There is something that early Fil-am pioneers from California to Washington have forgotten. Over 100 years ago, in the Bayous of Saint Malo, former Filipino sailors speaking the Spanish language and Tagala struggled a small settlement south of New Orleans. In 1883 Lafcadio Hearn wrote about the 13 houses and the strange dwellers' existence. A decade later the whole settlement was swept out by the last killer hurricane of the century. Another lake dwellers' community was formed just few miles west of St Malo. The Manila Village or simply called "the Platform" thrived from the bounty of the sea; shrimp abundance created a self-contained way of life. The dried shrimp technique brought by the new immigrants lasted over half century. In some way it was like the west coast immigrants who didn't farm the land but the sea instead. The Platform stood up till September 1965 when another killer hurricanes with the fury of 10-foot waves swept the bayous. Hurricane Betsy crushed the shrimp processing farm that was barely above the sea level, today you could only see the piling sticking out of the water. Generations of Fil-am quickly integrated with the New Orleans main culture.

The story of this life onboard was related to me by a woman named Isabel. Her father had heard of the Filipino community in New Orleans. His father served in the WWI and journeyed to the South immediately following his return from the European warfront. Like many single immigrants, he found a boarding house run by a Filipino family where met his future wife. He never went back to the Philippines but raised Isabel imparting the country he was from. She and her sister became schoolteachers but both were raised around this unique Filipino experience. You can find the background story and pictures on my web page: http://members.tripod.com/philipppines/reggie/manilav.html