Louisiana Creole developed in colonial Louisiana, during the first half of the 18th century. It’s a language blended together from the interactions between the enslaved and the French, Spanish, and Native American settlers.
Louisiana Creole got its name because the interactions between these groups were very common at the plantation system in colonial Louisiana. According to the Britannica encyclopedia, it became a stable language by 1803.
Over the past century, Louisiana Creole has seen a dramatic decline. According to Trinity College, there are fewer than 5,000 speakers today, who are mostly over the age of 60. One LSU student is fighting to increase those numbers, back to what they once were in the 1800’s.
Growing up in the 7th ward of New Orleans, LSU senior Henry Barconey was around the last member of his family that spoke it fluently, his great grandmother. His maw maw didn’t teach it to her children or her grand-children, but Barconey says they “keep some bits of the language in their everyday use.”
“The focus on the need to know English started around World War II. Kids started learning English in schools but were still speaking Creole at home,” Barconey said.
He started his preservation efforts when he felt a bit cheated out of such a unique language.
“I want to preserve it because I feel like diversity is the spice of life. If everyone around here was speakin english, it’d be real boring,” Barconey said.
One way Barconey is trying to preserve Louisiana Creole is by having a tabling session at the West Baton Rouge Museum once a month.
“It’s for people who either speak or want to learn Creole. They learn some vocab, some phrases and I also teach them bits of the culture,” Barconey said.
He is also part of a non-profit organization called Chinbo, specifically for the preservation of Louisiana Creole. Last year, Chinbo started a one-week Creole immersion camp for anyone interested. It was hosted at the capitol park museum. This year, the camp is at the West Baton Rouge Museum.
“I helped organize the camp and I also post on their social media about the creole word of the day,” Barconey said.
Chinbo is also actively trying to put Creole curriculum into schools. Barconey has been helping them with educational materials and gaining teaching experience from his Louisiana Culture and Language Club at LSU.
He meets monthly with the members of the club. This month, he taught them poems written in Louisiana Creole and asked them to translate it for him.
Barconey has a strong passion for Louisiana Creole, and his main message is this:
“One of the things I want to make very clear. A lot of people, growing up especially in Louisiana, grew up with the notion that Creole is essentially a broken French, or that it isn’t real french. I want to say that that is absolutely not true. One of the things that contributes to that idea is racism. Since the late 1800’s creole was called the negro dialect. The fact is that it’s its own decked out language with its own decked out grammar and its own systems of expression. Just because it’s a mix of a lot of things doesn’t mean it isn’t a fully functioning language in and of itself. I don’t like the term broken French, it feels condescending,” Barconey said.
If you want to help Barconey preserve such a vibrant language, you can join his Louisiana Language and Culture Club via tigerlink.
