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Basque Oral History Project Index Interview Tape Index
NAME: Elias Lete
TAPE MINUTE SUMMARY OF CONTENTS
Tape 1
Side 1
0-5:00 Elias’ parents were Simon Lete (from Elosua, Gipuzkoa) and Dolores Arriola (from Mendaroa, Gipuzkoa). Simon came to the United States when he was 25: the eldest of 12 children, he came to make a better financial future for himself. Although he had no relatives waiting for him in this country, on the ship across the Atlantic, he helped a lady (Mikaela Gabika) and her kids going to meet her husband, Joe, who was later so grateful that he gave Simon a job in his Boise sheep outfit. He worked there for 10 years, then became a co-owner of his own company. Simon sold his percentage of the sheep business to return to the Basque country with his bride and 2 children.
5-10:00 Elias’ mother came to the US to join her sister, who was working in the Boise boarding house where Simon was living. The couple married in 1914, had José Mari and Domingo, then returned to the Basque country in 1917. Elias lists his other siblings: Ramona, Benita, Josefa, Angela, Begoña, Pedro and Arantxa; he is the second to last child, and they are all about 2 years apart from one another. Elias was born in Bergara, Gipuzkoa on February 7, 1934. Bergara was a town of about 15,000, and the family baserri was not too far away from the center of town. The baserri was quite large (a double converted to a single), purchased with Simon’s sheep money. Elias can remember having about a dozen cows, orchards, and pine trees (which the family farmed and sold as wood), wheat, corn and potatoes. There were enough kids that the family didn’t need to hire extra help.
10-16:30 As a child, Elias did not milk cows, but worked in the field and took care of the pine trees. He never had much free time, but when he did, he enjoyed going to the town’s fiestas, and also playing soccer and handball. Elias was 7 when he began school in a hilltop village called Santiago, 15 minutes from the farm (it was closer than the Bergara school). Girls and boys—and all the grades—were in the same class; all in all, there were about 15 kids there. When someone needed a higher education, they went into the larger town. Elias attended school until the age of 12, when he had to work to help support his family. By this time, he was the oldest boy, since Pedro had died at the age of 3 and the other brothers were fighting in the Civil War and working. Classes were conducted in Spanish, but since most of the students spoke little Spanish before entering school, Basque was frequently used. Elias remembers that the teacher used a ring to enforce the language restriction: a ring was passed around to each student who spoke Basque, and at the end of the day, whoever had the ring was punished (although not severely). The teacher was a Basque man from Oñati, and a former priest candidate. The children learned how to read and write and do basic math.
16:30-21:00 Since many kids, like Elias, had to leave school early, the same teacher offered night school classes for these special circumstances, to which he went for a few years. Since girls didn’t tend to have to work as much on the baserri, few of them were obliged to attend night school classes. Elias worked about 6 years on his parents’ baserri before heading for America in 1952. During this time, he went to many fiestas as well, either riding a horse or bicycling. Elias remembers living during food rationing, when repellant black bread was the norm. He recalls helping to sneak food into area caves under cover of night to prevent its being taken by the public officials. Few people got caught doing this.
21-30:00 Elias’ paternal grandparents lived on the baserri as well, and helped with some of the chores. Elias’ brother Domingo preceded him to the US, where the family had uncles and cousins. Domingo signed Elias up without asking him, and although he had never thought about the venture, it appealed to him when he found out that a job could be waiting for him as well. The fact that the army draft was imminent also helped spurred him on. Elias was initially dismayed by some of the complaints he had heard about the US from returning Basques, and so he was not expecting the ideal. Elias’ uncle, Joe Lete, and his sheep partner Andres Guerricabeitia paid for the 18-year-old’s trip over, which went from Bilbao to Donosti to Paris to New York to Chicago to Boise, on the understanding that he would repay it from his wages. The year was 1952. Elias had no problems on the trip over, since he was labeled like a package and aided alone the way by officials. He talks about being picked up from the airport by relatives.
Side 2
0-6:00 Elias recalls the surprise on Joe Lete’s face when he discovered he was related to his new employee. That night, he was driven from Boise to Shoshone. When he awoke the next morning, he was greeted by a landscape very different from his homeland, but was optimistic rather than scared or nervous. Elias described the work he did for his uncle: he was a sheepherder with camp tender Manuel Lete, another uncle. He describes the route he took with the sheep. Elias stayed on with this ranch for 4.5 years, and since he had obtained a green card before even arriving in America, he could choose a new job. He got employment making gas pipelines at Hood Construction in Nampa, but had an accident that broke his ankle and did not permit him to continue with that line of work. He was lucky the leg was not amputated!
