Creole

A classification of people of mixed ancestry originally from Louisiana, especially in and around the city of New Orleans. Creoles are generally known as a people of mixed French, African, Spanish, or Native American ancestry, most of whom reside in or have family ties to Louisiana.

The definition of creole can be somewhat fluid. A native white Louisianian often will say that a Creole is a white man with French or Spanish ancestry. Others say that Creoles only live in the lower Delta region south of New Orleans. Still others claim that a Creole may also have some West Indian blood.

The word creole originated with the Portuguese slave trade in the 1600s or perhaps earlier. For the Portuguese, the word crioulo denoted a slave in the Americas who was of African descent. The Spanish later introduced a similar word, criollo, to the Gulf Coast of North America, particular Louisiana. The word at first applied to any colonist, regardless of ethnic origin, who settled in Louisiana.

Since the 1700s, the term creole has been used primarily in Louisiana to identify native-born Louisianians who were descended from the original French-speaking, Roman Catholic population. After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, black, white, and mixed-race Louisianians, as well as people of French and Spanish descent, began referring to themselves as Creoles to distinguish themselves from the Anglo-Americans newcomers who came to the region from other parts of the United States.

Many Louisiana residents at that time began to use the term creole with a qualifier, such as Creole of color, white Creole, or slave Creole. Creoles of color made up the majority of free people of color in nineteenth-century New Orleans. Because of their mixed-race ancestries, these Creoles existed in a world between the racially segregated whites and blacks. They were misunderstood, misrepresented, and often discriminated against by both whites and blacks.

Today, the term creole is most often used to refer to persons of full or mixed African heritage. Creole of color is sometimes still used to refer to creoles of mixed-race heritage, while black Creole is used for persons of more or less pure African descent. The rejection that many black or mixed-ancestry Creoles experienced through the years encouraged them to form strong family ties. They also developed their own culture, partly because of discrimination from both whites and blacks. Self-sufficient and reliant on each other, Creoles became landowners, artists, teachers, and businesspeople. Jazz musician Jelly Roll Morton was a Creole from New Orleans.

Creoles are difficult to find outside of New Orleans, and those who live in other areas often lose or do not display much of their creole culture and heritage. Members who move away from Louisiana often cross over into either the white or black communities, wherever they feel more comfortable.

There are numerous creole festivals in Louisiana and Texas that celebrate the way of life, the food, and the families of creole culture. Creoles have their own flags, folk songs, prayers, and at least one magazine, Bayou Talk. The Creole Preservation Society of America is based in Lafayette, Louisiana, as is C.R.E.O.L.E., Inc., an organization dedicated to reviving and preserving ancestral pride for Louisianaborn creole African Americans.

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