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Filipinos in New Orleans First Generation Filipinos:
The Burtanog Sisters There are approximately twenty-five thousand Louisianans of Filipino descent, with several thousand living in New Orleans in the oldest Asian community in the city. The first arrivals found their way to the colonial city early on in 1765. They were seapeople from Spanish galleons who had jumped ship in Acapulco, Mexico, and struggled their way northward to escape Spanish law. Ever since Spain had colonized the Philippines in the 1500's, there had been strong commercial links between Manila and Mexican ports, so it was not unusual for large numbers of Filipino sailors to serve before the Spanish mast. Many of these deserters eventually fled into the bayous around New Orleans, fearing the long reach of the Spanish law. Since they were all men, they intermarried with Cajuns already living there. Many Louisianans named Martinez or Madrigal can even trace their heritage back at least eight generations to these Filipino-Cajuns, who retained the Spanish-French speech patterns of their ancestors. Other Filipinos married Indians, Spanish, and Irish, further expanding the gumbo of ethnic backgrounds. With this mixture of nationalities, the original fugitive eventually disappeared, assimilated into the general population. But by then at least seven Filipino villages had been established deep in the swamps closest to the Gulf, just below the city in Orleans, St. Bernard, Jefferson, and Plaquemines parishes. Accessible only by canoe, they felt safe in their new surroundings. All the communities have long since disappeared under the murky backwater, but a mound of mud still remains where St. Malo in St. Bernard Parish was once a thriving fishing village. Pilings also can still be seen where Jefferson Parish's Manila Village was home to descendants of those early refugees. Manila Village was destroyed by Hurricane Betsy in 1965, and the last few residents moved on. However, once they became established, those first Filipinos introduced to Louisiana their tradition of drying shrimp. Historical records note that platforms were built on a field the size of a football diamond about thirty miles southeast of New Orleans in the early 1800's where the Filipinos dried their catches (since there was no refrigeration in that era). A few of the families sent their children to study in New Orleans, with many of their descendants becoming doctors and other professionals. In 1976, Louisiana's teacher of the year was Isabel Walsh, who was born in Manila Village of Filipino, French, and Italian heritage. Over the ensuing generations, Filipino families became well established throughout southern Louisiana and New Orleans, forming one of the country's oldest Filipino associations in 1870. That organization was the precursor of the current Filipino American Goodwill Society. Filipinos took an active part in the city's activities. In 1935, they won the first grand prize awarded in a Mardi Gras parade put on by Elks Krewe Orleans. This was also the first parade in New Orleans made up entirely of trucks. The Elks procession traditionally is the first parade immediately following the grand Rex parade. The Filipinos also won in 1936, 1937, and 1946, when the Mardi Gras festivities were renewed after World War II. Since then, the Filipinos have not paraded, but the Elks Krewe Orleans commemorative doubloon is dedicated to that initial Filipino prize-winning contingent. The doubloons, tossed to the parade watchers along the route from St. Charles to Canal Street, are considered by Mardi Gras connoisseurs among the best collectibles in the festivities. Another influx of Filipinos came to New Orleans after 1965, following the relaxation of immigration and naturalization laws. The latest arrivals are primarily medical, engineering, or military professionals. For more background on the Filipino community in Louisiana, read "Filipinos in Louisiana" by Marina Espina (1988,. Laborde Press). Now out of print, this history book is still available in most libraries throughout the state or at other educational institutions. With the again of the Filipino community and the assimilation of the younger generation into the broader "American" society, few people attend Filipino-only functions. The city's last Filipino restaurant, the award winning Tahiti Room on Tulane Avenue, closed in the late 1980's when owner, cook, waiter, and dishwasher Roy Campanga retired. Shoppers wanting Asian foods to make Filipino dishes usually shop at Chinese or Vietnamese stores. Adapted from "Passport's Guide to Ethnic New Orleans" by Martin Hintz
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