Sacatra was a term used in the French Colony of

Saint-Domingue Saint-Domingue () was a French colony in the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in the area of modern-day Haiti, from 1659 to 1804. The name derives from the Spanish main city in the island, Santo Domingo, which came to ref ...

to describe one who was the descendant of one

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

and one griffe parent. The term is also used to describe one whose ancestry is ths black and th white. It was one of the many terms used in the colony's racial caste system to measure one's black blood. The etymology of ''sacatra'' is uncertain; Félix Rodríguez González linked it to the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: ** Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...

''sacar'' ("take out") and ''atrás'' ("behind"); thus, a ''sacatra'' is a slave who is not kept in the house or at the front as a lighter-skinned servant might be.

In fiction

* In French author Suzanne Dracius' 1989 novel, ''The Dancing Other,'' she mentions her main character finding "true friendship with a cheery sacatra girl with soft, caramel skin." *Nalo Hopkinson's speculative fiction novel ''The Salt Roads'' begins with Georgine, a slave girl who gets pregnant by a white man, denying that her child is going to be "just mulatto. I’m griffonne, my mother was sacatra. The baby will be marabou.”

References

Multiracial affairs in the Caribbean Saint-Domingue Mulatto Ethnic groups in Haiti Person of color {{kinship-stub

In fiction

See also

References