CREOLIZATION. The term creolization describes the process of acculturation in which Amerindian, European, and African traditions and customs have blended with each other over a prolonged period to create new cultures in the New World. Creole cultures are found in the southern United States, parts of Latin America, and in the Caribbean. These regions share a similar history that includes long periods of European colonial rule, a history of slavery and resistance to slavery, and the cultivation of sugar cane by forced labor. The creolizing process that accompanied these events has created rich forms of cultural expression that have been woven together like the diverse strands in a tapestry to create new cultures. These traditions may bear a resemblance to the older forms from which they derive, but they are distinct in the varying ways they blend with one another.

The term Creole was used initially in the...