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My dad is from Trinidad. Well he was. And my mom's parents came to America from Mauritius in their teens. Mauritius is a small African Island. So my grandparents are African Americans. My mom may have some creole descent on her mom's side. My dad's family dark but they're all pretty purely indian so they claim. But I was wondering how one knows for sure? A third of those with indian ancestry in Trinidad & Tobago also have african ancestry. Also what are creoles? What race are they? I read a lot about them being austronesian. But what race is that exactly? Also are malagasy people black or asian? Primarily both my parents believe they're indian....anyhow am I technically carib/african american or not? What do you think?
The term African American, was originally for those that descended from African slaves. It has come to mean whatever the speaker wants it to be. It's not really a "race"
If it doesn't bother you, say you are of "mixed" race, which you certainly are.
"Race" is a term that even those who study it, cannot always agree on. There are too many shades of skin. Even DNA studies can be confusing.
The Cajuns are a special mixture of American Indian, French, South American and freed slaves. They aren't a race either. I would think that if they were, it would fall under the "white" umbrella.
Ethnic groupings are a fastinating subject to study. You'll never come up with an answer that would suit everyone.
My dad is from Trinidad. Well he was. And my mom's parents came to America from Mauritius in their teens. Mauritius is a small African Island. So my grandparents are African Americans. My mom may have some creole descent on her mom's side. My dad's family dark but they're all pretty purely indian so they claim. But I was wondering how one knows for sure? A third of those with indian ancestry in Trinidad & Tobago also have african ancestry. Also what are creoles? What race are they? I read a lot about them being austronesian. But what race is that exactly? Also are malagasy people black or asian? Primarily both my parents believe they're indian....anyhow am I technically carib/african american or not? What do you think?
What great questions! If you look up "creole" in online dictionaries, it says they're people of European descent born in the Caribbean or Latin America, but that's not the way the word is used in Spanish AFAIK, so ... go figure.
Malagasy people are Asian, they're Austronesian. However, there are minorities in Madagascar, but you're asking about the indigenous people. Austronesian people originally came from Vietnam, and fanned out from there all over the Pacific, and to Madagascar. They're not of the typical Asiatic type, they don't have the Asian eye fold. But their origins are traced back to Vietnam, and some Austronesian tribes still live there, though many emigrated to the US after the Vietnam War. There's an American association of Austronesian people, you might Google around and see if you can find it. There are also Black tribes that are indigenous to Vietnam, the Philippines, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and parts of India, that are distinct from the Melanesians of Papua/New Guinea and that region.
Mauritius has a mix of ethnicities: Indian, Black and Chinese, as well as European, so having ancestry from there doesn't guarantee that the ancestry is Black African.
You could go onto the Genealogy forum here, and find out about DNA tests that could tell you "for sure". If "Asian" comes up on the test, that's the Malagasy part. If you're female, you can only get mitochondrial DNA analyzed (the female line). To get the male side, you'd have to have a male relative submit a DNA sample for analysis. Have fun exploring your rich and fascinating heritage!
I meant creoles in Mauritius... I read they were malagasy and some african. My problem is idk what malagasy is. Racially both sides of my family identify as Indian tamil indian mainly on my dad's side. But they're nationalities are within trinidad and mauritius. About a third of indotrinidadians are part afrotrinidadians. But my dad's family doesn't claim to be black at all. Neither does my mom's but there's a rumor my mom's part creole which was thought to be malagasy. Like that her granddad wasn't indian or something. Idk I just never really got what malagasy was racially speaking. Maybe this should really be in the africa section oh well.
I meant creoles in Mauritius... I read they were malagasy and some african. My problem is idk what malagasy is. Racially both sides of my family identify as Indian tamil indian mainly on my dad's side. But they're nationalities are within trinidad and mauritius. About a third of indotrinidadians are part afrotrinidadians. But my dad's family doesn't claim to be black at all. Neither does my mom's but there's a rumor my mom's part creole which was thought to be malagasy. Like that her granddad wasn't indian or something. Idk I just never really got what malagasy was racially speaking. Maybe this should really be in the africa section oh well.
It sounds like there are two things going on in this oral history from your family members. There may be Black ancestry that they don't want to recognize. DNA testing will clear that up. It also sounds like there's confusion in the meaning of the terms involved. As far as I can tell, "creole" refers to French born in Mauritius, the Caribbean, Latin America, and I believe French Louisiana. Malagasy ethnically means Austronesian (as described in previous post), though politically, the Malagasy Republic refers to all the citizens irrespective of race. You can tease some of this out by checking wiki. The rest can only be clarified with DNA testing.
I believe you'll find that the Cajuns of Louisiana, and to a lesser extent, surrounding states, are descendents of the French Canadians who lived in the Acadian province before being forced out by the ruling English, rather than being of racially mixed background. "Acadian" became "Cajun" when pronounced by Louisianans whose first language was English. How the Cajuns came to Louisiana is a sad story - see Longfellow's classic epic poem "Evangeline" - but they certainly made it their home, and Louisiana would be unimaginable without them!
Louisiana's Creoles are another interesting group - they are descendents of free people of color and earlier French people who deliberately settled in Louisiana rather than being exiled there as were the Acadians. Some Creoles also have Caribbean ancestry. They were often highly cultured, well to do and highly educated people who spoke French as their first language. The term "Creole" is said to mean "mixed", a reference to these people's ancestry.
Cajuns and Creoles are often confused, but they are two separate groups.
My dad is from Trinidad. Well he was. And my mom's parents came to America from Mauritius in their teens. Mauritius is a small African Island. So my grandparents are African Americans. My mom may have some creole descent on her mom's side. My dad's family dark but they're all pretty purely indian so they claim. But I was wondering how one knows for sure? A third of those with indian ancestry in Trinidad & Tobago also have african ancestry. Also what are creoles? What race are they? I read a lot about them being austronesian. But what race is that exactly? Also are malagasy people black or asian? Primarily both my parents believe they're indian....anyhow am I technically carib/african american or not? What do you think?
I can't even follow this post lol. Take a DNA test maybe?
it's a 1 out of 3 chance which is a good chance. Yea I've been googling like crazy on some of this. I guess a dna test would be easiest to find out.
That's what I think. I'm gonna get one done just for fun to weed out any questions I may have. If you get one, let us know what you find.
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