Saturday, February 2, 2013

Creole vs. Criollos

As I mentioned in class last time, in Peru there is also criollismo. That is, there is also criollos (kree-oh-yos) that are simply spanish people that were born in peruvian territory. "Criollo status was attained by people of mixed origin who had one-eighth or less (the equivalent of a great grandparent) Amerindian ancestry, although in some cases individuals had much more. Such cases might include the offspring of a Castizo parent and one Peninsular or Criollo parent. This one-eighth rule, also in theory, did not apply to African admixture. In reality, officials assigned various racial categories to mix-raced people depending on their social status, what they were told or due to testimony from friends and neighbors.". There are many differences, however, between the New Orleans creoles and the peruvian criollos. As an example, pride seems to be present in the New Orleans people of creole descent. In Peru, saying someone is a criollo does not give them power, or they do not show a sense of pride for being of european descent. A very obvious similarity, though, is that criollos and creoles both tried to keep their bloodlines pure by trying to avoid marriages with native or other peoples. You can read more about it here.


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