SOUTHERN JOURNAL OF LINGUISTICS36.1: 100-114 • © 2012 Southeastern Conference on Linguistics

Double Identity: Isleños are Yats, Too

Felice ColesUniversity of Mississippi

1. Introduction

The Isleños of Louisiana are proud of theirheritage as genuine, lifelong residents ofthe southeastern marshlands. Their dialect ofSpanish, an archaic rural variety from theCanary Islands, with lexical borrowings fromCajun French and influences from AmericanEnglish, has developed since 1778 "quiteindependently from any official norm"(Armistead 1992: 4). However, as theirlanguage obsolesces, the Isleños still wishto position themselves not with the immigrantSpanish speakers of other dialects nor withmainstream American populations but withother minority groups who have covertprestige in the metropolis and suburbs of NewOrleans. Allying themselves with thetraditional Yat speakers, the Irish and theItalians, give the Isleños a socioeconomicconnection and a historical cachet asauthentic New Orleanians. As the youngergenerations shift to English, their dialectparallels that of the Irish and Italian Yats,whose current culture is celebrated asgenuine, historically grounded and fun-loving

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members of an ethnic group. This study willinvestigate the idea that the less fluentIsleños identify with the Yat culture becauseof their wish to fix their identity in theNew Orleans arena.

2.0. History2.1. Isleños

The Isleños of Louisiana have lived in thesoutheastern marshlands of St. Bernard andPlaquemine Parishes since 1778, after Franceceded Louisiana to Spain in 1764. Intendingto repopulate the newly acquired territorywith Spanish speakers, the Spanish governmentrecruited soldiers and farmers from theCanary Islands (hence isleño 'islander'), butafter it sold the territory back to France in1803, the Isleños were abandoned and largelyforgotten by the European sovereign. TheIsleños in their territory served as a bufferamong the French, British and American forcesvying for predominance in and around NewOrleans in the 19th century.

Figure 1. Isleño Communities in Louisianahttp://www.censusfinder.com

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The Isleño dialect of Spanish, a rural,archaic variety (Lipski 1990) provided a hardlinguistic boundary (Giles 1979) thatseparated them from the growing number ofEnglish speakers flooding into Louisiana. Thegeographic and social isolation of theIsleños allowed their dialect to flourish ina supportive community that linked thelanguage to the history of the Canary Islandsbefore the 18th century. The Isleños'residence in the coastal marshlands created asense of a "complete, separate, historicallydeep cultural collectivity" (Fishman et al.1985: 49). Relic words from Spanish (ansina'thus'), relevant terms from the CanaryIslands (chipía 'light rain'), borrowings fromCaribbean varieties (jaiba 'crab') and someLatin Americanisms (nutria 'nutria') composed

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a "popular, uneducated variety representativeof the rural speech of southern Spain and theCanary Islands" (Lipski 1990: 14). The uniquedialect was emblematic of the community, asmembers spoke it naturally and spontaneously.

When the Americans finally took over NewOrleans on November 30, 1803, the Isleñosretreated to their enclave, Delacroix Island.As the Isleños flourished, many familieswelcomed immigrants from the Caribbean andCentral America, and the Isleños exertedsufficient social pressure to impel thesepeople to speak Isleño Spanish whileincorporating some lexical items. Withintheir ancestral homesite, it was possible forthe Isleños to maintain their dialect as avital, responsive means of communicationbecause the "social, spatial and ritualenvironments" (Noy 2009: 422) in which theobjects, activities and concepts of the groupwere close at hand. Isleño customs includehospitality to visitors and to display tothem the beauty and value of the Isleñoterritory. In a complementary fashion,Isleños adapted those customs that suitedtheir lifestyle into their own culture. Forexample, Isleños borrowed whole sets of wordsfrom the Louisiana Acadian French, theirnearest neighbors, for unfamiliar householditems (garsolé 'sunbonnet') that they put intouse for themselves. Isleños were "hybridized"

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(Berger 2002: 10) by absorbing Spanishspeakers, and in turn localized theseimmigrants by teaching them Isleño Spanish.

