Felice Coles

        The ancestral homesite of Delacroix Island, Louisiana, is important to the Isle–o community as a unique geosymbolic representation of identity. In their songs and stories, Isle–o Spanish speakers demonstrate their knowledge of what it means to be a "real" Isle–o by describing places with names in local terminology rather than U.S. institutional identifications. The use of Isle–o specific place names (a) authenticates the performer; (b) includes the audience as sharing in-group information; and (c) connotes to the listeners how they should conceive of the place as a representation of Isle–o identity.
        Place is defined as "a discrete, temporally and perceptually bounded unit of psychologically meaningful material space" (Godkin 1980: 73). To the Isle–os, one cannot be a member of the group without knowing the territory and its boundaries that make up the home of the ethnic enclave. Isle–os situate themselves in their "place" by delimiting the boundaries of their territory using specific names that they have formulated themselves for locations inside. The "right" term to use when performing for group members is the term that has a referent to Isle–o history or culture, just as Pulvirenti (2002: 221) says that "identities are territorialized" when a community has inhabited a place for a significant period of time. This"right" place term may be clarified when outsiders are present, but an authentic Isle–o who is qualified to perform will know the insiders' terms for places. Isle–os find that their place in south Louisiana is of primary importance in the construction and maintenance of their communal identity. As Chelito Campo, a respected elder of the community, said, "I like to have a little place to go by. That's all I need."