Many things I've read about the gold rush times in Alaska and the Yukon refer to people with both Russian and Native ancestry as "Creoles". But when I looked the word up, it said that it meant people of French or Spanish and West Indian heritage, or black and European heritage who speak a "creole" language. I know that in Louisiana, people are called Creoles.

What exactly does Creole mean? Does it mean Native and European? Is it derogative?

Secondly: Tay Sachs disease is carried by Ashkenazi Jews, French-Canadians, and "Creoles". What Creoles are they talking about?

Thanks.

The Creole history in Louisiana begins with exiled French refugees from Acadia in Nova Scotia. "Cajun" is often understood to be a shortened form of "Acadian" (say it really fast and one word will become the other).

I'm not familiar with Creole referring to people of Russian heritage. Perhaps others can fill in the blanks.

Nothing leads me to believe that Creoles are anything but proud of their heritage.

Thank you Fuse. I wasn't sure if it was a word like "mulatto", which people used for a long time but actually was derogative, and I didn't want to use the term without knowing.

Perhaps Creole means people of Native Canadian ancestry mixed with European? Because the Native Alaskans and Native Canadians I beleive are the same heritage, or at least the same root heritage. I know over here, there are tribes that live on our side and tribes that live in the Yukon, but they speak the same languages and stuff.

I think it has come to mean "mixed blood." Probably light colored mixed with darker. I found this on Russian Creoles.

Thank you so much Dixie! That's exactly what I was looking for.

Mx2, you will find creoles in many cultures, mostly in ones that experienced European colonization. In Mexico, theh creoles (criollos) are essentially pure Spanish-blooded who have been born in Mexico. The mestizos are a mix of Spanish and native Indian. There are also creoles in the South Pacific islands. Generally, but not always, a creole is one born in one country/region of parentage/ancestry unrelated to that country/region. The French/West Indian and Spanish?West Indian, under this definition, are examples of Creoles that would be called mestizos in Mexico.

I have also read that a Creole language is one spoken by those people (Creoles), one that is very similiar to their ancestors' language, but with enough differences that make it almost another language.

It seems that the term has different meanings in different areas.