6-11:30 After his accident, Elias stayed in the Modern Hotel, run by cousins Simon and Rosie Arrana, for close to 10 months. He tried the construction company again afterwards, but then decided to switch. He suddenly recalls that he had been put on the US draft list shortly after arriving in the country, but spoke so little English that he was reclassified toward the bottom of the list of eligible men. Elias had problems learning English while around all the Basques in Shoshone, but began to pick up the language very easily once he began working at Hood Construction. In 1958, he found a job logging in Cascade, but it was so dangerous that Elias quit. He went back to Spain right after wards (in 1959) so as to see his family and friends. He had always and continues to keep in close contact with his family in Euskadi. On this first trip back, Elias noticed big changes in his homeland.
11:30-18:30 While back in his homeland, Elias met and married Rosa Mari Iñarra, who was from across the river in Bergara. They married in 1960, and soon went back to Idaho; he had spent only 10 months in Bergara. Rosie was a little nervous about going to the US, but never complained—the couple went to America not because Elias felt he had to leave, but because he was happy in the new country, and knew his wife would be a well. Upon his return, he began working as a farmer for Simplot in Caldwell. Elias and Rosie always speak in Basque, and even though they are both from Gipuzkoa, they had no problem understanding the mostly Bizkaian Basques in Idaho; Bergara is also close to the Bizkaian border. After working for 1.5 years for Simplot, Elias went to Armor Meat Packing, where he stayed for 11 years until the same leg began giving him trouble. After several surgeries, he started buying houses with his savings, fixing them up, and then renting them; he also built new houses. Elias had quite a bit of success with this new business, which many people called it Lete Construction, although Elias himself did not. He built his own house, and discusses contracting out the specific labor, mentioning that most of his employees were not Basques.
18:30-24:30 Elias is technically retired today, but still owns about 15 units, which provide him not only with income, but also a lot of work! He joined the Basque Center soon after moving to Nampa in 1957, and is also a member of the Basque Museum. Elias enjoys going to the Basque picnics and festivals in Idaho and Nevada, and also playing cards with his Basque friends. His children are Iñaki, Elizabeth, Ana Mari and Simon. All were born in the United States, but they all speak Basque as a result of constant communication in this language at home. Iñaki had a few problems adjusting to English when he began school, but Elias hired a tutor for him one summer to prevent him from having to repeat the 1st grade, and everyone was amazed at how fluent he had become the following year. After that, none of the kids had problems, and are fully bilingual today.
24:30-30:00 Ana Mari and Elizabeth have danced for the Oinkaris, but the boys did not. Nonetheless, all the children are involved in the Basque culture in other ways, and are very proud of their heritage. Elias has made many trips back to the Basque country, and with all the changes that have occurred there over the years, he now feels like a bit of an outsider. His family treats him very well, though, and so he enjoys returning for visits whenever he can. Elias also calls and writes whenever he can. They also communicate with and visit Rosie’s family in Euskadi. Even though Elias feels most comfortable speaking Basque, he calls America home now, and would not consider retiring in Euskadi. He loves visiting his grandkids (from Iñaki and Elizabeth), visiting Ana Mari, who married 3 years ago, and Simon is getting married the day after tomorrow. Even though Elizabeth is the only child to have married a Basque, this was never a concern for Elias. Her children speak Basque fluently.
Tape 2
Side 1
0-6:00 Elias and his wife love to travel, and have visited Spain, France, Israel, Argentina (where Elias has cousins) and Mexico. Besides traveling, he enjoys fishing and hunting with friends like Enrique Goitiandia. Iñaki has also built a beautiful vacation home in McCall, where the family relaxes whenever they get the chance; in fact, it is in this house that Simon will wed. Elias discusses the wedding plans. To this day, Elias still identifies himself as a Basque. He doesn’t care how it is delineated, but feels he can be both Basque and American, since he loves his new home as well. Elias became a US citizen in 1959, in part to avoid complications with the Guardia Civil, and Rosie naturalized in 1966.
NAMES AND PLACES
NAMES:
Arrana, Simon and
Rosie: ran Nampa boarding house PLACES:
Argentina
THEMES:
Baserri life |
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