Louisiana Creole Peoplehood: Afro-Indigeneity and Community

Louisiana Creoles have used creative living practices to uphold solidarity, kinship, and continuity, retaking Louisiana Creole agency as a post-contact Afro-Indigenous culture. Louisiana Creole Peoplehood explores how a specific Afro-Indigenous community asserts agency while promoting cultural sustainability, communal dialogue, and community reciprocity. It intervenes against the erasure of Creole Indigeneity to foreground Black/Indian cultural sustainability, agency, and self-determination.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 304 pages
Publication date: 05 April 2022
Publisher: University of Washington Press

Over the span of more than three centuries, the diverse communities of Louisiana have engaged in innovative and dynamic living practices, resulting in the vibrant, multifaceted, and fully developed Creole culture. Despite ongoing anti-Blackness and Indigenous erasure that have attempted to undermine this rich heritage, Louisiana Creoles have found transformative ways to uphold solidarity, kinship, and continuity, reclaiming Louisiana Creole agency as a post-contact Afro-Indigenous culture. This captivating book explores essential themes such as foodways, queer identity, health, historical trauma, language revitalization, and diaspora, shedding light on how a specific Afro-Indigenous community asserts agency while promoting cultural sustainability, communal dialogue, and community reciprocity.

Through a combination of interviews, essays, and autobiographical contributions from community members and scholars, Louisiana Creole Peoplehood delves into the sacred interconnectedness of land and identity alongside the legacies and genealogies of Creole resistance. By highlighting the Afro-Indigenous people who have been written out of settler governmental policy, this collection intervenes against the erasure of Creole Indigeneity, emphasizing Black/Indian cultural sustainability, agency, and self-determination.

The book's rich tapestry of voices and perspectives offers a deep understanding of the complexities and resilience of the Louisiana Creole community, showcasing their unwavering commitment to preserving and celebrating their unique heritage. It serves as a testament to the power of cultural expression, resistance, and the ongoing struggle for recognition and equality.

In conclusion, Louisiana Creole Peoplehood is a groundbreaking work that contributes significantly to our understanding of Afro-Indigenous cultures, history, and identity. It provides a valuable lens through which we can explore the complexities of cultural heritage, resistance, and sustainability, and serves as a call to action for promoting cultural diversity, inclusivity, and social justice.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780295749495