Creole Identity

Creoles on Cane River have a deep-seated feeling of identity. Their view of their history incorporates the sense that as long as France and Spain ruled Louisiana, they had space in the socio-political structure to exist as a culture. As several Creoles have put it, "There were blacks, Creoles and whites.
Then, after the Americans came in, there were only blacks and whites." American is still not always a friendly term. So, the Creoles wish to re-appropriate their own history. Their heroes and heroines are Creole - their rich heritage created by blending a wealth of cultures and races.
Historians and sociologists who have cast them as caught "in between" cultures seem, to the Creoles at least, to miss the mark. In the first place, their concept of "Creole" involves Old World cultural and biological processes. No matter how the historical roots are elaborated, Creoles are quick to assert their own skill at what the French might call bricolage; taking parts from many wholes to build something unique, adaptive, and creative on their own.
Over the centuries, Creoles are proud of the fact that they have created a culture of their own - not just on Cane River, but worldwide.

Sources: We Know Who We Are (unpublished manuscript) by H. F. Gregory and J. Moran pp. 14-19