Haiti

Haiti

Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...

 is one out of six Francophone

Francophone

The adjective francophone means French-speaking, typically as primary language, whether referring to individuals, groups, or places. Often, the word is used as a noun to describe a natively French-speaking person....

 countries and territories in the Americas

Americas

The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...

 that has a population which refers to themselves as Créole

Creole peoples

The term Creole and its cognates in other languages — such as crioulo, criollo, créole, kriolu, criol, kreyol, kreol, kriulo, kriol, krio, etc. — have been applied to people in different countries and epochs, with rather different meanings...

.The term Créole as used in Haïti and the rest of the French West Indies

French West Indies

The term French West Indies or French Antilles refers to the seven territories currently under French sovereignty in the Antilles islands of the Caribbean: the two overseas departments of Guadeloupe and Martinique, the two overseas collectivities of Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy, plus...

 refers to the natives of these areas. Créole natif natal is a term used in Haiti to refer to someone born and raised in that country. 80-85% of Haiti’s population is made up of black Creoles, the descendants of Africans

African people

African people refers to natives, inhabitants, or citizen of Africa and to people of African descent.-Etymology:Many etymological hypotheses that have been postulated for the ancient name "Africa":...

 brought to the island in captivity during French colonialism

French colonial empire

The French colonial empire was the set of territories outside Europe that were under French rule primarily from the 17th century to the late 1960s. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the colonial empire of France was the second-largest in the world behind the British Empire. The French colonial empire...

 (note this number is sometimes shown as 90-95% as mixed race Haitians of darker skin tones "brown" for example are sometimes counted in this category). The remaining 20-15% are of a racially mixed background. A small percentage of the non-black population consists of white Creoles (Mostly of French

French people

The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...

, German or Polish ancestry) there are also some Haitians of Arab

Arab

Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...

 origin Haitians of East Asian origin number approximately 400.

The Créole identity is one that unifies Haitians of all races. It’s the language, the music, the food and the culture that connects not only all Haitians but all People of the French West Indies. In Haiti everyone born there is Creole but there are terms to refer to a person or race/racial mix of a person based on a person’s skin color.

Origins

The Creoles of Haiti and Haiti's Creole culture originate from a number of ethnic groups and social classes dating back to colonial times. French pirates, hunters, buccaneers and habitants made up the European component and as France made moves to colonize this part of the island Both Frenchmen and black Creoles (free and slave) settled on the Island coming from nearby Saint Christophe. These early settlers often intermarried forming Creole families with the parings of a French father and a (free) Creole woman as the mother who bore mixed raced Creole children. The people of this time spoke a dialect of French referred to as patois (later créole) and often worked the land of Haïti (then Saint-Domingue) to produce things like indigo and cacao with which they had great success. The success of these industries attracted more colonists from France to cross the Atlantic and settle in Saint-Domingue. It also opened up trade with foreign powers. As less Europeans desired to work and instead preferred to take part in the success of the colony's industries the French turned towards importing slaves from Africa; something they learned from the Dutch. Even in these times successful Creoles of color flourished in some cases they fared even better than White Creoles. Racial tensions developed between these groups of people as Creoles of color fought for even more rights but white Creoles felt that their connection to France made them better than the Creoles of color who were connected to the people they imported from Africa to work as slaves. Despite racial tension and the Code Noir French men continued to have sexual relations with women of color (both free and slave). Frenchmen slept with many of their female slaves most of which were rapes but many formed relationships with certain female slaves (who they often made housekeeper) and the man usually took responsibility for the children he fathered with this kept woman eventually freeing her and their children. The contrast of the two types of sexual relationships that occurred between the French colonists and his female slaves are that often the man raped his slaves simply for sexual pleasure due to the lack of French female colonists during that time or for the production of more slaves. In the case of the kept woman, the Frenchman was often attracted to this woman.

Under the harsh living and labor conditions slaves in Saint-Domingue rarely survived more than ten years. Because of this the French were continuously importing African slaves to work the land and to learn various other crafts, adding to the luxury of slave owners who were mostly Frenchmen or white Creoles but many Creoles of color too owned slaves during these times; These free Creoles of color where often the offspring of Frenchmen or white Creoles and the kept or ex-kept black Creole women of these men. Slaves (both African & Creole) greatly outnumbered Frenchmen, white Creoles and free Creoles of color who were the next rising majority. The majority of Haitians today are the descendants of these slaves who became Creolized and bore Creole children. Mixed race Haitians are typically descended from White Creoles and Black Creoles. They are often of French and African descent but some may also be descended from the various other Europeans who settled in Saint-Domingue to take part in Saint-Domingue's wealth as well as from the Polish soldiers who were allowed to stay in Haiti after the revolution in reward for helping fight the French (Polish soldiers fought on both sides; those who fought for Haiti were granted this privilege). A small and unknown number of Haitians are descendants from African maroons and Taino Indians. Maroon slaves often fled to the mountains to escape Europeans and there they were welcomed by the some of the remaining Taino Indians. The Africans passed down the culture of the Tainos to the Haitians of today from their interaction with them and some of them intermarried creating a new race of people known as marabouts.

