Tourist to Storytellers

Last November, I had the opportunity to guide four Filipino content creators along Louisiana’s coast, tracing the history of the earliest Filipino settlement in what is now the United States. We stood at Shell Beach, looking across Lake Borgne toward the waters where St. Malo once stood. We visited the historical marker, walked through the French Quarter and Faubourg Marigny, and spoke about sailors, boarding houses, Mardi Gras floats, shrimp-drying platforms, and the layered history of Filipino life in the Gulf South.

What began as a single day of shared exploration did not end there.

Over the past few weeks, three videos and one published essay have emerged from that visit. Each tells the story of St. Malo differently. Together, they reveal how history shifts depending on audience, medium, and perspective.

Jacque Manabat’s essay in the Philippine Star and video lean into conversation. Jacque is a journalist, so much of her piece unfolds through interviews, allowing our dialogue to guide the narrative. She situates St. Malo within the broader arc of Filipino identity and diaspora, but she also lingers on the present — on the shoreline, the wind, the act of looking out across water toward a place that no longer physically exists. Her work asks what it means to search for a village that storms and erosion have erased.

Hello Shayne’s video frames St. Malo through the language of freedom and escape. She places the Manilamen within the long arc of Filipino migration, connecting their arrival to colonial history and the Manila–Acapulco Galleon Trade. Her emphasis is on origins — on how this early settlement expands the Filipino timeline in America. By addressing a Filipino audience directly, she shifts the center of the story. St. Malo becomes part of Filipino history.

Jonas Tayaban approaches the story through environment and survival. His documentary situates St. Malo within the harsh conditions of the Louisiana marsh and highlights the village’s place alongside African maroon communities and Indigenous peoples. He emphasizes maritime labor, shrimp drying, and the ecological realities that shaped daily life. His framing underscores how early Filipino presence complicates familiar narratives of immigration and settlement.

Each of these interpretations reflects a different angle on the same history. Dates remain debated. Archives remain incomplete. The physical site continues to erode. But what struck me most is that the story traveled back across the Pacific.

For decades, Filipino Louisiana was documented primarily by outside observers — journalists, travelers, and historians who passed through. Now Filipino creators are telling the story to audiences in the Philippines, situating the Gulf South within a shared diasporic landscape. The shoreline may be receding, but the narrative is expanding.

Public history often unfolds quietly. A tour. A conversation on a windy beach. A poem read beside a historical marker. You do not always know where those moments will land. In this case, they moved across the ocean.

The land where St. Malo once stood may no longer be visible. But as long as the story continues to be examined, questioned, and retold, it remains in cultural memory.

In the application, I explained that the Filipino Louisiana Foodways Oral History Project will explore the foodways of a community that identifies with both the Philippines and Louisiana. A pool of potential interviewees was gathered via a community survey and narrowed with informal discussions at community events. I expect interviews to reveal

1. foodways of Filipinos in Louisiana from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century;
2. Filipino American contributions to the food industry in Louisiana;
3. impact of indigenous Filipino perspectives on Filipino Louisiana foodways;
4. adoption of Louisiana flora and fauna in Filipino Louisiana recipes;
5. impact of Creole, Cajun, and New Orleans Italian foodways on Filipino Louisiana foodways; and
6. role of Filipino food in Filipino American community organizations.

The “Filipino Louisiana Oral History Project” was one of nine projects awarded a fellowship in what was described by the Center as “our most competitive year.” I am honored to be one of the scholars chosen for the recognition. The funds will help support my research. I look forward to sharing the results of my research with the Center community.

Thanks to The Center for History and Culture of Southeast Texas and the Upper Gulf Coast at Lamar University and the judges on the Creative panel for recognizing Settling St. Malo. The Center’s focus on history and culture makes this award important to me. I wasn’t sure whether poetry would be the best way to share the history of Filipino Louisiana. I took a risk, hoping the book was valued for its history and poetry. The judges’ comments were a delight to read.

