Creoles

Creoles are a fascinating kind of people for me.  Famous literature was based on them, and many celebrities are of creole descent. Creole is a word derived from the French and Portuguese words créole and crioulu. Both are connoted by “descendent” and “to raise” these descendants overseas. Creoles are not only a racial melange, but they also represent a mixing of cultures through colonists and their native colony people. Contrary to popular belief, Creoles are far more than what New Orleans is known for. Mixing actually happened relatively quickly in Spanish and Portuguese colonies. The “mixing” is attributed to the fact that there was a lack of Spanish and Portuguese women in these colonies, and there was a Crown policy promoted mixed relations to create loyal colony populations.


 

Spanish colonization of Americas

Spanish colonization of Americas


 

There are a crazy amount of ethnic groups associated with being “creole”:

  • Afro-Brazilian Ciroulos (Central South America)
  • Sierra Leone Creole (North West Africa)
  • Aku Krio people (Muslim of Sierra Leone)
  • Belizean Kriol people (Central America)
  • Criollo people (Those of confirmed latin descent in Mexico)
  • Haitian creole (Caribbean Island)
  • Afro-Honduran Creoles (Central America)
  • Liberian Creole (North West Africa)
  • Louisiana Creole people(Southern US)
  • Mauritian Creole (Island off Madagascar – East Africa)
  • Nigerian Creole (North West Africa)
  • Seychellois creole (Island North of Madagascar).

And here is a collage showcasing most of these differentiations:

BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE

BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE


 

They are of mixed descent with African, native American and European. Those originating from Spanish colonized places are of Latino descent, but those in other colonies are of French descent. The French colonized parts of Africa as well as Louisiana in the US. NOLA is like its own little enigma, and I feel like only NOLA natives understand its culture. And what bothers me a little bit is that this “multi culturalism” that the Crown was hoping to instill resulted in this beautiful ethnic group. I mean when you think about it, European settlers and explorers invaded locals’ land but I suppose they found a way to get along. I really liked making the collage above, though, because you can see the Latino and African genes coming together in making these beautiful freaking people. Snoop Dogg on some reality show was told that he’s 23% Native American, which is a pretty big percent! Creole people fascinate me because it’s more than just being a European mut of genes. There are races mixing here, but when looking back on the history of colonisation, I have a feeling that this was a result of somewhat crass imperialism of European colonies.

“The Awakening” by Kate Chopin is a classic American novel written from the French creole perspective. She writes about the difficult life that creole women had to face being “caged in” like a bird. The book is just a long-ass metaphor about being a caged in bird. Her perspective, however, is from the white creole perspective, as in a nationality or ethnicity, and not a racial definition. There is also that interpretation of Creole.

I thought for my last civic issues post I would explore multiculturalism in history, and I feel like the vast mixing of races in creole people is something people over-look all the time. I only knew of it in context of NOLA, but I had no idea that this existed all around the world! In fact, the criollo people I had mentioned above actually used their specific Spanish descent as a class system, meaning that if you’re a native of Mexico and you can trace your Latin descent, it makes you less of a mut than others I suppose, and puts you higher up in class.

When you think about it, at this point, “Creole” can be anyone. Even Nicki Minaj is part indian, african american, trinidadian, etc. National Geographic actually has a beautiful look book on “the changing face of America” which has all these mixed people with naturally amazing photography.  I bet in the future creole will become extinct, because mixed marriages are more and more acceptable in society now.

 

 

 

2 thoughts on “Creoles

  1. Taylor Marie Peterson

    Damn those are some beautiful people. I really love the idea of mixing cultures because it results in some awesome things. I actually have learned alot about los criollos (creoles) from my Spanish Classes. Just recently we learned about the mix of las tribunas nativas del Caribe (the indigenous Caribbean tribe), los esclavos africanos (african slaves) and los conquistidores (spanish conquistidores), and how each group bought some different aspect of cooking to the Caribbean, resulting in the delicious cuisine that is present their now (did you know that the idea of frying (frito/freir) came from African slaves). I love learning about the mixing of cultures and I think creoles are an excellent example of how the mixing of cultures can result in some truly beautiful things (or people for that matter).

  2. Rhea Elena Sullivan

    Holy beautiful people. I love to see mixed people, they really are so gorgeous. I guess I’m confused as to what creole actually means. Just mixed from nation, africana, and Portuguese decedent? How is the diaspora so incredibly large? I would like to read that book you mentioned because it seems like it gives an accurate portrayal of both white and creole women perspective in history. It’s funny, like you said, how a political move between two cultures can influence a whole new generation of beautiful people and culture. Thanks for sharing! I always wanted to know more.

Leave a Reply