User:Elaine Vigne

"CANARY ARCHIPELAGO ISLANDERS OF AFRICAN DESCENT IN THE PARISHES OF SAINT BERNARD AND PLAQUEMINES: The Black Islanos"

ABSTRACT Despite the vast research by Louisiana scholars about the French and Spanish settlements, little is known about the free Africans who traveled from the Cross Rivers of Cameroon or the Canary Archipelago Islands in the 1600-1700’s prior to the Central African Diaspora. Numerous rivers run westward through the countries of Nigeria and Cameroon, curving to the south and flowing toward the Gulf of Guinea. As these distributaries near the Atlantic coast, they reach across Cameroon, and into the equatorial forests of Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and Congo. Their presence brought wealth through trade, which increased the importance of local men’s status. There are many well established centralized kingdoms in the Cameroon Grasslands, as was reviewed by Suzanne Blier in The Arts of Cameroon (1987). Many people from Cameroon ended up in the Canary Islands as part of the rich trade routes throughout the Atlantic coast. From there they made their way West to North America through various means. The first documented and recorded islanders arrived in Louisiana in the 1800’s probably by way of the Bayou Plaquemines. They settled in areas like Saint Bernard, Plaquemines, Pointe la hache, and Braithwaite, Louisiana. These settlements in the marshlands proved to be beneficial and familiar for both the African Cameroon Grasslands, and Equatorial Guinea peoples. The Islanders cultivated communities and cuisine (okra). They also carved out sustainable channels in the marshlands and perfected their skills in agriculture and farming by mainly growing rice on the Plantations that they helped to create. The German's in the 1800's introduced grinding mills to turn farmed rice into rice flour. The Islanders were skilled fisherman, trappers, tradesman, agriculturalists, explorers, and inventors. The Southern Baptist church became the head and corner stone for the Islanders, and with the passing of time they enlisted in the Navy to build ships, and possibly fought in the Civil War, fight in World Wars I and II and Vietnam. Their descendants also work at the Plaquemines Parish Court House, as well as the Port of Embarkation in New Orleans, Louisiana as Federal employees. They are also involved in Freemasonry and the Eastern Star Society. Many of their descendant's remains are buried in Plaquemine Parish’s “English Turn” Segregated Colored Cemetery along side the German colonizers from the 1800’s. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION	1 CHAPTER	I. WHO ARE THE LOS ISLENOS? 2 CHAPTER	II. LOS ISLANOS OF AFRICAN DESCENT IN LOUISIANA	14 CONCLUSION	27