|
SYBIL KEIN
© Louisiana State University
Press-Baton Rouge
“When examining the history of the Louisiana
French, one may wonder why the Louisiana Creoles have been marginalized
by scholars, and why no extensive study of the group has been
done before now. One reason may well be the seemingly infinite
number of possible definitions of Creole . The Harvard
Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups explains that the
word “refers to people, culture, to food, music, and to language.
Originally from the Portuguese crioulo, the word for a slave brought
up in the owner’s household, which in turn probably derived from
the Latin creare (create), it became criollo in spanish
and creole in French.” (Stephan Thernstrom, ed., Harvard
Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups Cambridge,
Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University, 1980), 247.
“Louisianians of French and Spanish descent
began referring to themselves as Creoles following the Louisiana
Purchase (1803) in order to distinguish themselves from the Anglo-Americans
who started to move into Louisiana at this time. The indigenous
whites adopted the term, insisting, most unhistorically, that
it applied exclusively to them. The life of this dying group
id depicted in George Washington Cable’s Old Creole Days
(1879) and in some of the works of Lafcadio Hearn.
In the United States, in the 20th century, Creole most often
refers to the Louisiana Creoles of color. Ranging in appearance
from mulattos to northern European whites, the Creoles of color
constituted a Caribbean phenomenon in the United States.
The product of miscegenation in a seigneurial society, they achieved
elite status in Louisiana, and in the early 19th century some
were slaveholders. Many, educated in France, were patrons
of the opera and of literary societies. A description of
their lives is provided by Alice Dunbar-Nelson in the Alice Dunbar
Nelson Reader (1979) and Rodolphe Lucien Desdunes’s Nos
hommes et notre histoire (1911; English translation, 1978).
Francis J. Woods tells the life story of one extended family in
Marginality and Identity: A Colored Creole family Through Ten
Generations (1972).”
“Louisiana Creoles of color thus constitute
a self-conscious group, who are perceived in their locale as different
and separate. They live in New Orleans and in a number of
other bayou towns. Historically they have been endogamous,
and until late in the 19th century spoke mostly French.
Perhaps the best-known Creole of color is the jazz musician Jelly
Roll Morton, whose own social status must have been marginal in
Creole society. Overwhelmingly Catholic, the New Orleans
Creoles usually attend parochial schools; Xavier University is
closely associated with them. Their ethnicity is exceedingly
difficult to maintain outside the New Orleans area. Over
time, a great many have passed into white groups in other parts
of the country, and others have become integrated as blacks.
This latter choice is not based wholly on appearance, for many
Creoles who choose to identify as Afro-Americans are white in
appearance..”
“The Louisiana Creole culture presently
has the support of various Creole groups both in Louisiana and
in other states. Each year, there are Creole festivals in
Louisiana at which thousands gather in Louisiana, Texas, and California.
Two internationally distributed monthly publications are dedicated
to Creole life and lifestyles. Bayou Talk, the older of
the two, is published by Louis Metoyer, a descendent of Marie
Therese, the founder of the historic Melrose Plantation in Natchitoches
Parish, Louisiana. Its motto is “Keep the Culture Alive.”
The other periodical is Creole Culture Magazine, published by
Ruth Foote of Lafayette, Louisiana (publication suspended in 1997).
Both reach wide audiences. In addition, many Creoles celebrate
their heritage by wearing T-shirts and/ or jewelry which proudly
proclaim their identity. There are Creole flags, Creole
pins, and Creole prayers. In 1996, a compact disc was produced,
Creole Ballads & Zydeco, which featured never-before-recorded
Creole folk songs. Besides the various zydeco recordings
that contain songs in Creole, two exclusive Creole CDs appeared
in 1997: Creole Blues, a collection of jazz songs, and Creole
Man, a popular disc whose song were songs are in Creole.”
|