The Isleños lived a relatively peacefuland anonymous existence until the 20thcentury. Steinberg (1981: 53) says, "Indeed,throughout American history, ethnicity hasbeen preserved most authentically by thosegroups who, for one reason or another, haveremained economically marginal." When thefirst paved road led to the enclave, followedby electricity, mandatory public educationand military service, and the discovery ofnatural gas and oil, the institutionalsystems of the larger society usurped thefunctions of "mutual aid, welfare, education,recreation and economic production anddistribution" once assigned to local family,community and church networks. The nationaland international economies pay attention tothe Isleños and their fellow marsh dwellerswhen some natural products in their territoryare available to be exploited. In 1909, forexample, oil and natural gas were discoveredin St. Bernard Parish, and big oil businessesmoved into the coast parishes, which broughtthe benefits of improved roads and moremunicipal services but also showed theIsleños that they were pawns in the globaleconomy. The Isleño tradition of kindness tostrangers shifted to wariness.

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The Isleños received increasing publicityaround the time of the U.S. Bicentennial,1976, because the community was proud of itslong history in the U.S. and had formed anorganization devoted to the support andpromotion of the Isleño culture and language,Los Islenos Heritage and Cultural Society. In1980, Marie Louise Molero O'Toole and hersister Mabel Quatroy, donated their familyhome and land for a museum in which to gathercultural artifacts and hold events about theIsleños in St. Bernard Parish. The museum wasexpanded in 2000 to a set of buildings knownas the Los Islenos Multicultural HeritageCenter, designed "to showcase the variedcultures that have molded St. Bernard Parishover the years" (Jaunet 2000).

In 1991, Irvan Perez won a NationalEndowment for the Arts heritage fellowshipfor his writing and singing of décimas, thetraditional Isleño folksong ("A SingingChampion for Louisiana's Isleños" 1991). Theacclaim bolstered the Isleños efforts to keeptheir community vital and their traditionsalive. For a decade the Isleños enjoyed peaceand prosperity in their region. Theyparticipated in local government and wererecognized as authentic, valuable members ofa long, proud Louisiana heritage.

After Hurricane Katrina forced theevacuation of most Isleños in 2005, the

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community was reluctantly in diaspora: livingoutside the enclave, interacting withAmerican English and Spanish speakers, andwaiting to go home. They resisted whatGiddens (1990: 21) calls the "disembedding ofsocial life from local context" butrecognized that they had limited funds, timeor space in which to revitalize their group.Those who have returned to the New Orleansarea want to connect with other sympatheticminorities who claim the area as theirlegitimate territory (Kamenitz 2008).

In the 21st century, the Isleño communityseeks to revitalize itself through socialaction--participation in cultural activitiesfor the members of the community--andpolitical action--promotion of the group toothers in larger political arenas. Both ofthese social actions are designed to produce"a contrastive and positive sense"(Silverstein 1998: 402) of Isleño identity inLouisiana. Because their original means ofdistinguishing themselves (dialect use,residence in the ethnic enclave) areobsolescing, the Isleños are "increasinglychallenged to have newly active, positivecultural processes emanating from centeringinstitutions" (Silverstein 1998: 402) inwhich their local heritage and traditions arelegitimized and celebrated as both importantand authentic. The Isleño Museum is one

