Los Isleños Heritage and Cultural Society of St. Bernard

About Us

Since our incorporation in 1976, Los Isleños Heritage and Cultural Society of St. Bernard has been dedicated to preserving the folklore, history, language, music, traditions of our shared Isleño heritage.

The Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation composed of members of the Canary Islander Descendants Community and anyone interested in preserving and promoting the Isleño identity in Louisiana. Los Isleños Heritage and Cultural Society of St. Bernard is headquartered at Los Isleños Museum and Historic Village which is property of St. Bernard Parish Government.

Our Board of Directors is made up of the following Officers and Directors:

Lena Torres Nunez — President
Janice Crespo Smith — Vice President
William de Marigny Hyland — Secretary
Carrie (Menesses) Bernal — Treasurer
Jerry Glen Estopinal — Historian
Kathy Serpas Ziegler — Director
Melanie (Ybarzabal) Koons — Director
Glen Menesses — Director
Catherine (Ybarzabal) Serpas — Director
Jimmy Faust - Director
Ben Crowe — Previous President

Other elected Officers include:

Paul Lagarde — Sergeants-of-Arms
Kenny Fernández — Sergeants-of-Arms

View our Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation
View our Amended and Restated By-Laws

History of the Society

By William de Marigny Hyland. Published July 2, 2021 (Edited January 24, 2022).

For nearly half a century, our Society has set out to serve our community and perserve the ways of life handed down by our ancestors. Through the strength and efforts of the Isleño community, we have persevered against unimaginable hardship and achieved great feats. Today, our mission remains as it always has been: to preserve the folklore, history, language, music, traditions of our shared Isleño heritage.

Early years

The movement to form Los Isleños Heritage and Cultural Society of St. Bernard began in September 1975 after the premiere of the ground-breaking documentary entitled Louisiana’s Disappearing Spanish Legacy. This documentary represented the life’s work of the first Parish Historian of St. Bernard Parish Frank M. Fernández, Jr. in conjunction with New Orleans Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) WYES-TV. Fernández organized a group of septuagenarian and octogenarian oral history informants belonging to the Isleño, or Canary Islander, community and spoke Isleño Spanish as a first language.

The first formal organizational meeting of Los Isleños Heritage and Cultural Society was held on January 19, 1976 at Delacroix Island. Thirty-one Isleño supporters participated in the meeting. St. Bernard Parish Attorney Anthony A. Fernández, Jr. incorporated the Society on July 14, 1976 under the name Los Isleños Heritage Club. The first festival celebrating the culture and heritage of the Isleños was held at the Delacroix Island Community Center on July 17^th and 18^th of the same year. More than 15,000 visitors from St. Bernard Parish and the New Orleans metropolitan region thronged to savor Isleño culture at that very first festival. Thereafter, we have celebrated an annual festival every year except in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In September 1977, the efforts of Fernández, Spanish Ambassador to the European Union Lorenzo Olarte, and Consul General of Spain in New Orleans José Montero de Pedro, Marqués de Casa Mena allowed for our first delegation of Isleños to return to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. This trip was the first official contact between the Canary Islander descendant communities of St. Bernard Parish and Canary Islands since the late eighteenth century. The following year marked the bicentennial anniversary of the arrival of the Canary Islanders to the Spanish territory of La Luisiana. On June 15, 1978, the Society organized the celebration of Mass at the St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans, which was the first church used by the Isleños in Louisiana followed by a reception in the historic Cabildo adjoining the cathedral. It was also 1978 that our organization was renamed to the Spanish Heritage and Cultural Society.

From 1976 until 1980, an event known as Noche de las décimas (Décima night) was held regularly in the basement of San Pedro Pescador Catholic Church or the Delacroix Island Community Center, which functioned as our first headquarters. The Noches de las décimas were held to honor senior Isleños living in the easternmost villages of St. Bernard Parish. The traditional folk songs of our community, known as décimas, were sung at these events and very little English was ever heard at these gatherings. In coming years, Society members would assist academics in the study of the Isleño identity including the language, customs, and folklore.

Celebration of the bicentennial arrival of the Isleños to Louisiana on June 15^th, 1978.

Cultural Center Development

In memory of their parents Manuel Molero and Camille Silvera, Society members Marie Louise (Molero) O’Toole and Mabel Isabel (Molero) Quatroy donated their family home in 1980. This building is known today as El Museo de los Isleños (Los Isleños Museum) and would become the official headquarters of Los Isleños Heritage and Cultural Society of St. Bernard. Through the years, Los Isleños Museum would become the flagship building of Los Isleños Museum and Historic Village, known simply as Los Isleños Museum Complex. During the same year, St. Bernard Parish Government entered a cooperative agreement with the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park, operated by the National Parks Service (NPS), to develop Los Isleños Museum.

Cooperatively with the Cabildo Insular de Gran Canaria, the Society organized Hispanidad '82: Canarian Cultural Journey in October 1982. The Canarian folkloric group Roque Nublo performed five public concerts which were all well attended. During this period, various officials made visits to St. Bernard Parish including several officials of the Canary Islands and the former Prime Minister of Spain Adolfo Suárez González. Canarian historians Antonio de Béthencourt y Massieu and Antonio Rumeu de Armas also spoke about the about the role of the Canaries in developing the New World. The bulk of academic work on our community occurred during this time such as the investigations of John M. Lipski, Samuel G. Armistead, Gilbert Din, and Manuel Alvar.

In 1990, the name of the Society was changed for the last time: Los Isleños Heritage and Cultural Society of St. Bernard. The government of the Canary Islands designated Los Isleños Museum as an international historic site and has listed the Society as an "entity abroad" in 1991. We later assisted in the organization of the Canary Islanders Heritage Society of Louisiana which has a similar aim to Los Isleños Heritage and Cultural Society but with a focus on the Canarian settlements of Galveztown and Valenzuela.

Los Isleños Heritage and Cultural Society of St. Bernard, in partnership with St. Bernard Parish Government, assumed responsibility for staffing Los Isleños Museum and Historic Village in January 1997. Further developments occurred during this period such as the visit of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofía of Spain in March 2001, the first meeting of the Society with the Spanish royalty. The following year resulted in the arrangement of sister city agreements with the towns of Agüimes and Ingenio on the island of Gran Canaria.

Rebirth

Following Hurricane Katrina, the Museum Complex was rebuilt and restored utilizing funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) along with funds and other donations raised by Los Isleños Heritage and Cultural Society. Through the dedication and charity of the Isleño community, the Society was able to hold its annual festival celebrating the Canarian culture and heritage of Louisiana some six months later.

We continued to make progress on various fronts following the total devastation left by Hurricane Katrina. In 2018, King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia Ortiz of Spain met with the Society, and on June 15^th of the same year, the first standing president of the Government of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo Batlle, came to visit Los Isleños Museum and Historic Village. This meeting resulted a monument to the original Canary Islander colonists in St. Bernard Catholic Cemetery with support from benefactor Anthony A. Fernández, Jr. Through the donations of members from our community, Los Isleños Museum and Historic Village now boasts a total of nine structures along with outdoor pavilions, a Houma Native American interpretive area, Filipino heritage marker, and nature trail.

Meeting with King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia Ortiz of Spain.

Efforts to maintain and further develop Los Isleños Museum and Historic Village will continue. Focus is being placed on promoting and reinvigorating the Isleño-Spanish language in St. Bernard Parish and Louisiana. For more than 45 years, Los Isleños Heritage and Cultural Society of St. Bernard has continued to provide vital leadership which has kept the legacies of the Canary Islands and Spain alive in Louisiana today.

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