ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the process of definition of a recognizable identity among Basque immigrant communities that settled in Latin American countries from the middle of the nineteenth century. Sources from both outside and within are used to reveal the milestones towards the creation of this identity. While Basques joined Spanish or French immigrant associations from the beginning with no problem, their linguistic features and the practice of specializing in specific economic activities led to the emergence of a particular external image. The creation of their first own institutions by the last quarter of the century provided Basques with a platform for the spreading of discourses and symbols that highlighted their ethnic identity as the formulation of a unified transborder nationality in contrast to—and, later, competing with—the Spanish or French ones. It is therefore hypothesized that there was an emergence of a particular form of Basque national identity in the Americas that was different from, and prior to the appearance of Basque political nationalism in the homeland.