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physical place that serves as a geographicalfocus for activities, and two organizations--The Los Isleños Heritage and Cultural Societyand the Canary Island DescendantsAssociation-- serve as coalitions for thelike-minded. Of course, these institutionsrequire capital to support and publicizeIsleño events, and although the Isleños dopossess enough to maintain their activitiessingle-handedly, they would like to have more"presence" (Sassen 2005: 90) in the statepower structure. The Isleños can be front-page news of the local newspaper (The St.Bernard News), but they see the need to have avoice in the activities outside theirterritory that affect them. Klein (2011: 18)says, "A lot of what happens in politics is,unfortunately, the result of moneyed,organized interests who lobby strategicallyand patiently to get their way." Thus, theIsleños have allied themselves with theIrish- and Italian-Americans in the suburbsof New Orleans for the purpose of solidarity(strength in numbers for minorities in thecity), a respected presence in the region andfund raising for activities and projects.Although their Spanish dialect is unlikely tobe revitalized by the connection with Irishor Italians, the Isleños persevere in theirefforts to maintain other indicators of theirculture in their territory, such as colorful

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traditional costumes and delicious food,which display the Isleño distinctiveness inaccessible ways.

2.2. New Orleans

The history of New Orleans boasts of a longand rich heritage of language contact, withspeakers of many ethnicities, social classes,and regions coexisting in this port city.The population of over 1.3 million has as itsofficial languages English, Spanish, andFrench. The "beautiful crescent" was foundedin 1718 by Jean Baptiste LeMoyne, Sieur deBienville. In 1723 this new settlementbecame the capital of the Colonial Empire ofLouisiana. Besides civil and militaryofficials from France, the population in the18th century consisted of soldiers, trappers,merchants, black slaves from the West Indies,Native American prisoners of war, andindentured Germans who had "sold" themselvesinto labor to pay for their passage fromEurope. In 1763 France ceded New Orleans andsome of its Louisiana territory to Spain,which undertook to colonize the sparselypopulated marshlands with Spanish settlers.French settlers and free Indians also movedto New Orleans after refusing to take an oathof allegiance to England. In 1769 a largecontingent of Acadians from Nova Scotia

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arrived in port via Baltimore to fan outacross the southern marshlands. The FederalWriters' Project of the Works ProgressAdministration (1938: xxi) asserts that "NewOrleans was a Latin city almost a century oldbefore it became a part of the UnitedStates… . Louisiana was closely allied toFrance and Spain and had almost nothing to dowith the American Revolution; it became partof the United States through purchase." In1801 Louisiana was again ceded to France, andin 1803 Louisiana was sold to the UnitedStates, prompting many entrepreneurialAmericans to settle in New Orleans. Europeanintellectuals and artists, Northernerswintering in the south, and working-classMidwesterners spurred the economy and theculture. Irish immigrants, escaping thepotato famine and looking for work, gatheredin an especially low-lying area called theIrish Channel. They were not the onlyimmigrants, however: by 1910 so many Italianshad arrived from Sicily that they representedalmost one third of the population of NewOrleans. A second wave of German immigrantsin the late 1800s followed the first wavefrom 1721.

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Figure 2. Greater New Orleans Parisheshttp://www.sublet.com/images/city_images/louisiana/

neworleansarea.gifNew

New Orleans expanded in the early 20thcentury, especially in commerce and industrybefore World War II. Immigrants fromIndonesia, Latin America, and the Caribbeanjoined Europeans in the city. While in lateryears the inner city has declined inpopulation, the entire metropolitan area has

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grown. Adjoining suburbs drained by theconstruction of canal and pumping stationshave created a sprawling metropolis that isthe center of attention of the Gulf South.New Orleans is noted for its inhabitants whovalue their cultural differences incomparison with the rest of the United States(Reinecke 1978). The result of centuries ofethnic diversity, according to Guillotte(1982: 125), is "a population whose membersemphasize their loyalty to each other." Themetropolitan area of New Orleans is composedof several parishes, which the rest of thecountry calls counties.

Orleans Parish is the city of New Orleansproper. St. Bernard Parish is to thesoutheast. The Mississippi River divides themetropolitan area into the East Bank and theWest Bank. Yat is generally thought to haveoriginated in eastern New Orleans, along theMississippi River and canals that providedsolid working- and lower middle class housingand employment. Although speakers of Yat canbe found throughout the city, Starnes (1994:21) asserts that "Yat appears to be mainly acoastal speech variety, situated in areasthat would be mainly influenced by port orfishing traffic." This is exactly thesituation in which Isleños would meet Yats.

