Type of Document	Master's Thesis
Author	Ramirez, Dominica Dominguez
Author's Email Address	dramire@lsu.edu
URN	etd-04132004-185813
Title	Travels in Louisiana: Journeys into Ethnicity and Heritage by Two Hispanic Groups
Degree	Master of Arts (M.A.)
Department	Geography & Anthropology
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title Miles Richardson Committee Chair Jill Brody Committee Member Kent Mathewson Committee Member
Keywords	oral history heritage festivals Zwolle Canary Islanders Spanish Louisiana ethnicity tamales
Date of Defense	2003-11-10
Availability	unrestricted
Abstract This thesis addresses how the notions of ethnicity and heritage are experienced, negotiated, and displayed by two Hispanic groups in Louisiana. Hispanic identity is a nebulous term anywhere and Louisiana is no exception. In this investigation the two groups- a heritage foundation of descendants of Canary Islanders and descendants of the of the Los Adaes communities- both profess Hispanic heritage, display it, and promote this heritage in divergent ways, with significant differences in the meaning of their heritages. Differences between groups are also reflected in the historical spatial representations of the two groups, with Isleños connecting with a far-away but set of islands which they visit, and the Los Adaes peoples connecting with a long gone Spanish mission and fort that can only be reached through historical recreation and storytelling. Conceptions of ethnicity can remain powerful even while the common understanding of the meaning of “Spanish” is vaguely conceived. These two groups expressing an historic Louisiana Spanish heritage are, in fact, exceedingly dissimilar.
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