Part of
Agency in the Emergence of Creole Languages: The role of women, renegades, and people of African and indigenous descent in the emergence of the colonial era creolesEdited by Nicholas Faraclas
[Creole Language Library 45] 2012
► pp. 185–214
By considering the emergence of Houma French in its political, social, and cultural context and by avoiding mono-causal scenarios for its development, we demonstrate how indigenous language patterns and indigenous agency can be traced, detected and validated in Houma French. An acknowledgement of indigenous agency not only helps to deepen our understanding of both the historical and linguistic factors that led to the emergence of languages like Houma French in the colonial era, but helps as well to alert us to new possibilities for the survival of these languages in the future.