The history of the oldest known Asian American colony remains mysterious and as dark as the mosquito-infested swamp on which it was built. Saint Malo was first established as a fishing village along the shores of Lac Borgne in Louisiana in the 18th century and continued to thrive until the 20th century.
The colony’s namesake, Juan San Maló, was a leader of a group of Maroons (runaway slaves) who took refuge in the swamps. True to the colony’s namesake, the Asian pioneers of Saint-Malo were the Filipino sailors and indentured servants who escaped the Spanish galleons in the 1700s. They were later known in history as the Manilamen after the capital of the Philippines.
The Manilamen of Saint-Malo
Fight for the Manila galleons between, c. 18th century. Manila galleons were Spanish merchant ships that sailed once or twice a year across the Pacific Ocean between Manila (Philippines) and Acapulco (New Spain).
Culture Club / Getty Images
The Manila galleon trade was a thriving global trade network between 1565 and 1815 that linked the economies of Asia, the Americas, and Europe for more than two centuries. It was around this time that the Luzones Indios (originally from Luzon) became essential in the biennial voyages of Spanish galleons across the Pacific. Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines where Manila is also located.
As early as the 16th century, many Filipino sailors and indentured servants left the ship and settled across lands that are now Mexico and parts of the United States. They have been placed under different racial categories which only add to their mystery. In Mexico they were often listed as Indios Chinos, while in Louisiana they were later known as Manilamen.
According to oral traditions, there was already a Filipino community in Saint-Malo as early as 1763, when the Philippines and Louisiana were under Spanish colonial government in Mexico. However, the oldest known documentation of Saint-Malo as a Filipino colony dates back only to the 19th century. It was in 1883 that Lafcadio Hearn, a Japanese writer of Greek-Irish origin, wrote about his trip to Saint-Malo in an article for Harper’s Weekly magazine.
Fighting for the independence of the United States in the War of 1812
The Battle of New Orleans in January 1815.
Bettmann Archives / Getty Images
Despite uncertainties about the first Filipino settlers before Hearn’s 1833 article, the Manilamen of Louisiana were already active participants in the history of the United States. They were part of the privateer bands that took part in the Battle of New Orleans in 1815. They fought under the command of future President Andrew Jackson in a decisive battle that secured the victory of the United States against the British in the War of 1812.
A floating village
Hearn’s article notes that the Filipino colony of Saint Malo in the parish of Saint Bernard had been in existence for at least 50 years before his visit. He described the fishing village as a thriving community of houses built on stilts similar to the countless floating communities in the Philippines and Southeast Asia. “All are built in true Manila style, with huge eaves and hat-shaped balconies, but made of wood,” he wrote.
According to Rhonda Richoux, the mosquito-infested, hurricane-prone swamp that many others have avoided has reminded the Manilamen of the Philippines. Richoux is a sixth generation descendant of Felipe Madriaga, a Filipino sailor who settled in Saint-Malo with his Irish wife in 1849. Their descendants remain residents of the Saint-Bernard parish until 2021.
“ Shrimp dance ” and other advances
The Manilamen revolutionized the shrimp industry in the south by introducing methods such as the shrimp dance. The method involved separating the shrimp shells from the meat by teams of fishermen dancing and stomping on piles of shrimp in a circular motion. Their tradition of drying shrimp was an effective way to preserve shellfish before the advent of refrigeration technology.
It’s not just the fishing and shrimp traditions that Manilamen brought to the bayous of southeast Louisiana. Throughout history, the Manilamen of Louisiana have intermarried with other ethnic groups in the area, such as the neighboring communities of Isleño and Cajun. These mixed marriages began with the establishment of Saint-Malo when the first Filipino settlers were composed mainly of men.
More than just a melting pot
Men playing a game of chance in the remote Filipino fishing village on Lake Borgne.
Library of Congress
The Manilamen and their families have become an integral part of Louisiana’s multicultural society. Their multi-ethnic families often blur and challenge the racial lines imposed by mainstream society. Their colorful contributions to the region’s distinct cuisine and architecture persist into the 21st century.
In a 1994 newspaper article, filmmaker Jim Kenny said, “The ‘melting pot’ was never intended to include African-Americans or Asian-Americans who are racially and culturally distinct. Yet like our film [Dancing the Shrimp] shows, the experiences of eight generations of Filipino-Americans refute the narrow exclusivity of the “melting pot” and illustrate a unique example of cultural adaptation and assimilation.
Saint Malo today
Their experiences with tropical typhoons in Southeast Asia have prepared the Manilamen for the hurricanes raging in the Gulf of Mexico. However, in 1915, the village of Saint Malo was destroyed by a Category 4 hurricane that swept through New Orleans. According to their descendants, countless Manilamen stayed for many years in what was left of their village after the hurricane.
Since the 1800s, other settlements similar to Saint-Malo have also been founded by the Manilamen in neighboring areas. This included the largest settlement called Manila Village in Barataria Bay which existed until 1965 when Hurricane Betsy permanently destroyed it.
Hurricane Katrina
The village of Saint-Malo, in the swamps of southeast Louisiana.
Library of Congress
In 2005, the descendants of the Madriaga and Burtanog families held a large reunion at a camp similar to the stilt houses in Saint Malo and Manila village where their grandparents and great-grandparents grew up. They had no idea that Hurricane Katrina would wreak havoc a few months later.
While the first hurricanes of 1915 and 1965 swept away fishing villages, it was Hurricane Katrina in 2005 that dealt the last heartbreaking blow. Richoux recalled how the Category 5 hurricane destroyed much of the research and artifacts relating to Manilamen and Saint Malo, including records of his own grandparents. Many of their families were also forced to relocate across the United States, but they remained determined to preserve their heritage.
Despite the destruction caused by hurricanes, the legacy of Saint Malo and the Manilamen of Louisiana transcends physical fishing villages. A historical marker to commemorate the village of Manila was unveiled in 2012 and another for Saint Malo in Saint Bernard parish was installed in 2019.
