The Basques are an ancient people. They've been there much longer than the concept of nation states, never mind the existence of France or Spain. There's even some possibility that they're descended from an enclave that survived European glaciation. Pity they don't have their own country (they're spread between France and Spain). They seem to be very open about who is Basque; their name for themselves literally means 'those who speak Basque'.
I encountered p'tit basque some years back - loved it, still do. And I spent some formative years in Normandy, land of spectacularly good cheese, although I never got to liking camambert as 'ripe' as the locals.