Democracy and Public Space in Louisiana\'s Creole Trail Rides

While much attention has focused on Louisiana’sCajun communities, comparatively few academicshave studied the traditions of Louisiana’s Creolecommunity, a mixed-race group in the state’srural Southwest prairie and bayou regions. Discrepanciesin the value accorded to Cajun and Creoletraditions have played out in recent debatesabout limiting or banning Creole trail rides fromcertain Louisiana municipalities. Trail rides—organizedoutings on horseback or a wagon,featuring participants in the hundreds—are oneof the most visible manifestations of the Creolepeoples’ rural heritage; however, a recent surge inpopularity has led to increasing restrictions on thepractice and vociferous public debates about thevalue of the practice from within the communityand without. Using archival sources and ethnographicmethods, this research engages with literatureon public space, democracy, and festival toexplore how cultural performances by those whoidentify as Creole create a space of belonging andsite of cultural identity within the racialized contextof the South.