Her animated demeanor and warm personality would never let on that Lourdes Gabikagojeaskoa is a woman without a country.
The Basque people are somewhat of a mystery. No one knows where they came from or where their language comes from. They have been in existence for thousands of years and are thought to have occupied a single region longer than any other group in Europe, but they have no country to call their own.
The University of Memphis is now home to one Basque person, Lourdes Gabikagojeaskoa, or Lulu, as she likes to be called. Lulu teaches Spanish at The U of M.
She was born, grew up and was educated in the Basque Country, which is an autonomous region of Spain.
"When I was young we couldn't speak Basque in public or learn it in school," Lulu said. "The language was banned until Franco died."
After the Spanish Civil War the dictator, Franco, tried to consolidate all of Spain into one nation-state and passed laws that tried to force people to be Spanish, according to Lulu.
"Basque nationalism has its origins in the late 19th century, like most other nationalists movements," said Jonathan Judaken, history professor at The University of Memphis. "This was exacerbated in the period during the Spanish Civil War, especially after Franco's victory because his was an exclusionary nationalism that sought to forge a united Spain that squelched minority languages, cultures and their rights."
During the War, German planes bombed the city of Guernica and destroyed much of their history. The Civil War helped spawn the Basque's militant party called Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA).
"ETA was attractive to many people after The Civil War because it woke up nationalism in the people," Lulu said. "People were scared though."
ETA has had a long history of violent resistance and terrorism, trying to gain freedom. They are responsible for a number of deaths. They have used kidnapping, assignations, bombings and a number of other methods in their fight against Spain.
"Everyone knew someone that was in ETA," Lulu said. "It is not the same now though."
On March 22, 2003, ETA and the Spanish government signed a ceasefire, and although ETA was initially blamed for the train bombings in Madrid, they were not responsible.
"Basque culture is strongly tied to the area in Southern Europe around the Pyrenees from which the Basque people come," Judaken said. "One should not forget that until the French Revolution the world was not divided into nation-states and the later separation of Basques between France and Spain and their separate language and cultural institutions from that of the dominant culture in both of those countries have all contributed to their fierce maintenance of a separate identity."
The Basque's homeland is comprised of four provinces in Spain and three in France. Their language has several dialects and is called Euskara. It is know to the rest of the world as Basque. Their long and largely unknown history still thrives today and is celebrated by the Basque people that have spread out all over the world.
"I have heard stories of people from the Basque region in France who categorically deny that they are French," Judaken said. "Some are strongly tied to separate Basque national and ethnic identity, while for others is one part of who they are. In the United States we are used to hyphenated identities like Jewish-American or African-American, but in Europe the hyphen is fought over and often rejected as it is in the case of France, for example."
Lulu further confirmed the idea that Basque people are nothing but Basque.
"For us, you are Basque," Lulu said. "It is not something that you need to be proud of, (not) like Americans having pride. We don't have that concept. We just are."
Even with her strong ties to her homeland, Lulu still felt the need to see the world. After she finished her undergraduate degree at the University Jesuit De Duesto in Bilboa, she taught Basque there.
She and a friend traveled all over South America for a year on a journey that covered every country except Suriname and Paraguay, she said.
"It was very good. I learned a lot," Lulu said. "I knew that I wanted to come to the United States though."
And she did just that. Lulu spent a month in New York, but it was a trying time because she couldn't speak any English at the time.
Later Lulu continued her studies at a university in Nevada, receiving her masters and working at the Basque studies library.
"The first years were very difficult," she said. "I had never studied English before."
Eventually her travels led her to Memphis, where she is currently enjoying life, but hasn't forgotten where she comes from.
"I don't think that you ever forget the things that you learn when you are younger. You keep them with you," Lulu said. "I can live wherever I go, but I will always be Basque."