The name Yat is derived from the popularform of greeting, "Where you at?" Salient

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features of Yat are found in phonetics andthe lexicon. In pronunciation, Gayot (2001)says that the most familiar New Orleansaccent is the [ɔj] of [bɔjd] 'bird' and[tɔjd] 'third,' the [əɹ] of [əɹl] 'oil' and[bəɹl] 'boil,' the loss of postvocalic [ɹ] in[mʌdə] 'mother' and [fadə] 'father,' the useof [d] in [dɛə] 'there' and [dɛj] 'they,' andthe replacement of [θ] with [ʔ] or [t] in[najnʔ] 'ninth' and [tɔjtɪ] 'thirty.' It isimportant to note that Yat, Cajun English,and New Orleans speakers in general, do notshare many Southern American Englishfeatures, which contributes to the perceptionof the "Brooklynese" sound of New Orleansspeech, at least for speakers of SouthernAmerican English.

The linguistic characteristics of the Yatdialect of New Orleans show that although itshares features with other varieties ofAmerican English in the region, for Yat groupmembers it is distinct in the production andperception of its speech patterns. This soundpattern is linked to a framework of socialidentity linked to New Orleans authenticity(Coupland 2003).

3. Enregisterment

Enregisterment is a series of socialprocesses through which a dialect becomes

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valued as a prestigious cultural form (Agha2003: 231). Within the social domain of NewOrleans, the Yat dialect is enregistered as aspeech linked to the stereotypes of itsspeakers—authentic fun-loving members of along-lived residential community in the cityand its environs. The Isleños, recognizingthis register stereotype, respond by aligningtheir own self-image as a group with Yatspeakers. Isleños "transform" their ownspeech in favor of the models depicted by theYat dialect (although this "transformation"is not radical, due to a long history ofinteraction with New Orleans residents andeducation in schools with Yat-speakingteachers). The models may be physicalartifacts commodifying the dialect, such asbooks, magazines, T-shirts and the like(Schoux Casey 2011), or may be "acousticalartifacts" (Agha 2003: 243), such asconversations, interviews on the radio ortelevision, or even popular phrases (Coles1997). However, the Isleños do not view theYat dialect as "symbolic capital that can bemobilized in markets as interchangeable withforms of material capital" (Heller 2010: 102)but as a register of the status that is easyfor them to attain, although Agha (2003: 269)argues that image in itself is a desirablecommodity. In aligning with the Yat image,the Isleños put their trust in the

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similarities of Yat culture in several areas(outlined in Giddens 1990). Since 2007,Isleños have joined forces with Irish- andItalian-Americans in New Orleans forcelebrations and events. The benefit oflinking to these two other groups is apparentif we consider these reasons.

First and foremost, a local communityfigures prominently in the Isleñoenregisterment of Yat. Historically, theIrish and Italians settled in middle- andworking-class neighborhoods in New Orleanssuburbs, providing a familiar milieu. Even inthe rural areas outside the New Orleans area,"in Louisiana's plantation parishes, economiccooperation was established among persons whowere already related by the multiple bonds ofblood, marriage, friendship and community,"say Margavio and Salomone (2002: 112). Thetown of Reggio in the Isleño territory wasfounded in 1803 by the DeReggio family. Hintz(1995: 95) notes of the Italians, "Fromhumble beginnings, they have become well-known in the community for years of service."

In a similar fashion, the Irish haveexplored the environs of south Louisianasince 1730 (Hintz 1995). Irish veterans ofthe American Revolution settled in NewOrleans after 1781. Niehaus (1965: 5) states,"The Irish immigrants of the early 19thcentury seem to have been men of high

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quality, capable of taking advantage ofopportunities in a growing port city." Intheir neighborhood, the "Irish Channel,"reside families of former laborers who havebecome successful in Louisiana.

