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Basque Oral History Project Index Interview Tape Index
NAME: Ramon Ocamica
TAPE MINUTE SUMMARY OF CONTENTS
Tape 1
Side 1
0-6:00 Ramon’s father was Julian Ocamica, and his mother was Maria Gabiola, both from Ispaster, Bizkaia. They were both from baserris, and were married in 1927. Ramon’s parents were farmers, and as his kids got old enough to help around the farm, Julian biked to Lekeitio to make more money working in a quarry. The farm wasn’t huge—5 cows, a few chickens, rabbits, goats, pigs and a donkey. Maria took the donkey to Lekeitio almost every morning to sell milk and vegetables; the animal was loaded with goods and she walked beside it. Ramon discusses his mother’s schedule. The farm was fairly self sufficient, since they grew fruits and vegetables as well. They bought things like garbanzos and rice at market.
6-12:00 Ramon was born in August 1933. His siblings are Teofilo, Eduardo (who went to Chile intending to be a priest, but got married instead), José Mari (who went to Mexico City), Nieves, Paquita (who worked as a nurse in Morocco for 15-20 years), Jesus Mari, and Maribel; he’s the 5th oldest. Ramon was the only member of his family who went to the US. Two of his brothers never married, and still own the family baserri. While Maria was away at the market for 4-6 hours every day, the kids took care of each other and worked around the farm. Maria’s brother José Mari, whose heart condition kept him from working, stayed at the house, too, cooking and looking after the children. Ramon’s chores included milking the cows in the morning and cutting grass for them.
12-24:00 Ramon keeps in touch with his family abroad, including his brother in Chile. He started school when he was six years old, and finished when he was 14, which was standard for the time. If kids wanted to learn beyond that, they either went to seminary for free (and became priest), or paid to attend college (which few people could afford). The boys’ school was only about 3 minutes from the Ocamica home; there was a separate building for girls in a different part of town. There was only one teacher (a man) for all the grades; and Ramon went through two or three while he was there. All three of them were from different parts of Spain, and required that the students communicated in Spanish in class as well. Anyone who was caught speaking Basque received a ring, and they passed it on to any of their comrades whom they overheard speaking Basque during the day. At the end of the day, the last student with the ring was beaten on the head. Ramon remembers that the second teacher was especially mean. He relates an incident where he was struck on the head with a thick wooden stick for laughing when his friend drew an elephant instead of a church in class! The most insidious part of the ring punishment was having to push the ring onto one’s friends to avoid being beaten. Ramon’s father had to come to class once to warn the teacher not to beat the children anymore, but the teacher threatened to kick the kids out of class. Teachers were some of the most powerful people in town.
24-30:00 Even the girls who misbehaved it their classroom were struck as well. Ramon finished school at 14. He believes that Basque children were naturally very intelligent, but their financial limitations prevented them from maximizing their potential. People had to do whatever made them enough money to survive. Ramon recalls that when he was young, he had to endure Spanish food rationing. He himself had to bring food downtown for his family’s contribution to the rationing. The family never went hungry, but they didn’t always enjoy the kinds of foods they preferred. By the time he finished school, Ramon’s brothers were either in the army, or had left to make money abroad, so Ramon stayed home to work the family farm. He occasionally did some odd jobs for neighbors to make some extra money. At the age of 24, Ramon went to Lekeitio to work in a pine mill for 12 years. Finally, at the age of 36, he decided to come to the US to make more money.
Side 2
0-6:00 Ramon’s future boss, McCloud, drafted the necessary paperwork for him to enter the US. He also had to pass a physical inspection, and lied to the authorities to convince them that he knew about sheep. Within a few months, he had his visa. McCloud paid for the trip over, which was included in the contract. Ramon was set to make $300 a month, and without house, car or food payments, he got to keep most of it. He had heard about the good money before he immigrated, but he also knew that it would be hard, lonely work; he was, after all, a grown man.