“Settling St. Malo is one of the most unique and compelling poetry collections I’ve read in a long time. Part history, part narrative poetry, the book tells the story of the Filipino population in Louisiana and how this group of people shaped the state’s rich legacy. Stroll down memory lane with the speaker’s grandmother as she recollects “Filipino Mardi Gras” where “Uncle Sam the white bearded symbol / of imperialism” occupies their float. Discover “Manila Village” in Barataria Bay where Filipinos settled and dried shrimp. Taste the melding of cultures, languages, and flavors in the numerous “recipes” that unfold in verse. Settling St. Malo is a deep look into the past of a region and celebrates the diversity of the Gulf Coast.”

Katherine Hoerth—Winner of the 2023 Summerlee Book Prize for Flare Stacks in Full Bloom (2022).

“Settling St. Malo is a beautifully rendered story of a Filipino American community in coastal Louisiana spanning several generations. Randy Gonzales’s poems capture the challenges, both natural and societal, posed to his ancestors and the steadfast faith and determination with which they were faced and overcome. The poems are stark, powerful and at times breathlessly beautiful, making for a compelling read.”

Ron Rozelle—Winner of the 2022 Summerlee Book Prize for Leaving the Country of Sin (2021).

“Through poetic images and historical details, Randy Gonzales weaves the beauty of the Louisiana gulf region with the stories of past generations who made this place their home. The focus on his Filipino heritage brings the poems to life through stories that are both personal and universal.”

Gretchen Johnson—Winner of the 2018 Summerlee Book Prize for Single in Southeast Texas (2017).

Logline

Poet Randy Gonzales explores bayous, fishing villages, community bars, and Mardi Gras parades to reveal a Filipino Louisiana story he wishes he had known while growing up in New Orleans.

Contributors

Randy Gonzales (co-producer, story, co-writer, voice, as self) Virgil Beddok (co-producer, co-directer, co-wrote script, co-editor), Geoffry Marschall (cinematographer, colorist), Skip Shannon (co-editor), Delbert Gonzales (voice), Haven Gomez (voice), Kyle Gonzales (coconut grinder), Brooke Davis (assistant editor), Michael Frick (sound mixer and editor), Chas Justus (music composer, guitar), Danial Coolik (mandolin, guitar, music recordist)

The list of contributors will grow as we film reenactments of bar scenes, shrimp dancing, and community dances and add more voiceovers. The Filipino American community in Louisiana will be called upon to help us reimagine scenes from our history.

Timeline

A sample of the film was completed with the support of an ArtSpark grant. We will film several reenactments over the summer and complete post-production by the end of the year. We expect a fine cut of Filipino La to be complete by the end of 2024 and hope to have it airing on PBS in 2025.

Support

The goal of the project is to understand the foodways of Filipino Louisiana across three centuries. To this end, I employ a variety of methods.

I consider how Filipinos at St. Malo in the nineteenth century used the resources of Lake Borgne to make Filipino food. I shuck oysters fished out of the same waters and make kinilaw with ingredients available in the nineteenth century.

I participate in community events and document my observations. I’ve helped organize community events that featured food, including potlucks, kamayans, and food festivals with local Filipino chefs.

I prepare the recipes of my ancestors and consider how after generations they changed to incorporate New Orleans foodways. I cooked adobo and sotanghon, two dishes my grandmother prepared for us.

I consider what the communities at Manila Village cooked with the shrimp they dried, how the prepared the ducks and deer they hunted. I prepare deer kaldereta and teal adobo, seeking the balance of ingredients that make the best recipes.

I explore the gardens of Filipino Louisiana– the raised garden beds at St. Malo and the backyard gardens of Filipinos across Louisiana. I grow a kitchen garden and explore cooking with fresh ingredients like sweet potato leaves, mulanggay, and saluyot.

I explore the intersections of paella and jambalaya, moongo beans and red beans, in the Filipino kitchens of New Orleans. I consider how the Creole, Cajun, and Italian foodways of the city impacted Filipino cooks.

My research takes place in the garden and kitchen, at galas and birthday parties. I study Filipino, Filipino American, Creole, and Cajun cookbooks. I search for lists of ingredients available for sale in the French Market in New Orleans in the nineteenth century and menus of restaurants Filipinos frequented.

The project will result in a manuscript that LSU Press will publish. I hope to complete the manuscript by the summer of 2025.

