Basque ethnography at a glance

Pumpkins have been receiving a lot of attention lately (Photo: E. X. Dueñas).

This society in which we live, move and are a part of, actively or passively, feeds and self-stimulates with the latest trends in leisure and, of course, fun. This is how the festive program of each town is prepared.

These festivals have become increasingly popular and/or transformed in recent years. A clear example is All Saints’ Day. Until the middle of the 20th century, we went from being almost completely ignorant of the custom of hollowing out pumpkins in some towns to instil fear, terror or fear in our neighbours, to claiming that we had our own Halloween, with a different name and supposedly as a product of a pre-Christian religion. We needed something to identify with, just as we did with Olentzero (character that brings presents during Basque Christmas) the in the last century.

Ghosts and other ghostly objects (Photo: E. X. Dueñas).

Hollowing out a pumpkin, making holes in it and placing it on a pole, preferably with a candle lit inside, on those muddy night paths, caused more fear than anything else at any time of the year, but not necessarily between October 31 and November 2. In fact, we could say that it was much less so on those dates.

Oral testimonies are information about the past, but also an interpretation of experiences or memories. If we add something of our own, such as images taken out of context, we turn an unverified, local and even very accurate piece of information into something that is widely spread.

This has happened, among other things, with the recently popularized terms of Gau beltza (Black Night) and Arimen gaua (Night of Souls), as well as with the introduction of facial and body makeup: a product of horror films or clothes with sheets, chains or white rags with drawings covering the head.

I don’t think it’s necessary to recall the strength, devotion and, of course, church control that Catholicism has had in this territory for centuries, enough to see a minimal touch of costumes and celebrations in the festivities of Domu Santu (All Saints’ Day) and Arimen eguna (All Souls’ Day), always with profane overtones.

Costumes and make-up have reshaped the celebration (Photo: E. X. Dueñas).

Costumes and other commercialized elements, children’s workshops, music concerts, competitions, school activities… Are they here to stay, and will they change over the years?

Visiting cemeteries, bringing flowers to the graves, praying at the vault, distributing loaves of bread to altar boys and children, lighting the argizaiola (Basque traditional wooden carving that includes a rolled candle), taking a position at the entrance to the church, etc., are nothing more than relics of the past that continue to be preserved, with greater or lesser support. It is as if we have a constant need to perpetuate what is ours and, at the same time, absorb the plural.

Emilio Xabier Dueñas — Folklorist and ethnographer