6-11:30 Ramon traveled via Madrid, Bilbao, New York, Chicago, Denver, Salt Lake City and Boise. He spoke no English (except for a useful expletive), but was given a sticker to identify him if he had any problems. Ramon traveled with about 5 other Basques (one of them was a cousin), and they were given a few dollars to buy food along the way. He recalls being nauseated by the American airplane food, and later by the culinary efforts of the American camp cooks. He describes losing a lot of weight during his first two months because of the hard work and bad food! Ramon was a camptender for 5 years, and finally got the chance to cook the food he wanted for himself and the herders for which he worked. He loves to cook even today, and does most of the cooking in his home and for several Basque picnics and social events.
11:30-18:00 The sheep foreman picked Ramon up at the airport; fortunately, he was Basque, and so Ramon could speak to him on the way into Marsing. This was in January of 1969, and he describes looking out the window of the car and being dismayed by the dismal landscape that greeted him. It was cold every day, and snowed a lot—something with which Ramon was not familiar after growing up in the rainy Basque Country. He stayed at the McCloud ranch (7 bands of sheep) until March 16, when he went into the mountains with a few bands of sheep. All of the herders at that time were Basque, which made it easier for Ramon to communicate, but hard for him to learn English until later. McCloud actually lived in Caldwell, and Ramon discusses the employment of American women as the cooks.
18-27:30 Ramon’s first herder was Domingo Larrinaga, but he worked with a different Basque guy every year. He discusses the herding schedule. From March to October, he was in the mountains, then slowly brought the sheep back to the ranch for January lambing. He had a radio with him in the mountains, and liked to listen to Espe Alegria’s radio program every weekend. Espe was a very funny woman who thanked contributors the show profusely on air! Ramon’s contract was for three years, but he had to work four before he was able to get a green card. He stayed with McCloud for a fifth year so it wouldn’t look like he was ungrateful. He remembers an incident when he got lost because his horse ran off.
27:30-30:00 Herders had very little vacation and limited means of transportation, so Ramon only went to town a few times during those 5 years. He did make it to Boise for dances every now and then. He sent a little money home to his mother when he got paid. Ramon recalls that drinks were a lot cheaper back then—a beer was 50 cents instead of $3.00. He finally stopped herding in 1974, and began working for a mill in Homedale making moldings for a year. He next went to work for a carpet installation company in Caldwell, but left after a year.
Tape 2
Side 1
0-4:00 After his year in Caldwell, Ramon returned to Homedale to work at the same mill, which was under different management. He worked there for 21 years until his retirement. Now, Ramon works only his garden, raising garlic, tomatoes, peppers, leeks, onions—everything he needs for his cooking exploits. He especially likes making his own chorizos (and gives Daniel a package of some of his best homemade chorizos). He retired in 1996.
4-9:00 Ramon met his wife in a Marsing bar. He had not been searching for a Basque woman, and so had no problem marrying Myrna Nelson in 1978 in Winnemucca. She had no Basque ancestry, but took the culture fairly well. Ramon has one son, Miguel Ramon, who was born in 1979. The family has always spoken English at home, and so Miguel speaks very little Basque. He maintains that multilingualism is one of those rare things in life that is free and extremely useful.
9-14:00 Ramon enjoyed going to the Basque picnics with his father every once in a while. He now works with computers for a living and is quite successful, sometimes traveling to London for business. About three years ago, Homedale organized a Basque Club, but this effort is still in its incipient stages. They intend to host card tournaments and have picnics in the park. Ramon helps raise money be selling thousands of chorizos at the fair and elsewhere. Myrna is also a member of the club. Ramon rarely goes to Boise to participate in the Basque activities there.
14-17:30 Ramon has made one trip back to the Basque Country, in 1973. Since it was only 4 years after he had immigrated, there were few changes there, but now he knows that there have been many. Both Ramon and his wife are planning to visit his birthplace in August, and Eduardo and his wife (now in Chile) are going at the same time. Everyone is very excited, and he describes his itinerary. Ramon would not consider retiring in the Basque Country, because he feels at home in Idaho now, but he still feels that he knows his homeland very well.
17:30-19:00 Ramon considers himself a mix of Basque and American now, but is enjoys the economic freedom he has experienced in the US. He is not yet a US citizen.
NAMES AND PLACES
NAMES: Alegria, Espe: hosted a Basque radio
program on the weekends
PLACES: Bilbao, Bizkaia
THEMES: Citizenship |
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