Kyle Mays: Connections between Creole and Native communities

Recent controversies over claiming group identity (Native American and African American), who can claim it, and one’s connection to a particular community reminded me of a 2012 L’Oreal commercial featuring Beyoncé. She has been on record stating that she is Creole (Louisiana). She even has a song titled, “Creole,” in which she celebrates her Creole heritage. But on the commercial it stated that she was also “African American, Native American, and French.” I began thinking, well, what is the relationship between being Creole and Native American?

I understand the advertising goal of a company trying to market to a particular audience, especially in an allegedly period where we can celebrate our multicultural heritages and simultaneously exist in a post-racial world (though just about any social indicators suggests otherwise). However, the link between being Creole and Native remains an interesting point. On the one hand, being Creole is celebrated as a unique identity, with African, French, or sometimes Spanish mixture. Creole people emerged with a unique mixture of cultural/ethnic heritages that influence everything from foods to language. Some even cite the generic term “Native American” as a part of this racial mixture.

The term Creole is a broad term, which has many (unstable) definitions, but is generally based upon geographic location and historical experience. If you scour the Internet, you can find numerous sites that celebrate being Creole, but they don’t usually cite a specific Indigenous community or tribe.