Louisiana Creole people

This article is about an ethnic culture in Louisiana, USA. For uses of the term "Creole" in other countries and cultures, see Creole.

Louisiana Creole refers to people of any race or mixture thereof who are descended from settlers in colonial French Louisiana before it became part of the United States in 1803 with the Louisiana Purchase, or to the culture and Creole cuisine typical of these people.

Definitions

Some writers from other parts of the United States have mistakenly assumed the term Creole to refer only to people of mixed racial descent, but this is not the traditional Louisiana usage. In fact some locals, especially those of relatively pure French and Spanish Creole descent, have often argued that the traditional usage excluded African lineage. However, colonial era documents show that a broader usage of the term was already common by the late 18th century, with references to "free Creoles of Color" and even to slaves of pure African descent born in Louisiana as "Creole slaves".

The Louisiana Creole Heritage Center describes Creole people as those who are "generally known as a people of mixed French, African, Spanish, and Native American ancestry, most of whom reside in or have familial ties to Louisiana." They add that "many other ethnicities have contributed to this culture including, but not limited to, Chinese, Russian, German, and Italian."

Creole is now accepted as a broad cultural group of people of all races who share a French or Spanish background. Louisianans who identify themselves as "Creole" are most commonly from historically Francophone communities with some ancestors who came to Louisiana either directly from France or via the French colonies in the Caribbean; those descended from the Acadians of French Canada are more likely to identify themselves as Cajun than Creole. Creole is still used to identify a person of Spanish, French, American Indian, and/or African origin.

A definition from the earliest history in New Orleans (circa 1718) is "a child born in the colony as opposed to France." The definition became more codified after the United States took control of the city and Louisiana in 1803. The Creoles at that time included the Spanish ruling class, who ruled from the mid-1700s until the early 1800s.

By 1850, after many years of pejorative slights by the new "American" émigrés, the French and Spanish Creoles lost political power and Creole became increasingly inclusive of anyone or anything from New Orleans; eg, people, animals, architecture, etc. For example, early German immigrants, who settled along the German Coast up the Mississippi River, were referred to as Creole.

Language

Besides English and French, many Louisiana Creoles have historically spoken a distinctive creole language, the Louisiana Creole French (creyol luizien).

Future of the community

Because of the destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina, some people fear the extinction of the unique Creole community. Having been forced to evacuate New Orleans, and settle temporarily (and perhaps permanently) elsewhere throughout the United States, it is unclear whether enough will return to a rebuilt New Orleans to continue their cultural traditions.

Notable Creoles

See List of Louisiana Creoles

Sources

External links

Frenchcreoles.com A website focusing on the French Creoles of Louisiana
Creole Heritage Center

Ethnic groups in the United States | Louisiana Creole