This paper presents a historical overview of studies on Basque sport culture. The author argues that it is necessary for Basque sport studies to be analyzed separately from the colonialist viewpoint in order to construct new theories. Basque sports have scarcely been regarded by researchers as an important study topic. This is partly due to geographical reasons; the Basque provinces are located at the periphery of Europe and have failed to attract attention from other countries. On the other hand, the neglect may be attributed to biased thinking by researchers, who have treated the Basques as rather primitive. In fact, to previous rulers of the Basque people, they have been no more than a country supporting the wealth of Europe during the era of colonization. However, the Basque identity became intensified after the Carlista War and the American-Spanish War in the 19th century. Furthermore, the Basque defeat in the Spanish Civil War and the resulting political oppression by Franco had a decisive effect on accelerating Basque studies. The Society of Basque Studies was established in Onate in 1918, right after the first Meeting for Basque Studies. Under the leadership of the Society, research and investigations were gradually conducted. Early researchers included Barandiaran, Eguren, and more notably Aranzadi, who characterized some of the features of betting, and suggested a possible classification of the subject. With regard to pelota vasca, Pena y Goni, Blazy, and Abbadie were prominent researchers who focused their attention on the game. Abbadie also integrated various feasts, which had been scattered throughout the Basque region, as a whole entity. At the present time, a leading researcher of Basque sports is Aguirre Franco, who has gathered and provided much information and material. His achievements include the publication of three books dealing with the details of Basque sports other than pelota. On the other hand, Fernandez and Bozas-Urrutia are noted for a number of works on pelota, although they have failed to explain the difference between the history of ordinary ball games and that of pelota. With regard to infant play in general, Etniker, as part of a research group on Basque Studies, has conducted ethnological studies using originally compiled questionnaires. The results of these studies helped Etxebste to write his doctoral thesis dealing with themes such as socialization and enculturation in Basque society. In the field of dancing, attention has been focused to a great extent on its history and the theory of movement. Various works are already published in this domain, notably that of Martin Bosch, who wrote a doctoral dissertation discussing Basque dancing in terms of cultural interpretation. He emphasizes that the Basque dances express wishes and prayers to Nature. Recently, Basque studies have been conducted on a global scale. MacClancy, an British researcher, is conducting studies mainly on ethnic sports and Basque nationalism. Guildhall University has set up an institute for Basque studies. In the United States, Nevada University has an outstanding institute for Basque studies which plays an important role as a center of research. Regrettably, however, it has not yet done any original sports research. In Japan, Taketani has been engaged in Basque studies for many years. He criticizes current studies for being based on the western way of thinking, i.e., culturally biased. He also points out some transformed aspects of Basque sport culture.

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