I thought it was worth copying and pasting this text on Mustafa Zemmouri from Wikipedia. Many thanks to 3abir Sabil and Bensioua for their contribution.

"ESTEVANICO (c. 1503 – 1539) a Muslim[1] (also known as "MUSTAFA ZEMMOURIi", "Black Stephen", "Esteban", "Esteban the Moor", "Estevan", "Estebanico", "Stephen the Black", "Stephen the Moor", and "Little Stephen") was a Berber originally from Morocco, North Africa and one of the early explorers of the Southwestern United States. Born in the town of Azamor (Azemmour), a Portuguese enclave on Morocco's Atlantic coast from 1513 to 1541, Estevanico was enslaved by the Portuguese at an early age. He was sold in 1520 to Andrés Dorantes de Carranza, a Spanish nobleman with whom he developed close ties.

Estevanico travelled with Dorantes to Hispaniola and Cuba on Pánfilo de Narváez's ill-fated expedition of 1527 to conquer Florida; in doing so Estevanico became the first person born in Africa known to have set foot in what is now the continental United States. He and Dorantes were two of the expedition's four survivors, and had sailed with others on makeshift rafts in an attempt to reach Mexico. The group was shipwrecked on Galveston Island and most of the men either drowned, starved, or were killed by natives; by 1533 only Estevanico, Andrés Dorantes de Carranza, Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, and Alonso del Castillo Maldonado survived. The four spent years enslaved by the Ananarivo of the Louisiana Gulf Islands, but they eventually escaped into the American interior, contacting other Native American tribes along the way. The party traversed the continent as far as present-day southeastern Arizona, and through the Sonoran Desert to the region of Sinaloa in New Spain (present-day Mexico), where they were reunited with their countrymen.

In 1539, Estevanico was one of the four who would accompany Marcos de Niza as a guide in search of the fabled Seven Cities of Cibola, preceding Coronado. However, the others were struck ill and Estevanico continued alone, opening up what is now New Mexico and Arizona. He was killed at the Zuni village of Hawikuh (in present-day New Mexico); the tribe regarded him with mistrust, partially because his medicine gourd was trimmed with feathers from an owl, a bird that symbolized death to the Zuni".

(Suite)
Mostapha A3rab a écrit un livre sur Estabanico el Azemmouri qu'il a publié en plusieurs fragments dans le journale "al A7dath al maghribiya"
(voir les numéros du journal des mois de Juillet et Aout 2006).
Je ne sais pas si le livre dans son ntégralité a été édité en un seul volume.

Le premier marocain qui a débarqué en Amérique est Mustapha Zemmouri et s'était en 1513(documents à l'appuis).J'ai lu quelque part qu'une fondation a errigé une statut à sa mémoire au Taxas(je ne me rappelle pas exactement où:Houston ou san Antonio??).Si un de vous habite le Texas prière qu'il fasse une photo se cette statut pour nous la montrer.Mustappha Zemmouri a été surnomé par les portguais:
-Estebanico el Mauro
-Estebanico alzammouri
-Esteban Moor
-Stephen the black.
(plusieurs ecrits existent sur Zemmouri.Tappez seulement "Estebanico" sur google et vous êtes servis)

PS:j'ai lu les commentaires précédents et j'ai été tellement surpris de constater qu'aucun de nos services consulaires à NY ou à Washington DC n'a pris la porole pour nous renseigner sur l'immigration marocaine aux USA.Sont ils incapables à ce point de fournire des informations officielles sur notre diaspora ou un résumé d'historique??.Si c'est le cas,alors je suis vraiment déçu et je me demande à quoi ils servent??

j ai fait des etudes en ce qui concerne immiration marocains dans le nouveaux monde,et ma conclusion et cela avant columbus l estorien sabtawi al idrssi a ecrit dans son enorme livre(nozhat al mochtaq fi khtiraqi al afaq)que un groupe d hommes ont ait fondes a safi et le pascha de cette ville dans le lage des cotes safiotes et la retourne a lisbone ,ils ont qu il ya un autre terres apres la mer des tenebres....
une aute chose le roi du royaume du mali a envoye son frere au dela
de l ocean atlantique et jamais revenu...
plus que sa tous l equipage qui sont partis avec columbus se sont d origine prisoniers moriscos apres la tombee de la citadelle cortoba en janvier 1494,et mousa abou satia etait l un marin brilant dans ce role la,
avec concentement de le dans hero andalousien ARIBASH que son nom n est p emansionne dans les archives espagnols sous pretecsssss..
apres il zamouri qui ya decouvri les 7 cities de sibola maleresement il etait tues par des indiens en croiyant qui il un espion des enemmis
dans les archives de sout carolina deux marocains ont poses plainte de revenir au maroc en 17 th........

my father, rest in peace, first set foot on New York soil in 1911, when passports still did not exist, only a Cherifienne document given by the pasha.

