The term creolization describes a process of acculturation through which Amerindian, European, and African traditions and customs have blended over a prolonged period to create novel cultures in regions that share a similar history of colonial control, slavery, and resistance to slavery. The creolizing process created new forms of cultural expression that resulted in the making of a rich cultural mosaic. This rich tapestry is constituted of elements of the original cultures and the newly evolved cultural forms based on the diverse forms of cultural mixing.