I didn't know this until I started going to my ND and he asked me what my blood type was. When I told him I was O neg he immediately asked me if I was of Basque descent. Funny thing is, I am, all the way through to my last name! He told me there are French Basque people and Spanish Basque (that's me).

I also once saw a group for my last name on Facebook that I joined (before the whole security thing happened) and almost everyone there said they were Rh negative.

So just out of curiosity I wanted to know if anyone here who is also O negative knows if they are of Basque descent. I've read some interesting things on the Basque people...from us having peculiar shaped heads, 1 degree lower temp than normal (me), lower blood pressure than normal (me), harder chest plate bone, and a bunch of other stuff. Some say we descend from the people of Atlantis (lol).

If this is the wrong place for this thread I apologize.

best way to find out about your lineage is

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/genographic
get a kit

I was conceived there !

Perhaps that is why I am O+

Welcome to the forum!

This topic did come up before, but I didn't pay too much attention to it then.  Try doing a search for Basque.

I have no idea if I'm from Basque descent, BTW.  I'm half Italian & half German.  My body temperature is a bit low, usually 96.8 instead of 98.6!

rh neg is found in high frequency in basques. also scots, irish, brits, spaniards, to a lesser degree. however, its not the same as O neg. (I'm rh neg, but O pos.)

Quoted Text

however, its not the same as O neg. (I'm rh neg, but O pos.)

I thought O negative meant O Rh neg. What is the difference?

Quoted from jayneeo

however, its not the same as O neg. (I'm rh neg, but O pos.)

?????  Normally, the positive or negative following the ABO indicator is the Rh term...

For instance, when I say my BT is AB(-), it means that my ABO type is AB and my Rhesus factor is negative...

What do you mean when you say you are O pos. and Rh(-)?

I always thought there was a difference, b/n Ong & rh- but got told recently it was the same thing...so I would like to know too

Jesi,

Welcome!

My Dad is O- and is of French ancestry. He is a descendant of the Xavier family (House of Bourbon) from Navarre in 1485...Basque country that was back then both Spain and France. St.Francis Xavier was the brother of Valentine, my Dad's ancestor.
My Dad does have low blood pressure and sort of a large head. He has always been lean but muscular. I think he might be (GT 4) an explorer.

I notice you are in SoCal. Is your ND familiar with Dr. D's work? My ND is in Costa Mesa.

My great grandfather was straight out of North Spain (Basque as far as I know).

My Grandfather was A+ and had a wide head, left handed, muscular. His mother was Mexican and some Cherokee or something though. My grandmother was just German, and everyone on my Father's side is German that I know about. I follow more after my Grandfather except less muscle and way taller.

Quoted Text

What do you mean when you say you are O pos. and Rh(-)?

by O pos, J means she is a secretor.....
wrongly applied term though.......no worries

It is possible I could be of French Basque descent. I don't know about the head shape, but I have both the lower body temperature and the lower BP. My father's ancestors were from the correct region to be French Basque. I guess I will never know for sure.

I am o- and rh- with German and French descent. I resonate alot with French culture, and I could never understand where this came from.  Anyhow, I will google the basque since I have no idea what this means. I have low bp, low body temp, long neck.. not sure that if is a feature or not.

I think this is very interesting so great post!

Quoted from Lola

by O pos, J means she is a secretor.....
wrongly applied term though.......no worries

Understand now...  O, Secretor positive, Rhesus negative.

teach her how to spell it right

Recently, my doctor told me I was 0+ with a negative blood factor,  could that be what she means?

sorry, I was getting mixed up with the nonnie thing...

Quoted Text

Anyhow, I will google the basque since I have no idea what this means.

Recently I saw Rick Steve's Europe (PBS) and he featured the Basques. Very interesting way to learn about the people and culture.

You can view the episode here. You will want to visit this beautiful place!

http://www.hulu.com/watch/201192/rick-steves-europe-basque-country

Wholefoodie, It certainly is a gorgeous place. And the food is exquisite.

It is quite common to see, especially Spanish basques in America. The family inheritance went 100% to the oldest son so the rest of the family had to procure for their living. Many went to America, especially South America, where they had a greater opportunity.

Cajun, my sister in law (A-) is a descendant of the brother of St. Ignacio de Loyola. He pulled St. Francisco Javier to work with him in the creation of the Jesuits. If you ever come to Spain I'll introduce you to her so you can compare notes.

Interesting bit of history there, Susana! It would be fun to meet your sister-in-law but I am not Basque that I know of! Although my son is O negative so maybe it's in there somewhere. As far as I know, we have all Italian roots.

There is one article in N=1 look for it.. it explains it nicely..

Quoted from Jesi

Some say we descend from the people of Atlantis (lol).

Actually the association with the Basques and Atlantis is not all that far fetched.

The Basques are generally suspected of being the original human settlers in Europe due to their high Rh- rate (30%+ compared to about 12% for Europeans in general) and the fact that their language is not Indo-European or associated with any other language, as far as I know.