For over 2 years I have been trying to find some information about this guys. I looked every where then few weeks ago I came accross some great documentation that sure is helping me trace the origine of some of the immigrants. Believe it or not some of them had to travel to france then to the united states while others came from Gibraltar.
Some of theses immigrants are Jewish moroccans that choose the new world as a country of residency.
To learn more about these immigrants please take that time t visit my website at:
http://choufouni.com/choufouni/moroccan_immigrants/moroccan_immigrants.html

Thank you Adnane for your great work. You inspired so many of us. Few are man enough to recognize it :)
rhoula

J'aurais aim? avoir une description du mode de vie actuel de notres compatriotes aux states, avec des illustrations photos.
En ce moment, au Maroc il y'? la fi?vre de la loterie pour l'immigration aux states.
merci Adnane, Have a nice day.

Merci Adnane de m'avoir orienter.

You know that could be it actually! there was an amazing world's fair in the united states in 1904 in t. Louis Luisiana,, and of course Morocco was featured. So these guys could have been part of the Moroccan delegation. I invite everyone to look up the documentary on that world fair, it's truely amazing!! no world fair ever reached the beauty, exquisity and galor of that event!.. you'll see for you eyes when watching the documentary or you can look up USA world's fair 1904 online.

A mon avis nos compatriotes en photo sont partient aux states pour la 1ere fois juste pour faire un d?fil? de mode de JJaLLaba (je pense).
votre web site est interessent, Bonne continuation.

I agree for memorial service this weekend plus a dinner "sada9a" and +creation of fondation called, we are off them.

I agree for memorial service this weekend plus a dinner "sada9a" and +creation of fondation called, we are off them.

I agree for memorial service this weekend plus a dinner "sada9a" and +creation of fondation called, we are off them.

thanx alot adnane.

can i ask you something else.

as a moroccan in Boston (im assuming???) how long have you been there? how big is the moroccan community (if there is one). are there a lot of natives? what i mean is people of moroccan origin that were born in the states/boston?

if you can answer any questions for me or if you know anyone that can, id really appreciate you telling me.

you are right that immigration re moroccans to the states in a historical context isnt well documented. but i reckon it might be just as hard to find people in their 50-60s that had parents that were born in the states! if i cant then i'll try and find people in their 50s-60s that were born in the states....and...err....if not then just anyone that was born there really!!!! (ive got to write something!!)

thank you, thank you, thank you for your help adnane, i'll wait for a reply,

cheers,

chorouk

The article I provided talks about Moroccans in Chicago. Here is another one http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/2489.html that talks about Algerians in Chicago. I'm sure there is articles out there that account for Moroccans in NYC, Boston, Washington DC etc.

It will be hard to find information on early Moroccan immigrants. It is indeed a subject that is not well documented, which means you might have to do more effort on your side. What you see down below are all the comments this thread received.

Read this article: http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/2509.html

Share with us any info you find.
Cheers.

On the idea of being trapped here is one of Marilyn Manson's crazy quotes:

"A lot of people don't want to make their own decisions. They're too scared. It's much easier to be told what to do. Americans talk so much about being individualistic, but they don't want you to be an individual because if you think for yourself then you're not going to be a part of any trend that they want you to be a part of. They don't want you to think for yourself. They tell you they do so that you're happy and you're stupid and you're sheep. Anybody intelligent enough to realize what America is, is not going to sit around and do nothing about it. They're going to be the same way that I am. They're going to be the same way our fans are. They're going to be pissed. These people are artists. These people are musicians. They're taking it out and trying to express it that way. The rest of the world, who are just willing to accept it, are gonna be doing their everyday jobs, and they're going to be trapped in a rut, and they're never gonna see it until the day they die, and they're gonna be disappointed when they don't go to heaven anyway 'cause they were too stupid to realize that it's not going to happen."

ps - December 31, 1969, 4:00 pm? are we stuck in some kind of time warp here, or did someone just forget to rewind the timer since then??

