The first Basques to arrive in Idaho were largely young, single, poor, and illiterate, and most were closely identified with sheepherding. Their cultural, religious, and linguistic differences isolated them from their non-Basque neighbors, and they tended to form connections almost exclusively with other Basques. By the second generation, Idaho's Basques had assimilated in their public lives while preserving their Basque traditions through dances, picnic festivals, and sporting events. Third-generation Basques, mostly fully assimilated, have paralleled the national trend of cultivating the ethnicity of their grandparents, finding in it both a sense of community and a unique personal identity.
As this well-documented history demonstrates, Idaho's Basques have become one of the West's most successful ethnic minorities. But they are also among the most active groups in preserving and cultivating the traditions and culture of their immigrant grandparents by which Idaho's Basques are maintaining their ties with both the traditions of the past and the modern European Basque homeland. They have created a subculture that is neither purely Basque nor purely American. Their experience offers rich insight into the complex process by which immigrants become American while retaining their distinctive cultural identity and roots.