Race

90-95% Percent of Haitians are of African descent. 80-85% of these are purely, heavily or mostly of African descent or racial make-up. Racial groups and mixes that often fit into this percentage are ‘’noirs’’ (‘’noi’’ or ‘’noué’’ in Creole), ‘’Sacatras’’, and ‘’Griffes’’. ‘’noirs’’ also ‘’nègres’’ (Nègue in Creole) are entirely or almost entirely of African descent and have a very dark complexion and African features. Sacatras also known in Creole as ‘’brin’’ are heavily of African descent. They have a dark brown skin complexion and heavy African features. ‘’Griffes’’ are the offspring of ‘’Mulâtres’’ and ‘’Noirs’’ they may be marked by brown or chestnut skin color lighter than that of a ‘’Sacatra’’. They may have African features that may have been smoothed out a little. ‘’Griffes’’ are known in common Creole as ‘’Marron’’. During colonial times when races first began intermixing in ‘’Saint-Domingue’’ labels where given by exact genetic make-up but in modern Haiti many mixed raced people intermixed over generations so the exact genetic make-up of a person is often hard to keep track of. Racial labeling is often designated by skin color and hair type. 20-15% of Haiti’s population is of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. The majority of this population is of mixed race, these Haitians have heavier European features. Racial groups that carry such features in Haiti are: ‘’Mulâtres’’ (‘’Milâte’’ in Creole), ‘’grimauds’’, ‘’jaunes’’ and ‘’roses’’. ‘’Mulâtres’’ vary in skin color. The defining features of a ‘’Mulâtre’’ is his or her loosely coiled or straight hair and their fair skin complexion (although a dark skinned person who has loosely coiled or straight hair may also be called milâte). ‘’Grimauds’’ are solely marked by their fair skin while ‘’jaunes’’ have a fairer complexion than the ‘’grimauds’’. ‘’Roses’’ have the fairest complexion of all people of African descent and look mostly European. The only thing that separates ‘’grimauds’’, ‘’jaunes’’ and ‘’roses’’ from being ‘’mulâtre’’ is that they do not have loosely coiled nor straight hair. Another much smaller group are the ‘’marabouts’’ and their descendants. ‘’marabouts’’ are the descendants of African maroons and Taino Indians. Their descendants may also have European blood. They are marked by Dark skin and long black loosely coiled or straight hair as well as certain facial features.

• Blanc adj./n. A white person (this term is also used on a non racial basis to refer to foreigners)
• Brun adj. to have a brown skin complexion
• Grimaud adj./n. a faire skinned
• Jaune adj. to be “yellow skinned” (fairer than a grimaud)
• Marabout n. a person of mixed African and Taino
  Taíno people
  The Taínos were pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Bahamas, Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles. It is thought that the seafaring Taínos are relatives of the Arawak people of South America...
  
  descent or African, European and Taino descent (typically dark or brown skinned with loosely coiled or straight hair)
• Marron adj. to have a brown or chestnut skin complexion
• Mulâtre n. a faire skinned Negro who has loosely coiled or straight hair
• Nègre n. A black person (all Haitians regardless of race are concidered black)
• Négresse n. a black female
• Noir n. A black person and all mixes of black
• Rose adj. to be “pink skinned” (fairer than a jaune and very faire in complexion)

Language

French is one of the two official languages of Haiti and is mostly spoken by upper-class and educated Haitians. It is also spoken by children who may be from poorer families but whose parents work hard to pay for their education. Creole a local French patois and the other official language of Haiti is spoken by everyone and is used in informal situations while in school, business etc. French is generally spoken. Creole is a broken form of the old French patois spoken by white and black Creoles. Imported African slaves trying to learn the version of French used around them broke the language dropping certain words adding others and creating their own unique accent. French and Creole slave owners began communicating to slaves in the façon de parler because it was much easier and soon the patois became widespread throughout the colony thus being named Creole, the language of the Creoles. Contrary to popular belief the syntax of Creole is not of African origin but rather it originates from 17th century French. Most African elements in Creole are lexical items the exception is the usage of the pronoun “yo” to pluralize a noun.

Patois: La case à moi /
Creole: La caye mouin

Patois: La chemise là /
Creole: Chemise là

Patois: Ne pas oublier ça /
Creole: Pa blier ça

Patois: Je suis capable de faire-lui /
Creole: Mouin capab fai li

Patois: Je suis après parler /
Creole: Mouin apè páler

Patois: J’ai esté parler /
Creole: Mouin té páler

Patois: Je ne fais qu’arriver /
Creole: Mouin fai qu’river