We had the amazing opportunity to attend the 37th annual Isleños Festival in St. Bernard Village on Sunday, March 9th. From traditional Spanish music, exquisite delicious Canary food which recipes have been passed down from generation to generation, to the great educative tour, thanks to Bill Hyland, throughout the Isleño Museum Complex, our experience was a very memorable one.
We were able to learn in great detail about the Spanish Colonies once they moved to Louisiana from Spain. Out of the four settlements that were in Louisiana, St. Bernard is the only one that have stayed there for all these centuries. We got to learn about the important role that the Spanish play in Louisiana, as well as New Orleans, that many tourists ignore because New Orleans is known as an Old French colony. One of the people that played a major role in the Spanish colonies was Alberto Estopinal, from Las Gran Canarias who influenced the human rights and laws of the state of Louisiana. We also learned that the major reason why the Spaniards moved to Louisiana in the 18th century was to help fight the British.
Many of the locals we interviewed considered themselves to be proud Isleños, which is the word given to Canary Islands descendants, however they admitted that after the French came and took over, all the Isleños lost their language and that’s why they don’t speak Spanish. This is one reason why many people don’t think of the Spanish Influence when they think of New Orleans.
Special thanks to Bill Hyland for being a wonderful host, introducing us to many great people as well as to opening our minds and helping us on our project.
O-H!