Haitian People - Origins

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 them 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 had sex with 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. Haiti is a boss.