chorouk

Salam all,

i found this website a little while ago and im kind of excited becasue ive been looking for something like this for a while!!

i live in london and im supposed to be doing a demographic comparison paper re moroccan immigration to the states and to the UK.

obviously, the UK statistics etc are easy to find for me becasue i understand the system however i have no idea of how to find information on moroccans in the US and i was hoping someone could help me???

basically, i typed in a key phrase ie "early moroccan immigration" and a link brought me to this website and to an inactive thread on your discussion board called "first morccans in the USA". the thing is, i dunno how to get to the beginning of that discussion, and also there were references to old pictures of the first immigrants. i really dont know how to access these or if they are still available to see. can someone help me out please??

thanks alot!

i have to submit this work quite soon, and in the grand tradition of Moroccans, ive left this coursework to the last minute, so any help will be a help!!

thanks

chorouk

I M NOT A LAME MAYBE THEY ARE BUT NOT ME NO WAY DUDE

HAVE YOU GUYS EVER THOUGT OF BEING LAMES YOU GUYS TALK SO WEIRD

HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT THE MUSIC IN SENGAL ITS SO EXCITING LOVE WHAT YOU SAID SUZANNE THATS ANY BOBY GOT ANY WEBSITES FOR PICTURES

MAN THESE PEOPLE IS SO COOL THE LAND IS BEAUTIFUL FISHKING[BIRDS] ARE BEAutiful SOMETIMES I WISH I COULD ONE DAY TAKE A TRIP THERE ITS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO COOL THE PICTURE I HAVE PRINTED OUT ARE SO EXCITING THIS PICTURE WILL MAKE ME GET A 100 ON MY PROJECT I WOUNDER WHERE I CAN FIND MORE GOT ANY CLUES

I just love this picture. I just printed it out and I'm going to keep it as a reminder. I saw this picture in 2001 at a Musuem at Harelm , New York about the Arab immigrants. God how much did we evolve. Were they coming from another planet? Espeically the little alien sitting on the floor. He never saw a camera before? Huh. Don't take me wrong I am just so happy that there is a huge difference between this picture and pictures of people coming through JFD nowadays. Now at least a huge number of moroccans that come to USA are literate and have some money in their pockets. I wonder how and why did these people came to USA. Do you know? if so please tell me I am so interested

i look for the last survey for moroccan immigrants in U.S.A.

Talking about immigration, and as thousands of Moroccans wish to immigrate to Europe here what i found on the Sunday Boston Herald.

" Twelve politicians from Morocco went on an official visit to Paris eight months ago and have not returned.
The politicos' absence was noticed back home because they had failed to campaign for reelection. The vote is in September. "

UH, YEAH, OF COURSE WE'LL BE BACK !!!

The Lass is realy a nice idea, ca me rappelle mon enfance:Ronda, lkdoub, bataii... Those cards are no where in the world but in Morocco, we should thinking of some Export business lol.
Adnane, we also miss the funny commented photos, where everybody practices his imagination in a Moroccan way.

Adnan,

hehehehe I didn't notice it , until I read ur comment here.

tha's funny

**** Subject Not Related **********************

Adnane, have u thought of making a corner within Raioo just for your drawings, Caricatures' Corner? I think it would be a success. I do make caricatures myself, I remember even almost got suspended back in high school for making fun of a teacher of mine. I wanna ask you by the way what application do u use? Freehand? it is really hard to draw with the mouse. Thnx

*****Peace*******************************************************

Many thanks to BentDreyfa from The Raioo Board for providing pics to Laz, Rey.. etc

Adnane! Just noticed the Moroccan ace [ Las ] dangling above...Man it's deadly funny. Keep up the good work! I got a cool pic that u may wanna to add to Raioo archive. I am also working on modest web site which of course will have a link to Raioo.

Let Peace Ring, then Freedom will eventually do so.

khanezCash-

You are right, Columbus had a couple of Moorish jews on board. they were translators...

those are not the first moroccan immigrants to USA, isn't it true that Christufer Columbus had a groub Moroccan sailors along with him the time when he discovered America? wlla ana ghaltan ya riggala

hadou haroume far9a dial "taguada" lwala:)
you know that hip hop and some other dance came from our GNAWA dance? so maybe these 4ppl were gnawa and came here or "sent" by someone to do business or something else. i wonder if carmen diaz has any moroccan blood?
for the ottman empire yes morocco was the only country not invaded by the ottmans and thatis because morocco was an empire it self at that time it started north of africa to the ivory coast and that region was called "soudane" before it was renamed to senegal and coat d'ivoyer. just some food for your thougths

To trace them we must find out about their names, other than that the search will take the kind of Alex Haleys if you have read the book (Roots). some day somebody will write a story of a Moroccan Kunta kinte of course nothing to do with slavery.

