Haiti and the Haitian Diaspora in the Wider Caribbean: The Making of an Atlantic Slave Society, 1775–1807

4. Identifications and Kinships among Haitians in French Guiana: Observations on a Diaspora

4 Identifications and Kinships among Haitians in French Guiana Observations on a Diaspora Maud Laëthier In her pioneer work on French Guiana, La question créole, Marie-José Jolivet maintained, more than twenty years ago, “that there are as many Creole cultures as there are places where they have been able to take form and develop in accordance with, on the one hand, the diversity of cultures imposed during servitude and the bits of the African past masters allowed to filter through, and on the other hand, the regional variations in the conditions of pre- and post-slavery formations” (Jolivet 1982: 88). These lines remind us of the logic of creation from which Creole societies and cultures were formed.1 From this viewpoint, the processes of creolization that gave rise to these social formations unveil their unity as much as their diversity. To return to the cases of Guiana and Haiti, upon which the following reflection is based, the diversity of Creole unity can be read as dissimilarity within proximity. Both stemming from French colonization, Guianese and Haitian societies have been formed by several colonizing sequences followed by very different “liberations.” In these two contexts, the processes of social structuring, and correlatively “the Creole identity,” as well as the relationships of domination transposed in relationship to “the civilization of whites,” have led to the organization of singular social and cultural models. Today, Haitian migration to Guiana brings into contact these two contexts. Although it is little known, this migration adds new perspectives to the study of Haitian emigration.2 It reveals and thereby illustrates the contemporary diversity of Creole unity. In Guiana, Haitians constitute one of the most numerous migrant groups. In 2006, they officially number more than 15,000 and represent approximately 30 percent of the immigrant population (INSEE, 2006). Although these numbers signal the important sociological weight of this migration, Identifications and Kinships among Haitians in French Guiana / 83 locally, Haitians remain surrounded by a certain misappreciation. Despite their proximity with elements of Guianese culture, Haitians are socially labeled . The national origin is transformed into an “ethnic origin” and the process of ethnicization functions with the help of cultural traits set down as characteristic: differences that are allegedly unchanging fix “Haitian identity ” as a monolithic image. These findings provide grounds for reflecting upon the specificity of the Haitians’ migratory situation in Guiana according to two complementary reasonings. The first reasoning reflects upon the Haitian question in Guiana by associating the French framework, the singularity of the Guianese social space, and the migrants whose sense of identity is part of this dynamic situation . The second reasoning originates in a reflection on the dissimilarities and proximity of Creole cultural systems. It examines the notion of “black diaspora” used to account for the singularity of the black Americas. I will successively pursue three main lines of research. It is initially important to understand the situation of Haitian migration in regard to the process of cultural and political affirmation in Guiana that specifically addresses the question of immigration within the social structure since the 1980s. Secondly, I will present the migratory networks, the living situations of the migrants, and the sense of identity claimed. Finally, this evidence will lead to a broader reflection on the theoretical notion of “diaspora” and, more precisely, the “black diaspora.” Is this category of analysis—retracing the first migratory experience to the slave trade—applicable to the study of contemporary migrations since it brings out a unity of the black Americas, valid in different places and times? The Guianese Context and the Haitian Presence French Guiana, a former French colony of the Americas that has become an overseas département,3 has been historically characterized by the presence of Amerindian, Bushinenge,4 and Creole populations.5 Since the end of the nineteenth century, Guianese society has been constituted by numerous migratory movements. While population movements are an integral part of the Guianese sociocultural fabric, the sheer magnitude and diversity of migrations during the past thirty years have brought out the specificity of Guiana. Since the 1970s, migrations have generated demographic shifts and have contributed to the threefold increase of the population. The number of “strangers” is now estimated at 50,000, or nearly one third of the total population (29.7 percent, INSEE 2006).6 From a sociodemographic 84 / Maud Laëthier perspective, migratory movements have led the Creole group—for a long time...