Atlantis is believed by some to have been a city which was located on the floor of what is now the Mediterranean Sea that was flooded during the interglacial period previous to the last ice age. Sorry I don't have a reference on this as I heard it referred to on a radio interview.

In any case this would put the Basque people and Atlantis in roughly the same location both in time and geography. The city of Troy, described by Homer, was once thought to be imaginary though I think only hard physical evidence would convince anyone that Atlantis existed.

Ironic that it would have been flooded by an Ocean we now call the Atlantic.

Comment Hampus?

My head is relatively large, my body temp. 36.5 celsius, and my BP is usually rather on the lower side ...   I'll better get the National Geographic kit...

P.S. But first I have to get a multi-zone DVD player. Mine is zone 2 only. I bought it in the duty free right before flying to Spain...

Susana,
How exciting! I have read about Father Loyola and the Jesuits and how he was Francis Xavier's mentor. Valentine Xavier changed the name to Sevier when he fled to England. There is a beautiful painting (actually portrait) of Loyola and Xavier in the British Art Museum in London.
My husband and I visited the French Pyrenees and French and Spanish Basque country in 2007. I was in awe of such wonderful natural beauty!!!!! And the food! OMG!!!!!
Thanks for the offer! Never know. We plan to return someday.

Peg,
If you know surnames it is possible to research.

Marjorie,
I love the culture, language, food, countryside, music, customs and unexplainable "terroir" of France!  

cajun,
Also there are two enormous anonymous paintings depicting Ignatius of Loyola and the death of Saint Francis Xavier “Casa de Ejercicios” (English: House of the (Spiritual) Excercises)which eventually became an art gallery to house the vast collection at the Temple of San Felipe Neri "La Profesa" in Mexico City, and make them available to the public.

so come tour MC someday!!!
The church is considered to be an important transitional work between the more sober or moderate Baroque style of the 17th century and the extremely decorated manifestations of the Baroque of the 18th century in Mexico.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wi.....oSanFelipeNeriDF.JPG

Quoted from cajun

Jesi,

Welcome!

My Dad is O- and is of French ancestry. He is a descendant of the Xavier family (House of Bourbon) from Navarre in 1485...Basque country that was back then both Spain and France. St.Francis Xavier was the brother of Valentine, my Dad's ancestor.
My Dad does have low blood pressure and sort of a large head. He has always been lean but muscular. I think he might be (GT 4) an explorer.

I notice you are in SoCal. Is your ND familiar with Dr. D's work? My ND is in Costa Mesa.

Hi and thank you for the welcome! Wow that is so cool that you know so much history in your family! All the men in my family that are basque are also super lean and muscular. They are also all Adonis type men, it's so unfair! My little brother and I always joke that he got the looks and I got the brains, lol. And my Dad at 52 gets hit on everywhere we go, it's gross. We are Spanish Basque (not sure what area but maybe my grandpa knows).

My ND is in Newport. Is your ND Dr. Kelly McCaan by chance? I think her office is in Costa Mesa. She is awesome as well.

I got my Genotype diet book yesterday in the mail so I'm excited to start reading it and see what I am! I was glancing through it and asked my husband what he thought I was from the three body pictures and he said I was the one in the middle with the six pack, . But I measured my wrist and my thumb overlaps my middle finger over the entire nail bed, so I was happy. .

Jesi,
I am lucky. My Dad's aunt researched their family back to the 15th century! It took her a long time and we are so thankful.
My ND is Dr. Andrea Purcell. Her office is near Newport Blvd. in Costa mesa.

Lola,
I love Mexico and have been to the Pacific "cruise cities" several times. My favorite times were: 1. for my high school graduation , a 2 week stay in Mazatlan via train through the Sonora desert in July!!!!! OMG! That was when it was just the old town and we walked from our playa hotel (near the "divers rock") to the central mercado. I still remember the wonderful food... 2. Next favorite was staying one week in a time share with friends in Nayarit. Pure heaven! I was in Acapulco in the late 80's and flew home via Mexico City. I couldn't believe how crowded and busy and historical. It reminded me a little of Los Angeles.
I have so much to learn about great works of art but so enjoy them!Thank you for the link! You are a thoughtful person.

Jesi,
Just curious if you eat (or used to pre-ER4YT) any Basque food?
There were 2 I especially enjoyed when over there.1. The Gateau Basque with the cream filling and the one with the their popular famous black cherries.2. We loved the Ossau-Iraty sheep milk cheese, too! And of course all the yummy peppers that are sadly avoids for me now. I am hoping Swami gives me sweet red peppers again!!!

Quoted Text

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime." - Mark Twain

Interesting postings!
_______________
An ancient people, or more correctly a “people island,” they have resisted virtually all attempts at assimilation, forced or otherwise. In the Basque language there is no name for “Basque”. There is a name for the language that Basques speak, Euskera and a Basque is simply defined as a Euskaldun, someone who speaks Euskera.

