CULTURAL MARKERS
ABOUT PEOPLE AND PLACE
in Idaho’s Landscape
| The land is important to me, but even more important is
the idea that it became a “place” because someone has been here. Marlene Creates |
Conveying the notion of place, the words site, plot, shop, home, neighborhood, town, city, or region link the landscape and the human activity it affords. A farm or school house, a cattle chute, a cemetery, a sod barn, the town welcome sign are cultural markers in the landscape. Their relationship to the living communities of people and their activities is the measure of their significance.
Idaho’s geography has afforded the development of lasting cultural and artistic traditions. Different ethnic groups brought their architectural styles and work practices and implements, methods for working on and conserving the land and its resources, as well as their dances, songs, music, crafts, and stories. A changing economy and new demographics resulted in new patterns of land occupancy and urban development creating new challenges for vernacular and natural landscape conservation. Nationally, the awareness of distinctive places reflective of distinct cultures has prompted a variety of community efforts to identify, conserve, and tell the stories of such places through self-initiated projects.
The Basque Block, in Boise, is one of Idaho’s most compelling examples of conservation and documentation of a living ethnic neighborhood. Located downtown between Capitol and 6th Streets, the Basque Block is comprised of two boarding houses the Uberruaga, and the Anduiza with its unique indoor frontón (formerly jai alai, now pala arena) and the Basque Center, the Basque Museum and Cultural Center, Bar Gernika, and the Basque Market. In 2002, this section of Grove Street was renovated and two oversize steel layaks (agricultural tools) were installed to greet the visitors. Today, the pavement displays the Basque national colors, as well as granite slabs etched with song lyrics, the names of local families, and the crest for each of the seven Basque Provinces. In addition to exhibiting a collection of artifacts, the Basque Museum and Education Center’s archive contains documentation about the buildings and oral histories of community members
An invitation to all Idahoans...
As we recognize places as cultural markers, a connection between personal and community history emerges, creating a sense of belonging to where we live or where we came from.
The Folk & Traditional Arts program invites you to look for places of cultural or historical significance in the life of your community. We invite you to talk to others about them, photograph and describe them in a paragraph or two, and submit that collection as an entry to the Idaho Folklife Archives at the Idaho Commission on the Arts.
This collection of Idaho cultural markers and the histories you helped create will be shared with the public in museums, Web site exhibitions, and publications.
For instructions on how to submit your entry, contact MC Gambliel, Director, Folk and Traditional Arts Program at 208/334-2119 or 800/278-3863, ext. 32, or E-mail maria.carmen.gambliel@arts.idaho.gov.
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