T
he Creoles of South central and
Southwest Louisiana are part of
one of the most “complex rural subcultures in North America”. Our mixed
race or multiracial, multicultural Creoles
are born natives of Louisiana. They have
lived on the prairies west of the Mississippi River for over 300 hundred years
and are some of the first families of
Louisiana. Official records indicate the
Simien’s were amongst the first to settle
the area in the mid 1700’s.
The multiracial and multicultural tapestry of the Creoles is an exotic blend of African, French, Spanish,
and Native American heritage whose
first language is French. It is nothing
short of phenomenal how so many
different cultures converged to create this
diverse identity. An identity that no other
place on the planet shares. One that
developed from old world and new world
ingredients to create a new culture. A
culture that has created authentic
cuisine, an indigenous language and
music tradition which gives Louisiana an
international reputation. Our Creoles have
made very important and specific contributions to the cultural and racial identity
and history of Louisiana. They shared a
unique history unlike any other
blacks or free people of color did in the
United States.
First of all we know that it was the
Native Americans who inhabited all of
North America before any of the
Europeans discovered the New World.
In Louisiana we have several sizable
tribes: the Chitimacha, Coushatta,
Houma & Tunica-Biloxi. Enter the
French who controlled the Louisiana
colony during most of the 18th century
until Spain took over in 1762. Actually
they shared it with the British. Spain got
Louisiana west of the Mississippi and the
British got all of it east of the river. Prior to
that the Africans had already been here
for awhile, for as we know the unfortunate
reason why: slavery. Under Spanish
and French rule though, the culture of
the African slaves was applauded for
its uniqueness. As a result, West African
dance, gatherings, music and cuisine continued to survive openly without the
relentless opression of the British who
controlled many of the early colonies in
other parts of the U.S. This is a pivotal
point in the history of the Creoles,
Louisiana and our country. Racial cohabitation existed in this state in a way it
did not in any other part of the country.
This tolerance of cultural diversity contributed
greatly to how the
Creoles later
thrived as a
strong and unique
multicultural presence in Louisiana.
However with all
this racial and
cultural diversity it
was also difficult to
classify the Creoles
into the standard
categories of
European
immigrants or
African slaves.
They were neither
black nor white.
They existed during
the colonial and
antebellum periods
as a separate
◄ Crawfish:This is a crustacean
and is used in many Creole dishes
class, distinct from
the dominant white
or the enslaved black Africans.
By the early 18th century there
were enough Creoles, or free men of color
(gen de couleur libres), as they were also
called, the French decided they needed
special laws for them. In 1724 the Code
Noir was established. It had many
restrictions, but gave Creoles one
important privilege enslaved Africans did
not have: the right to own land. They
took full advantage and began to establish
their communities that gained strength,
prospered and functioned as a self reliant,
self contained society that in some ways
still exists today.
We are now in the early 19th
century when Thomas Jefferson was
President. The U.S. finally got control of
Louisiana by buying from France, every
thing from the Canadian border to the
Gulf of Mexico from the Mississippi to
the Rockies: The Louisiana Purchase
(1803). Things changed radically for the
Creoles at this time. Until the Civil War
ended in 1865, the Creoles enjoyed their
separate status for nearly 150 years.
When Union officials resisted their
distinctions they were forced to deny their
French, Spanish and Native American
lineage and give up their status in the
“3- tiered” society that had defined their
identity for so long. It was during this time
that the US government racially identified
all persons with any African ancestry as
black. This is another pivotal point in
the history of Louisiana Creoles. The
Creoles accepted this reality and during
Reconstruction became the leaders of
their community as they had experienced the problems of being free in a
white mans world, were better educated,
were property owners and postured to be
leaders of their new community.
Today though, with all that we
now know about the history of the
Creoles, the scope and definition of
both the word and the concept has
evolved even further. In Louisiana,
Creole is defined as an ethnicity and
culture. Culture has no color, but as an
ethnic group with multiracial distinctions,
the color palette of our Creoles range
from white to black and all shades in between! Our Creoles have helped shape
the cultural identity of this state and we
are very proud of our unique heritage!