Louisiana Creoles: Cultural Recovery and Mixed-Race Native American Identity |
Louisiana Creoles: Cultural Recovery and Mixed-Race Native American Identity
Lexington Books an imprint of Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
December 2006
Cloth: 0-7391-1896-X / 978-0-7391-1896-2
Paper: 0-7391-1897-8 / 978-0-7391-1897-9
Andrew J. Jolivétte, Associate Professor of American Indian Studies
San Francisco State University
Foreword by Paula Gunn Allen
Louisiana Creoles examines the recent efforts of the Louisiana Creole Heritage Center to document and preserve the distinct ethnic heritage of this unique American population. Dr. Andrew Jolivétte uses sociological inquiry to analyze the factors that influence ethnic and racial identity formation and community construction among Creoles of Color living in and out of the state of Louisiana. By including the voices of contemporary Creole organizations, preservationists, and grassroots organizers, Jolivétte offers a comprehensive and insightful exploration of the ways in which history has impacted the ability of Creoles to self-define their own community in political, social, and legal contexts. This book raises important questions concerning the process of cultural formation and the politics of ethnic categories for multiracial communities in the United States. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina the themes found throughout Louisiana Creoles are especially relevant for students of sociology and those interested in identity issues.
Table of Contents
- Foreword: Paula Gunn Allen
- Introduction: Who Is White?
- The Reconfiguring of Creole-Indian Identity in Louisiana: Situating the Other in Social Discourse
- Including Native Identity in the Creole of Color Movement: Ethnic Renewal and Cultural Revival within a Black-Indian Population
- Migratory Movement: The Politics of Ethnic Community (Re)Construction Among Creoles of Color, 1920-1940
- Examining the Regional and Multi-Generational Context of Creole and American Indian Identity
- Conclusion: (Re)Imagining and (Re)Writing Racial Categories