Philippine Louisiana History Society (PLHS)

Blessing of the Bricks

When: Saturday, October 7 @ 10:30 am
Where: Los Isleños Museum Complex, 1357 Bayou Rd. St. Bernard,

Evening Gala

When: Saturday, October 7 @ 7:00 pm
Where: Frederick J Sigur Civic Center, 8245 W Judge Perez Dr, St. Bernard

Filipino-American Association of the ARKLATEX

FAHM Symposium

When: Saturday, October 21 @ TBD
Where: LSU Shreveport, University Center, Shreveport

Evening Gala

When: Saturday, October 21 @ TBD
Where: TBD

Filipino-American Association of Baton Rouge with PLHS 

Fundraiser Gala

When: Saturday, October 28 @ 6:00 pm
Where: Old Governor’s Mansion, 502 North Boulevard Baton Rouge

Upcoming

Contact me if you want to schedule a reading.

Previous

Friends of the Cabildo

Settling St. Malo Book Talk

When: Tuesday, April 8, 2025
Where: Zoom. View Recording.

Center for Louisiana Studies

Evening with Louisiana Poets

With J. Bruce Fuller and Elizabeth Burke

When: Thursday, February 30, 2025
Where: Roy House, Lafayette, La

Louisiana poets to illuminate life’s journeys, environmental reflections at Roy House

University of Louisiana at Monroe

Louisiana Life and Literature

When: November 7, 2024
Where: University of Louisiana at Monroe

Philippine-American Association of NE Louisiana

When: November 6, 2024
Where: Monroe, Louisiana

Center for History & Culture of Southeast Texas and Upper Gulf Coast

Documentary and Found Poetry in Settling St. Malo

When: October 21, 2024
Where: Lamar University, Beaumont, Texas

Filipino American International Book Festival

Imagination in the Archives

With Noelle de la Paz, Janice Lobo Sapigao, Abraham Ignacio, and Michelle Peñalozang

When: October 13, 2024
Where: Main Branch, San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco, California For More Information

Filipino American International Book Festival Preview

The Manong Generation: On Their Inner Lives

With Eileen Tabois, Oscar Peñaranda, and Robert Francis Flor

When: Saturday, September 21, 2024 @ 5:00 Pacific Time, 7:00 Central Time
Where: Zoom, Register Here.

Artist Night at Blaffer Art Museum

Poetry After Liberties Were Taken by Cian Dayrit

With Jack Morillo, Anthony Sutton, Jenah Maravilla, and Angelo Peñaredondo.

When: Friday, July 19, 2024 @ 7:30 pm
Where: Blaffer Art Museum @ University of Houston,
Houston, Texas

FANHS National Conference

Weaving Filipino American History into Poetry & Storytelling

With Jen Soriano, Oscar Peñaranda, and Emily Lawsin.

When: Friday, July 19, 2024 @ 2:30 pm
Where: United Way of Greater Houston,
Houston, Texas

New Orleans Poetry Festival

Filipino/African American Versers: Poetry to Support a Community

With Mona Lisa Saloy, Kevin Evans, Oscar Peñaranda, and Robert “Zack” Zachary

When: Saturday, April 20 @ 4:00 pm
Where: New Orleans Healing Center, 2372 St. Claude Avenue, New Orleans

Octavia Books

Poetry Reading & Book Signing

When: Thursday, November 30 @ 6:00-7:30 pm
Where: Octavia Books, 513 Octavia Street, New Orleans

Louisiana Book Festival

Louisiana Poet Panel

When: Saturday, October 28 @ 2:00 pm
Where: Capitol View Room, Louisiana State Library, Baton Rouge

Hamilton College

When: Wednesday, October 25 @ 7:30 pm
Where: Zoom

Festival of Words

Poetry Reading & History Talk

When: Thursday, September 28 @ 6 pm
Where: The Hive Market, Grand Coteau

Settling St. Malo Launch Party

When: Thursday, September 21 @ 6 pm
Where: The Roy House, 1204 Johnston Street, Lafayette, La

First three sections of twenty-two from “When Filipinos Dried Shrimp in Louisiana (1870–1965)” in Settling St. Malo.

“Do-bo” as it appeared in Settling St. Malo. A version appeared in The Philippine Star, 28 July 2022, and The Ultimate Filipino Adobo: Stories Through the Ages, Claude Tayag, Foreign Service Institute, 2022, 150.