******* Salam O' Aalikum*************

Hey Adnane! this is good stuff you brought us. I knew that there had been some scholar exchanges between Morocco and US in the early times of some dynasties. Some of our old king even encouraged that. I now wonder if those students are like these guys pictured... It is a mystery that their stories had vanished away with time and their ventures ended up untold. Plz do a follow up Adnane! Let's us know what on earth was going on? How and why they headed out west? any piece of info. will help us get the picture.

****************************************
Peace_Maker

:) lol .... or maybe he left that piece of hair in purpose to balance out his Gadouma ?

Regarding what happened to these men (and little kid), I wonder if The US still have their record. I am pretty sure they have it somewhere. If I go visit Ellis Island I'll ask them. For those who enjoy these kinds of investigations, we probably should seriousely discuss what we can do to find the history of these 4 Moroccans. Post your suggestions, leads, etc.

Those are interesting pictures. One thing, I noticed is Morocco was never under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, we were the only nation not ruled by the Ottomans. We also share the same clothes and garments with our neighbors: algeria, and Tunisia, who were ruled by the Ottomans. About the first pic, I don't think there are jewish, cos in that Era of time, Jewish pple used to wear different clothes to differ themselves from the Muslims. Ex: the 3rd Picture.
Yes, in Morocco, Men used to have Mohawk ( groune) and It was a common thing among men.
What Happened to these Immigrants? May be they were sent to the plains of america, cos by 1900 the east coast was full of Irish and Italian Immigrants, or may be they blended in with other races, and their grandchildren are stars right now, may be J.LO, Missy Elliott, and so and so. Thank YOu Again Adnane. I never thought that Moroccans were among the immigrants to The states .

or maybe he hit his head fel babor o khourjat lih bou9ala

" A bigger forum than this ".. . that was .

Yeah man, they could easely melt with a Geronimo tribe...;)

I had the same tought when I saw the little taguia of the boy on the floor , but I cann't tell for sure...because it looks a bit too big for his head, except if it was designed so that he could grow in it ...(:P

The beard you guy in the middle of this page, looks like a student rabbi...;)
But, then again you can never tell , because back then such faces could be seen all over Morocco .

One thing is sure, at the beginning of this century not everybody knew that there was something called "Abroad"..:)

The mohawk hair style and Legroune hanguing did exist even up to a rescent past in many places in Morocco ...
I would assume they did originate from the jewish tradition, but no one could tell for sure that such poeple were ethnically related to the jews in the past.
because poeple used adapt eachothers cultures and life style.
If we get into that topic, we might need a biggest forum than this :)

Antr :) yeah something like that!

But hold on hold on Antr.. like you I also thought the hair style of the guy in profile is some mohawk style.. but could it be by any chance that little cap Jews wear ??

The 3rd photo is that of Moroccan jews arriving in USA, you can see the guy with his double jellaba oulqoub.

Adnane,

umm...(:/ ....you think that back then the Moroccan passports were made of a piece of a rock. ?
just like dala dial Moses on wich he wrote the 10 commendements ?

TsaghfiR-lah ((:|

I just learned about the sister who passed away in a car crash.
Allah Yerhamha, w' Yeghfer liha dounoub.
W'Lah Ysabber Hbabha.

It is only when death strikes that we realise how fragile life is, and how futile existance is .

La ilaha illa Lah, wa ina Lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji3oun.

Antr, in those Shakaratt, they had huge Passports made in Morocco :)

The guy posing in profile, reminds me of Wolverine, the mutant guy with nives in X-men . (>:@
Maybe that Moroccan dude allso had a 3atLa hidden under his TshamiR.
Back in 1900, metal detectors were no invented yet...

PS: Check it out, he had Kobbass hair style !
:)))

Dak derri li galless fi lard, Mketfinou Bjellaba, hit messkin MkhaLkheL . he cann't stay still.
the guys to the left , I think he became a body guard for Jeffersson, and a boxer during his free time.
the guy to the right with the aura dial Zorro , became an advicer for the white house.
the guy in the middle became a dancer.

