Redbone Culture

I have had the opportunity to attend several cultural conventions, the most recent being the Redbone Heritage Convention in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Inevitably, someone will ask me, "What is a Redbone, or a Melungeon, or a Brass Ankle or a Delaware Moore?" I usually struggle with the answer because I have yet to come up with a tidy definition that encompasses the complexity and diversity of the groups who have been labeled such over the past few centuries.

I can tell people what I know, however. These are old families, most arriving here in the early Colonial period. Their patriarchs were militia men in the French-Indian War and the Revolutionary War, fighting for freedom from tyranny. Most have a proud heritage of military service which includes branches of family serving whenever their country called. Their families explored and settled the wilderness territories, often being the first settlers in new lands. They intermarried with Natives and worked side by side with Free persons of color, because color lines were not a consideration when it came down to survival. Everyone, no matter what their race or ethnicity during those times, was a vital economic unit. They are the example of the American "melting Pot" theory, which began at the very beginning of American history.

Over the years, I know that the descendents of these mixed peoples were labeled Redbone, Melungeon, Mulatto and others, and were once the target of discrimination and prejudices of the times they lived in. Rather than dwell in towns were they would be constantly reminded of their inferiority, they often chose to remain on the outskirts of civilization - living among themselves and seeking others like them for companionship. The truth of those times were that a person was White or something else that didn't matter.

As society advanced in history, they prayed that the color lines that defined whether a person was countable or not, would diminish. The offensive intermingling of races which was a brand of dishonor in early days caused many of our elders to be tight-lipped about our ancestry, still feeling the sting from years of social intolerance.

Yet, their descendents are not afraid of the answers that our elders hide. We embrace our mixed lineages as being truly American, whether our charts show Portuguese, Egyptian, Native American, Western European, Sub-Saharan or any other influences, we know one thing for sure. All of our ancestors lived and died to make us who we are today. They shaped American society with their diversity and risked their lives to carry forward the ideals of equality, justice and fairness in society. For the Goinses, the Gibsons, the Bunches, the Ashworths, the Perkins, the Nashes and all the other related mixed-lineage families, descendents no longer try to hide the family histories and traditions. Instead, with the help of the heritage foundations, we explore, research and preserve the cultures that have been suppressed in the past. We honor those who have walked before us, for they should not be forgotten.