BOISE, Idaho — For hundreds of years, the Basque culture has had a huge impact on communities in Idaho and across the West.
Today, there is concern those cultural roots aren't reaching younger generations.
So much so that a school was created to teach young people the language, culture, and history, by giving students a full immersion into the Basque language.
“Some shepherds came to Boise to work with the sheep, and that's why they created a Basque community here. And some years later, some parents saw the need to have an Ikastola, a Basque school, and that's how it started,” says Sara Pinter Larrañaga, a teacher at the Basque school.
Each year, two new teachers from the Basque region come to Boise to teach at the Ikastola.
Larrañaga and Ander Zubillaga Idarreta are both teachers from the Basque region.
Basque is one of the oldest languages in the world and with roughly three million people in the region, preserving the language and culture is vital for the future generation.
Idarreta says, “The language is the most important thing in one's culture because it's the tool to communicate, to improve, to meet people.”
At the school, students learn everything they would in an English-speaking school, like their numbers, colors, letters, days of weeks, and songs. The only difference is they learn and teach in a different language.
Amelia is a student at Boiseko Ikastola and her favorite part about school is learning Basque words and counting numbers.
Aksel is a student as well, and he enjoys singing the songs they learn in school.
The school is for ages three to five, and this year they've reached capacity, and Director of the school Sarah Artis says they are thriving.
"We have so many Basque people that see the value of why this culture, this school, and what it means to this community, and to our relatives that are in the Basque country as well,” says Artis.
On September 7 at 6:00pm, Boiseko Ikastola is celebrating its 25 years of educationthis with an exhibit on the Basque language at the Basque Museum.
