Basque ethnography at a glance
Photo credit: Itziar Rotaetxe. Labayru Fundazioa Photography Archive.
Life at the traditional farmstead revolved around what the land needed and provided at each time of the year. And autumn is apple season. Time to harvest the fruit. Each year is different and yields are better in some than others. This has been one of them. We now have to work out what to with such a glut of apples. So, we make apple compote, eat them fresh from the tree or even share them out among our friends, so the apples do not rot.
In the past, cider was made on most farmsteads and where cider was produced, pitikin or ciderkin was usually made as well. Alejandro Olabarria, from the Udiaga neighbourhood of Orozko, still makes ciderkin. That is what he had already seen at home and what he continues to do year after year. One of his uncles, it seems, used to make cider, but that was before Alejandro’s time. He remembers that there was a time when apples used to be sold to a wholesaler from Basauri. The apples were taken down to the town in a cart pulled by oxen and were then transported by car to Basauri. He also remembers apples being sold to private customers at a flat rate per apple and they had to pick them.
In our culture, winter is a time of darkness, cold, only a few hours of daylight, the harvest is gathered in and there is not much work to do on the farms.
Young people, above all, would collect alms in the form of food. Some of these singing rounds, the Marijesiak or Abendua – as the Olentzero still is – were performed in large organised groups.
Yet there are two rounds where the children used to meet up and go wassailing at homes of their neighbours and close family members. We say used to meet up because it is a custom that has fallen out of fashion.
“Abendua” Ibarruri collecting alms at night. Photo credit: Jon Mikel Gainza. Labayru Fundazioa Photographic Archive.
Christmastide in traditional culture was marked by a series of feast days (St. Barbara, St. Nicholas, Feast of the Immaculate Conception, St. Lucia and St. Thomas) leading up to the very heart of the festivity (Christmas, Feast of the Holy Innocents, New Year and Epiphany). This timeline was marked by a series of cyclical repetitions, such as the myth of human origin and of Christianity itself, the renewal rituals (biblical sequencing, generational or natural rhythms, etc.) or divinatory processes located at the start of the year, ceremonial aspects of the life and annual cycles, along with the different solemn celebrations.
Photo credit: Akaitze Kamiruaga. Labayru Fundazioa Photographic Archive.
I know many of you can’t hide your disgust when you see snails. And others of you will be drooling as soon as you see the dish. Well, I should point out to everyone that snails are a great source of protein; an ideal food, as they help build muscles.
Snails were also widely used as a cure throughout Euskal Herria. For example, snail slime mixed with sugar was sometimes taken to cure whooping cough. The slime was also used to make ointments, as its constituents are very good for the skin.
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