Isleño

Isleño (plural "isleños") ( _fr. Îlois) is the Spanish word meaning "islander." The Isleños are the descendants of Canary Island immigrants of Louisiana. The name islander was given to the Canary Islanders to distinguished them from Spanish mainlanders known as "peninsulares." But in Louisiana, the name has evolved from a category to an identity. So much the name evolved to the point that when addressing the Canary Islanders of Louisiana, they would be referred to as the "Islenos", or "Los Isleños."

In Latin America, the Canary Islanders or "Canarians", are known as isleños as well. Another name to refer to a Canary Islander is "Canarian" in English, or "Canario" in Spanish, as well as Isleño Canario.

In Venezuela and the Spanish speaking Caribbean, the term "isleño" is still used to distinguish a Canary Islander from someone from continental Spain.

Louisiana Communities of the Isleños

In Louisiana, the Isleños are the descendants of Canary Islanders who migrated to Louisiana under the Spanish crown between 1778 and 1783. They settled near New Orleans in what is today St. Bernard Parish. Many of their descendants remained insulated from New Orleans, and continued to speak a rustic and antiquated Castilian well into the 20th century. The geographical isolation helped to preserve their language and traditions. Today, some Isleños still speak Spanish with a Canary Islander accent. The Canarian accent sounds extremely similar to Caribbean Spanish.

The Louisiana Isleños still maintain contact with the Canary Islands, and have an annual "Caldo" festival named for a native dish, in which native Canary Islanders travel to the United States to take part in the festivities. There have been Canarian dancers, singers, and even the King and Queen of Spain have attended. After Hurricane Katrina, the Spanish government in the Canary Islands donated money to help repair the Canary Islander museum in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, as well as historical properties.

=St. Bernard (Terre aux Boeufs)=

This settlement was first called "La Concepción" and "Nueva Galvez" by the Spanish officials, but later renamed "Terre aux Boeufs" (French), "Tierra de Bueyes" (Spanish) or "land of cattle". However, by the end of the 1780s, St. Bernard, the patron saint of Bernardo de Galvez, was used in documents describing the area. [Din, Gilbert "The Canary Islanders of Louisiana", 1988] The majority of the Isleño population were long concentrated in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, where some of the most traditional Isleño customs continued. Other Isleños have settled throughout Southeast Louisiana and the Greater New Orleans area. Many were displaced by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Traditional Isleño communities in St. Bernard include:
* Delacroix Island
* Wood Lake
* Reggio
* Yscloskey
* Shell Beach
* Hopedaleas well as later communities:
* Poydras
* Violet

=Barataria=

Valenzuela

Originally referred to as "Valenzuela dans La Fourche", today the location is at the site of the Belle Alliance plantation. Traditional Isleño communities around Valenzuela include:
* Donaldsonville
* Plattenville
* Belle Alliance
* Palo Alto
* Labadieville
* Napoleonville
* Paincourtville
* McCall

Galveztown

In 1778, during the American Revolution, the Spanish were not pleased with the amount of commerce that was bypassing New Orleans via Bayou Manchac. The Spanish Governor of the Isle of Orleans, Don Bernardo de Galvez, allowed Americans fleeing the hostilities in the colonies to establish a village on high ground they discovered just below the juncture of Bayou Manchac and the Amite River. The grateful villagers named their settlement "Galveztown." [ [http://www.geocities.com/mybayou2/bayoumanchachistory.html www.geocities.com "History of Bayou Manchac, also called the Iberville River, Akankia, Ascantia, Manchacque, or Massiac"] ]

By 1779, Galvez realized the strategic importance of Galveztown and began bringing in Spanish Settlers from the Canary Islands. He also had troops move in a garrison constructed around the town. But by 1800, Galveztown was abandoned and the settlers moved to Baton Rouge. The area they settled there became known as "Spanish Town" and is where the Pentagon Barracks now stand. Many Isleños today still have contacts with the Canary Islands.

Traditional Isleño communities around Galveztown include:
* Galvez, Louisiana
* Spanish Town, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
* St. Gabriel, Louisiana

ee also

* Isleños Fiesta
* Canarian people
* Canarian dialect
* Hispanic
* Spanish in the United States
* Latino

References

External links

* [http://www.losislenos.org/ Isleños]
* [http://www.canaryislanders.org/ Canary Islanders Heritage Society]