Resumen de The Last of the Louisiana Décimas

Patricia Manning Lestrade

• The décima, popular since ita nriain in sixteenlh-cenlury Spain, entered Lonisiana with late eighteenthcentury selítera frnm líe Canary Islanda. These setílera, knnwn as líe isleños, formed a clnsety-hnund enclave thaI resisled alt nulsidera. Slnwly, hnwever, natural sud ecnnnmicfacín's fssccedlhea, lo leave hehiud Iheir lifestyte of fishing sud trapping sud tu join che adjacent English-speaking cnmrnunilies. Social change nntwithslanding, lhey huye worked usa cnmmunily lo preserve Iheir heritage mío Ihe new millenniurn. One vatued memento nf their tanguage aud culture is Ihe décima. Mixing tradition wilh cnmmunily experiences, Ihe isleñns maintained Iraditinnal décimas, adopted níhera, aud created Iheir nwn. Ile lhrce isleñn-cnmpnsed décimas-nne frnrn Ihe turn nf Ihe cenlury aud twn nf receul prnduclinn-presenled herr reOccí Ihe slruggte aud frustration nf a peopte whn have reluclanlty given in lo change.