For a taste of Basque culture, come to South City

The Basque country is in a small spot in the foothills of the Pyrenees Mountains between France and Spain. Notoriously independent, the Basques do not identify with either of their neighbors. Their own maps show their country, but to the rest of us, four provinces are located in Spain and three are in France. Their language, Euskara, is unique and complex, unrelated to any of the neighboring Romance languages. Some have said it is more closely related to some Asian tongues.

Some early figures in California history were Basques, although we usually think of them as Spanish. Men like Anza, Borica, Arrilliaga and Sola were from the Basque area. Many Basques who immigrated to early California are closely associated with sheep herding, and it is often assumed that this is an occupation that they learned in the old country. This is not necessarily true. Two brothers who came during the gold rush realized that there was more money to be made supplying food to the miners than actually mining. They established a ranch and were desperate for trustworthy workers, so they sent home for friends and relatives. Shepherding became a traditional occupation for Basques here in the United States. Even their restaurants with family-style seating and platters of food were a development of Western boarding house living rather than a tradition from back home.

The location of the place in South San Francisco makes one initially wonder what brought a colony of Basques to this Peninsula city. The answer lies in their sport. There was a colony of Basques here, but it centered in a cosmopolitan area of San Francisco around North Beach. There they were able to play a sort of "half court” or one-walled Pelota at the Helen Wills Playground. They could dine at Basque restaurants and spend their leisure time playing cards. Then in 1979, the city of San Francisco decided to renovate that park and they lost their place to play. The local Basques looked around for property where they could establish a proper Pelota court. South San Francisco must have had space available at the right price. In 1982, in a reversal of the usual logic, it was the Cultural Center that brought the Basques here, not the other way around.

The 118-foot long Pelota court in South San Francisco is the best in Northern California and hosts international competitions, although locals also use it for casual games. The Cultural Center is a site for gathering to play the traditional card game called "mus” and various other cultural activities.

Of the 22,000 Basques living in California, a little under one half live in Northern California, and three quarters of these were from the French side. Today, South San Francisco’s Basque Cultural Center has about 500 members. But you don’t have to be a member to enjoy their restaurant.

Rediscovering the Peninsula appears in the Monday edition of the Daily Journal. For more information on this or related topics, visit the San Mateo County History Museum, 750 Middlefield Road, Redwood City.

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