Cercle (French colonial) would still fall under the Indigénat. The "Lamine Guèye law" of 7 April 1946 formally extended citizenship across the empire, indigènes included. Third, the law of 20 September 1947 removed the two tier court system and mandated equal access to public employment. Reduced to a political subdivision roughly equivalent to a French department and stripped of the personal power of the Cercle Commander system, the Cercle name retained enough imperial connotations to be changed by most nations upon independence to Departments or Sub-Prefectures. Mali is the only nation in Sub-Saharan Africa to retain the name Cercle for its second level
Missouri French Vincennes as well as several other locations. Speakers of Missouri French may call themselves ""créoles"" as they are descendants of the early French settlers of Illinois Country. Today the dialect is highly endangered, with only a few elderly native speakers. It is thought that any remaining speakers live in or around Old Mines, Missouri. French colonization of the region began in earnest during the late 17th century by "coureurs des bois" from what is now is modern-day Canada. With French colonial expansion into the North American interior, various missions. forts, and trading posts were established under the administration of New