Basque ethnography at a glance

Llanteno. Author: Josu Larrinaga Zugadi.

The season of ‘Aratusteak’ (carnival) is approaching. This is the term used to designate the Carnival of Enkarterri province, in Biscay. From this general name derives one of the most special events of the Enkarterri: the meeting of students on Fat Thursday (later moved to Shrove Tuesday), known as Aratuste. It remained silent or disappeared during the military rebellion, the subsequent war and Franco’s dictatorship. This gathering of children, as in the rest of the country, took place on Thursday (known as Fat Thursday, ‘Egun Zuri’ or ‘Egun ttun ttun’, and began from school, under the direction or supervision of the local teacher; they all wandered around the outskirts of the village, begging.

This school festival was organized according to the old tradition of Enkarterri (Barakaldo, Trapagaran, Abanto, Zierbena, Ortuella, Güeñes or Gordexola): the famous Aratuste. Students between the ages of 6 and 15 were organized into groups of 10 to 40 members to make requests in local neighbourhoods, houses, and farms on Fat Thursday, Carnival Sunday, or Tuesday. They did not wear costumes, but occasionally carried cone-shaped cardboard pillows decorated with feathers at the end. It was also common to carry a rooster (under the arm, tied to a stick, or in a basket), as well as to carry a flag or pennant. In response to the rooster’s crow, they were given money in a bag, and on other occasions, food (chorizos or lukainkas, eggs, nuts, hazelnuts, sweets, etc.). When the teacher was there, he would organize the snack with everything he had collected, and otherwise, the parents took care of this task.

Eguen Zuri in Arrankudiaga. Author: Josu Larrinaga Zugadi.

Through songs (in spanish “Ya llega las Carnestolendas, señoras, mujeres, a lo que se estila,…”) they expressed what they did, what gifts they asked for, that they carried a rooster and what future it would have in the hands of the students. This celebration also has a strong connection with the famous “rooster festival” that is celebrated in Ayala and Laudio. In these areas the students carried a rooster in a cage, as well as a flag, a kind of captain, and they went around singing koplas (songs divided in four verses). They marked the rhythm with sticks, and they also used sticks to cross obstacles on the way (streams, slopes, etc.), to protect themselves from wild animals or dogs lurking in the houses, to knock on the doors of the houses (knocking or holding a stick in their hands), and to fight against other kuadrillas (friend groups) as well.

Festivals similar to those of Aratuste have existed and exist throughout Europe, with references to ‘the black rooster’ or ‘March rooster’. Since the time of the witch trials (16th and 17th centuries), it has been a symbol of fear for night creatures or evil beings, and was a Christian expression of protection for people, animals and material goods. And, interestingly, these songs mention the violent death of a rooster at the hands of children, which has a direct connection with “cockfighting”, and they also mention the leader of the group (the captain or “king of the roosters”). It is a reflection of the traditional structure, full of symbolic action, and also expresses the desire to equate childhood with the customs or arrangements of adulthood.

Josu Larrinaga Zugadi — Sociologist