Whales: Basques in America
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
setName: label: See more items in
content: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 2016 Smithsonian Folklife Festival
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content: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 2016 Smithsonian Folklife Festival / Series 2: Basque: Innovation by Culture / 2.3: Audio
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 1 Sound recording (digital audio file)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 2016 July 02
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
identifier: label: Identifier
content: CFCH.SFF.2016, Item SFF2016_0702_Basque_Euskaldunak_Dialogues_0007
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Listening copies available
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: John Bieter (presenter); Asier Madarieta; Mikel Leoz (participants) By early medieval times, whaling had become an important cultural and economic force within Basque coastal towns. Whale meat and fat were highly prized and blubber was used to make oil for lamps. By the sixteenth century, the Basques had followed their precious prey from their homes in the Pyrenes region of Europe, to the straits and inlets of Canada. They used the small, swift txalupa to chase and harpoon their massive prey. Recently a txalupa was discovered and salvaged by archeologists in Red Bay, Labrador, where there was a Basque Whaling Station. Come participate in a discussion about this industry within Basque history.