Isleños respect the desire to keep closeto one's "land," understanding that ageographical locality is an anchor to familytraditions and social life. A place is aunique spot in the universe (Gieryn 2000:464). Greater New Orleans gives stability anddurability to the social life of Isleños, andembodying and securing otherwise intangiblecultural identities and memories. The typicalYats, the Irish and the Italians, have deephistorical roots in the area, an aspect ofauthenticity that is very important to theIsleños.

Second, traditions figure prominently inmodern Isleño society and the community looksto maintain their cultural practices withlike-minded groups. Isleños and Yats havelived in and around New Orleans for more thana century, connecting them as "authentic"residents of a colorful and historically richcity. Margavio and Salomone (2002: 16)describe the New Orleans community aspossessing "a set of strongly held valuesthat comprised what amounts to a philosophyof life--an all-encompassing way to viewthemselves, others and all else in the

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universe": the need for work, respect,security, justice and beauty. Yats in allwards of the city take pride in largefamilies and a sense of place, participatingin local events (Mardi Gras, the JazzFestival), giving the Isleños a sense oftrust in the other groups. Leach (1965: 17)states, "In any geographical area which lacksfundamental natural frontiers, the humanbeings in adjacent areas of the map arelikely to have relations with one another--atleast to some extent--no matter what theircultural attributes may be." Hintz (1995)remarks that today the residents of formerworking-class neighborhoods collaborateclosely in all aspects of city life, frompolitics to law enforcement to culturalactivities, and the Isleños are happy to joinin the Irish-Italian-Isleño parade held everyyear in the spring.

The Irish Yats, as many immigrant groupsin America manifesting and preserving theirethnicity in various ways, celebrated St.Patrick's Day and other saints' days, formedmilitia companies and established benevolentand social societies. "These institutionsstrengthened ethnic ties and pride," saysNiehaus (1965: 12). These New Orleanscommunities share religious holidays andceremonies of the Catholic Church. As part ofthe tradition of Isleño society, religion

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holds a firm place. Many Isleños, Italiansand Irish are Catholic, keeping the ritualsand practices familiar to the Isleños.Niehaus (1965: 16) states, "Before 1803 theSpanish authorities sent to the Louisianaprovince from the Irish College at theUniversity of Salamanca all Irish priestswilling to go to this American mission. Spainhoped that these English-speaking priestsmight effect the conversion of Americans tothe Catholic faith." Today, say Margavio andSalomone (2002: 12), Italian AmericanCatholics are second only to Irish Catholicsin earnings. That kind of economic presencein Louisiana is a benefit to the Isleños, whohave always been actively Catholic.

Finally, kinship ties Isleños to the Yatsof New Orleans. Several contemporary Isleñofamilies have had marriage ties with theItalians in New Orleans since the 1950s.Informally, intermarriage with Italians andIrish is nothing new to the urban Isleños.Margavio and Salomone (2002: 112) assert thatstrong family ties and loyalties areessential to the Italians of Louisiana:"Cooperation regularly extended beyond thenuclear family to include a much largernetwork of blood and fictive kin." TheIsleños, then, need not campaign very hard tojoin the extended Italian network.

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On a sociohistoric level, Isleños allythemselves with Yats, the other historicallydeep, middle class residents of New Orleanswho embody the trustworthiness, the probityand the respectability that the Isleños claimfor themselves.

4. Conclusion

In conclusion, the Isleños have become Yatsas they participated more in New Orleans lifeand less in the ethnic enclave which has beentheir ancestral homesite. The four factorsjust outlined make it easy for Isleños tojoin the social network of Irish-Italian Yatsfor solidarity, strength in numbers, andpreservation of their authenticity.

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Felice ColesDept. of Modern Languages, Bondurant C-115University of MississippiP.O. Box 1848University, MS 38677-1848

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