Satudene,GensduLacd'Ours

TheBearlake Indiansare anAthapaskan-speaking

popu-lation made upofthe descendants of Dogrib, Hare,Slavey,

andothergroupswhowere in contactwith Europeans after

theestablishmentoftradingposts at or nearGreat BearLake

inthe northernCanadianNorthwest Territories.Their

cul-ture issimilarto thatof the Dogrib, Hare, and Slavey

There has apparentlybeen no change in land use and

settlementpatterns sincetheywerefirststudiedin1928 Fort

NormanontheMackenzie Riverwasthefocalpointoftrade

for the Bearlake Indians from the 1820s until 1950 when a

Hudson's Bay Company post was established at Fort

FranklinontheKeith Arm of the Lake The Bearlake

settle-ment atFortFranklinhasexpandedsincethen: thetown is a

government center, with a school, a nursing station, a government-sponsored housing program, and a Roman Catholicchurch There are aboutsevenhundred Bearlake In-dians in the area today

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