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Louisiana is home to many, especially notable are the distinct
culture of the Creoles and Cajuns.
Creole culture is a cultural amalgamation that takes a little from
each of the French, Spanish, African, and Native American
cultures[29]. The Creole culture is part of White Creoles' and
Black Creoles' culture. Originally Créoles referred to native-born
whites of French-Spanish descent. Later the term also referred
to descendants of the white men's relationships with African or
African-American women, many of whom were educated free
people of color. Many of the wealthy white men had
quasi-permanent relationships with women of color outside their
marriages, and supported them as "placées". If a woman was
enslaved at the beginning of the relationship, the man usually
arranged for her manumission, as well as that of any of her
children.
Creoles became associated with the New Orleans area, where
the elaborated arrangements flourished. Most wealthy planters
had houses in town as well as at their plantations. Popular belief
that a Creole is a mixed Black/French person came from the
"Haitian" connotation of an African French person. There were
many immigrants from Haiti to New Orleans after the Revolution.
Although a Black Creole is one type of Creole, it is not the only
type, nor the original meaning of Creole. All of the respective
cultures of the groups that settled in southern Louisiana have
been combined to make one "New Orleans" culture. The
creative combination of cultures from these groups, along with
Native American culture, was called "Creole" Culture. It has
continued as one of the dominant social, economic and political
cultures of Louisiana, along with Cajun culture, well into the 20th
century. Some[weasel words] believe it has finally been overtaken
by the American mainstream.[citation needed]
Cajun Culture. The ancestors of Cajuns came from west central
France to the provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia,
Canada, known as Acadia. When the British won the French and
Indian War, the British forcibly separated families and evicted them
because of their long-stated political neutrality. Most captured
Acadians were placed in internment camps in England and the New
England colonies for 10 to 30 years. Many of those who escaped
the British remained in French Canada. Once freed by England,
many scattered, some to France, Canada, Mexico, or the Falkland
Islands. The majority found refuge in south Louisiana centered in the
region around Lafayette and the LaFourche Bayou country. Until the
1970s, Cajuns were often considered lower-class citizens, with the
term "Cajun" being somewhat derogatory. Once flush with oil and
gas riches, Cajun culture, food, music and their infectious "joie de
vivre" lifestyle quickly gained international acclaim.
A third distinct culture in Louisiana is that of the Isleños, who are
descendants of Spanish Canary Islanders who migrated from the
Canary Islands of Spain to Louisiana under the Spanish crown
beginning in the mid-1770s. They settled in four main settlements,
but many relocated to what is modern-day St. Bernard Parish,
where the majority of the Isleño population is still concentrated. An
annual festival called Fiesta celebrates the heritage of the Isleños. St
Bernard Parish has an Isleños museum, cemetery and church, as well
as many street names with Spanish words and Spanish surnames from
this heritage. Isleño identity is an active concern in the New Orleans
suburbs of St. Bernard Parish, LA. Some members of the Isleño
community still speak Spanish - with their own Canary Islander accent.
Numerous Isleño identity clubs and organizations, and many members
of Isleños society keep contact with the Canary Islands of Spain.
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