Louisiana Creole Research Paper

Louisiana is an interesting place to visit and live in. Louisiana has always had a passion for food and the different types of culture that comes along with it. There are many different subjects in Louisiana to research, such as plantations, festivals, swamps, cities, and different heritages. Food brings everyone and everything together. By researching food, all of the many different facts about Louisiana can tie together. There is always a cultural background when it comes to food anywhere. The festivals in Louisiana always either include food or base themselves on food. Louisiana has a crawfish festival, po-boy festival, shrimp festival, gumbo cook-offs throughout the year, and more. Louisiana even has its own holiday known as “Mardi Gras,”

The area of New Orleans, Louisiana was one of the places that was strongly influence by Haiti. The City of New Orleans has the richest culture compare to others Urban area in the United States. Haitian life and elements is found in the tradition of voodoo. Which is still a part of the Culture in New Orleans today. Elements of the Haitian language was contributed to the Creole language. Which people speak in New Orleans and areas around it.

Louisiana is a place with a lot of history and some say the best food in the world. "Creole" is a word that refers to the French colonists who came to Louisiana in the 18th century. Creole food are from French foods because that's what the colonists would made for themselves. Since Louisiana is a hot and wet climate they had to change some of their cooking to use food sources they were available for them to use. Since settlers from other countries came to Louisiana their food also influenced Creole cooking.

New Orleans culture is a melting pot of Spanish, French, Mexican, Native American, and African descent. Creole is a term that refers to mixed-race natives of Louisiana. Many creoles were free and their ancestors often had the same rights as white people. They often received formal education and owned property and slaves. Creole culture was catholic and French-speaking as opposed to the Protestant and English-speaking whole of America. This amalgamation of cultures created a safe haven for personal expression, and caused the development and evolution of the culture and Jazz music.

Marilyn Frye describes oppression as “something pressed is something caught between or among forces and barriers which are so related to each other that jointly they restrain, restrict or prevent the thing’s motion or mobility” (Rothenberg, pg. 149-150). The Cherokee Indians have faced their share of hardship and oppression, from mistreatment to starvation; they have overcome the oppression from the white man to live a full and prosperous life. Within the Cherokee Indians, there exists a subgroup, the Cherokee woman. I am going to talk at length about this group. There exist some similarities and some differences between my perception and upbringing of being a white woman and the Cherokee woman in regards to culture, cultural and social

As someone who identifies with both culture varieties in Louisianan and Hispanic Texan forms, one can see the various types of differences, including music, food, recreation, and life as a seventeen-year-old. As a senior in high school, my parents still give my commutes to and from school. This can be shown by the quote, “In short, the society in which you grow up, and your particular location in that society, lie at the center of what you do and how you think” (James M. Henslin, 2014, pg. 3.) A noticeable confliction shows when my dad drives me to school, he plays the radio, which predominantly plays country music. However, when my mom picks me up from school, she uses Pandora, which gives her more independence on choosing the genre she wants. The songs she often wants to hear is Mariachi, a Spanish-speaking music genre which mixes pop culture in Mexico, folk tales, and current issues. When I either practice my driving or hang out with friends, music genre tends to lean towards what is popular amongst my age group and location, which is pop and country. When I am around my family and relatives, music tends to be in Spanish, such as Mariachi and Spanish Pop. A Mexican-American culture had been forming over generations in my family tree, as my grandparents are from Mexico and my parents are from South Texas. When I visit my grandparents and other relatives, who mainly live at the tip of Southern Texas, cultural changes start to become more apparent as radio stations change

Before invasion of the Americans onto Cherokee territory, the Cherokee lived in peace and harmony. Keetoowah is the name of the ancient Cherokee town in the eastern homelands, said to be the “Mother Town” of the people (Conley 18). Many of the Cherokee Indians originated here according to the traditions. They referred themselves as Ani-Kituwagi, meaning Keetoowah People, or Ani-yunwi-ya, the Real People (Conley 27). The fertile lands of the Keetoowah were filled of many resources, but as the population grew too large for the town, many people had moved out and built new towns. Overtime, many towns were built one after another. Soon, there were approximately 200 scattered tribes over vast areas that consisted of a number of

The Voodoo tradition that is alive and well in Louisiana today is brought to the United States care of the slave trade from the early 16th century. West African slaves in the south kept their traditions alive in the US, despite an overwhelming and coercive Roman Catholic influence. Late in the evening, and behind closed doors, slaves returned to their roots to practice the traditions that their owners disapproved of. Despite their desire to keep their African traditions alive, they were powerless to stop the forceful nature of the Roman Catholic traditions. After many years, a new ritual order arose that blended Roman Catholicism and ancestral West African traditions: Louisiana Voodoo.

In reality, Louisiana Creole cuisine is a mixture of several different and varied cultures. Soon after the immigrants arrived in the area, native Indians introduced the use of local grown vegetables like corn, ground sassafras and bay leaves. Tomatoes from Central and South America were also introduced. As these ingredients began to see utilization, the Creole cuisine we know today started to take shape.

African-Americans have created a unique cultural tradition from African and European influences in Louisiana. However, religion to medical care also language. African-rooted traditions were transformed in Louisiana to form a vibrant ethnic culture. With them, African slaves brought their cultural identities languages, religions, oral traditions, and became evident in Louisiana. Perhaps the most flamboyant of these, continuities are seen in religion, particularly Voodoo.

Voodoo is a thousand year old belief system that originated in Africa. The slave trade that brought slaves from the West Coast of Africa to America also brought new belief systems such as Voodoo. Voodoo is very old and extremely powerful for those that believe in the intercession of spirits. The Voodoo that is practiced in the United States today, finds a home in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. The large African American population in the city is the result of the popular slave trade route that ran from the West Coast of Africa. African slaves taken from the Slave Coast were most often sent to either Saint Domingue or Louisiana. Voodoo is one of the world’s oldest religions and is recognized to be the world’s most powerful form of magic

Throughout the course of time, Acadians gradually began intermarrying with the other settles in the area. Hispanics, Old World and Canadian French, Native Americans, and enslaved Americans are all examples of such. This resulted in what became known as the French Creole culture. Cajuns are the descendants of the Acadians that were exiled by the British, and make up a large portion of southern Louisiana’s population. Several of the current residents of the Atchafalaya Basin area can trace their family all the way back to the Acadians. Their unique way of doing things, whether that be through the food, music, or traditions, greatly show their Cajun heritage.

With them they brought two vastly different culture. As they migrated towards Louisiana they picked up the customs from other groups. Such as Creole music, where it combines French folk music with African rhythms, and Cajun French picked up some African and English words. (Creoles and Cajuns)

It was a hot, muggy day like any other in southern Louisiana, right near the Atchafalaya Basin, and between the run-down gas stations and Spanish Moss-covered trees, there was something buzzing in the air, mingling with the hum of the mosquitoes. It was Zydeco, tricking out from the radios that were scattered around the rest station. Between the bars of the music, Louisiana Creole (a language with French, African, Spanish, and American Indian roots) intertwined with guitars and

Being the first graduate in my Haitian family has educated me on the different obstacles individuals face that can hinder them from reaching their goals. My dad used to always say in Creole, “Men anpil, chay pa lou,” which means in English, “Many hands [make] the load lighter.” I want to become one of those hands that develops a trusting relationship with individuals, so they can express their concerns and endeavors in life without judgement. In Haitian culture and other non-westernized cultures, talking to someone outside of the family about your issues is sometimes deemed as taboo. However, I strongly believe having someone who can effectively understand and help guide individuals in various areas of their lives, such as educational,