But we would have to go back farther still to get a grip on the Basques. You have to go back to a very cold, dry time without agriculture. The Basques, you see, are sort of living fossils, probably the most direct link we genetically possess to a distinct people that can be traced back to the Pleistocene Age. http://n-equals-one.com/blogs/2010/10/23/islands-humanity/

From wonder into wonder existence opens.
–Lao Tzu
_____________________________
Basque, the universal language of the Sea Peoples.

Basque, from bask, .ba-ask., eba-aska, ebatzi (to decide) askatu (to free): "We decided to be free".
The major group occupying the northern sector of Africa is known as Berbers,
The Berbers call themselves Imazighen (free men) and include the Tuareg nomads. They are derived from people moving away from the Egyptian kingdoms
________________________________________
The Rh-negative blood factor  
http://www.dadamo.com/cgi-bin/Blah/Blah.pl?b-rost/m-1264878627/s-0/

Lola, love the quote..

I'm O rhesus negative - not sure about the Basque heritage though    My Dad's Scottish and my Mum was of German/Irish stock.  Having said that, my MtDNA result came back from National Geo as Haplogroup X - associated with the Reindeer people of northern Siberia / Native American Indians    However, I have a blood disorder (again passed down through female to male lineage) X-linked agammaglobulinemia (XLA) which is somewhat associated with the Basques???

Sorry waffling here.....

Oh, Cajun - I too love Ossau Iraty and Manchego (both sheep’s cheeses and diamonds)!!!!

what about your Y chromosome?

Lola, that's still on my 'to do' list.  As soon as I get it done I'll post the results here.

Quoted from cajun

Jesi,
Just curious if you eat (or used to pre-ER4YT) any Basque food?
There were 2 I especially enjoyed when over there.1. The Gateau Basque with the cream filling and the one with the their popular famous black cherries.2. We loved the Ossau-Iraty sheep milk cheese, too! And of course all the yummy peppers that are sadly avoids for me now. I am hoping Swami gives me sweet red peppers again!!!

Hi Cajun!

I only know of a Basque stew (my friend gave me the recipe, she is not Basque, lol). Once I visited a farmer's market where they were selling pastries and I bought this Basque pie that was so delicious...I never went by their booth again. lol. I can't remember what it was called...it might have just been "Basque cream pie".

Quoted Text

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime." - Mark Twain

Sauf by Jules Verne.....      

  

Jesi,
I am going to look into that stew...its probably yummy like most Basque food!

Yaeli,
As a child, I was intrigued by the movie "Journey to the Center of the Earth". I don't know how close it was to Vernes actual book. Interesting fellow.....
Like I say.....travel is the real education.

I  ate at a basque restaurant years ago in SF.....just delicious. Many courses, served family style, big bowls at the table, salads, soups, all sorts of things, meat courses, I remember a salad dressing that semed to be the oldfashioned "boiled dressing", delish.

Jayneeo,
You just described two such restaurants in Chino Hills, southern CA.....previously one of our states rich dairyland until encroachment ran them off. We used to watch the Basque shepherds tend to their sheep on the lovely rolling green hills many years ago. Sadly, the patriarch (described as French-Basque) of one of these family owned eateries passed and the family closed up. There is just one left.
Pre- ER4YT.....The shepherds bread and soup were a perfect meal to me! MMMMMMM..I can still remember how delicious they were!

Cajun is this it?? It looks amazing! I'm gonna go for sure!

http://www.centrobasco.net/index.html

Jesi,
Yes, Centro Basco is the one that is still there. Those pictures on the site are ofFfrance and Spain, though...not Chino Hills. Its a nice place but not that picturesque! The restaurant is on a busy street in sort of an industrial area..now...years ago it was dairyland!
My favorite one was named "French Pyrenees". We used to eat there once a month back in the 80's. The food was fresh, seasonal and the "Papa" would go around talking to his patrons. Oh, I can still taste that bread!!!!!

Jesi,
You would probably enjoy the homey atmosphere and the food is good. My husband loves the family style dining and the appetizer plates of thinly sliced beef tongue with sliced tomatoes.
Someone in the owners family is usually there, so if you told them you were Basque I am sure you would receive a special welcome!
It is a good family place.

Both of my daughters are O-, even though I'm an O+ and their father is B+ (none of us know our secretor status yet.)

I don't think they have any Basque ancestors- my father's parents were both born in Poland, and my Mom's grandparents were from Russia and Romania. My ex's parents were both born in NY. I know their last name is of German origin, so somewhere down the line they have German ancestors, but I'm not sure how far down, or what else might be mixed in. I can be sure that all the grandparents were Ashkenazi Jewish and from northern or eastern Europe, but I'm not sure from exactly where or if there's anything else mixed in a few generations back.

Cajun that's too funny I thought "wow Chino Hills is NICE!" . I totally fell for it.