itizens of practically all nationalities have at one time or another settled in Louisiana. Among the characteristics that have helped to make the people of New Orleans unique are their historical awareness, the influence and coexistence of many cultures, and the informal interaction with the mixed societies of its Caribbean and Central American neighbors. Indeed, these factors have contributed to make people work together beyond any differences.

The region was not originally unpopulated. When Iberville arrived at the mouth of the river in 1699, he found some local Indian tribes, among them the Bayogoula and the Mongoulacha, who helped him to survey the areas neighboring the delta, such as Pontchartain Lake. Iberville even named one of the settlements Baton Rouge for the red stick the Indians used for games and offerings. Other tribes included the Natchez and the Chickasaws.

Portrait of Marie Lassus of New Orleans (1860) Albumen print by Louis Rousseau New Orleans Museum of Art

The first French nationals came with Iberville and Bienville; later groups were attracted or forced by John Law's enterprise, or came of their own will. Of the nearly 10,000 Germans who wanted to come to Louisiana around 1719, lured by the promises of Law's company, only 2,000 arrived; many had perished of disease and other hardships. Some of the survivors settled in what is today known as the German Coast. In 1765 a large number of Acadians (from Nova Scotia), known now as Cajun people, were exiled in Louisiana. They also spoke French but, in contrast to the Creoles, they did not settle in the city. The Cajuns settled in the bayous and swamps and used the oral tradition to maintain their language and culture.

The most significant group of Spanish settlers to arrive in Louisiana came from the Canary Islands in 1778. They settled in St. Bernard Parish. Others came from Florida and founded New Iberia (New Spain). The Company of the West also caused an influx of Africans from West Africa, Haiti, Belize, Virginia, and South Carolina. The French government issued the Code Noir in 1724, to protect the free blacks and the slaves, and to regulate their treatment. The Code served as the basis of Louisiana slave laws until the 1820s, when the state adopted stricter regulations. Until then, nearly 20 percent of the city's population consisted of freed people of color who lived in mixed neighborhoods. Citizens from other regions of the United States came after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. The increasing number of people began to compete with the local Creoles (who were strictly of French, Spanish, or African descent), and eventually outnumbered them. It is believed that between 1820 and 1860 one million immigrants entered the United States through New Orleans. Irish immigrants came to the United States, escaping famine and starvation. Nearly 14,000 died of diseases or malnutrition while digging the New Basin Canal in 1835-38. In 1850-55, 126,000 Germans passed through the Customs House. They were better trained and obtained more-skilled jobs. By the time of the Civil War, there were nearly 20,000 Germans living in the city and 40 percent of the population of New Orleans was foreign-born. New Orleans was the largest city in the Confederacy and the sixth largest in the United States. After the War of Secession, another impressive wave of European immigration took place between 1890 and 1910. Hundreds of thousands of Italians, mostly from Sicily, came to the city. Today only about 9 percent of the population of the city can claim ancestry from the original Creoles.

At the end of the 19th century, a significant wave of immigration began to arrive on the shores of the city from Central America, in particular from Honduras. The close relationship that developed between Honduras and Louisiana has its origins in the banana commerce of the Standard Fruit Company and the United Fruit Company, which were based in New Orleans. The old building of the United Fruit Company still stands on Charles Street. Many wealthy Honduran and other Central American members of the economic elite sent their daughters to the city to be educated with the Ursuline nuns. Less-privileged citizens were hired by the companies to work as mechanics and carpenters at the steamship wharves, as was the case with Lino Florentino, the creator of the cedar blanket chest included in this exhibition.

Cedar Blanket Chest with Inlay (1934) Lino Florentino-a worker with the Standard Fruit and Steamship Company-made this chest for his wife. Louisiana State Museum

The effects of the increasing number of Spanish-speaking members, including Cubans, in the New Orleans community are reflected in the existence of La Prensa, a monthly newspaper that caters to both Latin American and American customers. In addition, two radio stations broadcast in Spanish. The city has signs in Spanish everywhere. Religious and secular Latin American traditions, such as the holiday of the Wise Men, are celebrated with the participation of visiting musicians. A subsidiary of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce operates in the city to facilitate and promote business with Latin America. A last group of immigrants came to the city from Vietnam. Their inherited French-Catholic traditions, like the Spanish-Catholic traditions of the Hondurans, are not strange to the city.