Note, all of them were ready for business.
I wonder what they had in those Shkara though ? hommoss or Shriha? (>:P

Adnane
I paid 10$ to get to the statue of liberty on the way back the ferry stopped there It's for free.
*Ground floor you find old cases & suitcases, representations & statistics about immigrants, races..pictures etc
*First floor you have the big hall or patio, pictures, you can listen to some recorded discussions of immigrants their comments etc, old cloths and things.
*Second floor place where they slept also pictuers..
Interesting in general you will love the faces.

Aziz, I'm planning to go visit that museum actually soon. Anything in particular to look for there? shows? documentaries? exhibits?

For the ppl who wants to join us:
me and some other friends are planning to have a memorial service this weekend plus a dinner "sada9a" at Argana in Inman square i have already talked to the owner and he welcomed the idea we just have to work on the details. for the memorial sevice we are trying to do it In her school NU and we are trying to get everybody involved friends familly students and faculties that she had contact with. if any wants to get involved please let me know.
Thank you for your time

It's devastating to hear the lost of such a young person.Inna lillahi wa Inna ilaihi raji3oon.

last weekend I visited Ellis Island in NY the place were immigrants stopped to get their approvals to enter the US. There are so many amazing stories of people from all over the world. the focus on europeans and Asians was overwhelming that i didn't get attracted by any pictures of Arabs except for one of some Turkish.I know i couldn't go through every single detail because of the size of the museum. it's interesting that they provide computers with thousands of immigrants names for those who like to trace their ancestors.

As for the pictures I have a feeling that it's hard to trace those folks. Especially if they were uneducated.because the lack of a community makes it almost impossible to maintain traditions. our little boy's grand kid might be in the congress now !!! and "lma3te bouchlarem" is buried in colorado.
who knows!!

Here is an article about the subject from which the photos were borrowed.

Was she driving in HW?

Layar7amha ourzaq sbar. inna lillah wa inna ilayhi raji3oun. A web site in her memory is being constructed by a friend of hers, He'll let us know when it's up so you can post your thoughts and prayers. It would be more proper over there not here in this discussion.

Nego, Last time I saw these clothes was last time in Washington DC museum of african history :) they had the same bernouss the young guy in the middle is wearing, hang on the wall. It was nice.

All my condolences to all who knew her, she was the only friend I had in the states besides a handful of my family members. I will miss her, but I know she is standing right next to me today, right next to all she cared about.
Nes, RIP, La Illaha illallah, Mohammad Rassouloullah.

Sub7ana all7ay alladi la yamout,
Allar Yer7amha weywessa3 3liiha 9barha, wyedakhelha aljjannah bidouni sabi9ati 3adab.

regarding the subject,
I think you still can get these clothes if you go to the villages, i know in the Northern parts there are still people making similar clothes, amma t7assen , he he he, i guess we can still get them as well...,
walakine hadak derri sghir lli galess, tahoua 7reg wella???

If any body finds any thing about them let us know...please

Inna Lillah Wa Inna Ilayhe Laraji3un.

Comme tu dis :INA LILAHI WA INA ILAYHI RAJI3OUNE, c'estdes choses qui arrivent.L'ann?e derniere j'ai perdu deux de mes meilleurs amis dans les meme conditions....9adar allah....

Sinon pour ce qui est du sujet, c'est vraiment marrant de savoir qu'il ya eu des marocanes qui ont flair? de si tot le filon Americains.

Mais juste une precision: Si on parle de marocains il faut preciser qu'ils etaient musulmans.Car a ma connaissance il y a eu des juifs marocains qui sont all? bien plus tot aux States.Apparement il y en a un qui a meme particip? a l'elaboration de la constitution Americaine.Il etait originaires d'Essaouira (ex Mogador).

PS:Ou est ce que tu a trouv? ces photos?(Amine Benali )

SORRY :
this is not related to thei topic.
One of our beloved friend here in the US has passed away sunday night due to a fatal car accident down in florida. She was a very brilliant person funny full of life and she just finished school and got her bachlor's degree, she just turned 24 on july 27th and i full very sad to see a young and bright person like her die on a young age.
INA LILAHI WA INA ILAYHI RAJI3OUNE
PS:
me and her friends are trying to do a memorial service or even janaza if you want to be part of it please let me know

Look at these interesting looking people of old Morocco! Maaaannnn... Look at the clothes! You only find those garments in museums nowadays. And look at the hair cuts and styles.

I really want to know what happened to these folks and their famillies...!!!!

anybody knows? lol :)