Olmec style objects appeared in many regions of Mesoamerica during the Early Olmec period (1150–1000 bc, uncalibrated). Many scholars consider the Gulf Olmec archaeological culture the originator and purveyor of the Olmec style, and one way that Gulf Olmecs may have fostered its spread was by establishing colonies. I examine such a case: a colony of Gulf Olmecs at the site of Canton Corralito, Chiapas, 450 km south of the Gulf Lowlands. Portable objects made at Canton Corralito and at San Lorenzo, the largest Gulf Olmec site, form the comparative database. Archaeological and ethnological considerations of ethnicity, ethnic identity, and ethnic enclaves provide the conceptual link between material culture, ethnic identity, and the varied forms that enclaves took in antiquity. Several ethnic enclave models are presented, each with material expectations. The results are remarkable. Chemical analysis indicates that ceramic vessels, figurines, and other kinds of objects were regularly exported from San Lorenzo to Canton Corralito. Ceramic vessels made at both settlements during the Early Olmec period—and during the preceding Initial Olmec (1250–1150 bc) period—are nearly inseparable in terms of represented types, frequencies, forms, manufacturing techniques, and surface designs. Olmec style figurines produced at San Lorenzo and at Canton Corralito are indistinguishable in terms of thematic content, proportions, posture, and numerous anatomical and decorative qualities. Evidently, the inhabitants of both settlements were members of a single ethnic group. Gulf Olmec traditions were practiced at sites near Canton Corralito, but Olmec style objects were less common at those places, usually of lower quality, and certain kinds of objects are rare or lacking. Data indicate that a colony was established at Canton Corralito by San Lorenzo Olmecs around 1200 bc, and lasted some 200 years. Social and political relations with indigenous peoples were amicable, driven as much by an indigenous desire to become Gulf Olmec as the trade interests of San Lorenzo Olmecs. The ability to establish and maintain a colony implies that San Lorenzo was a state, and, considering the date of Canton Corralito's founding, that statehood was achieved a half-century or more before the Olmec style had fully developed.