The Forgotten People: Cane River's Creoles of Color

Rating:
Summary: Eradicating historical stereotypes
Review: Books such as THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE: CANE RIVER'S CREOLES OF COLOR and BLACK MASTERS: A FREE FAMILY OF COLOR IN THE OLD SOUTH go a long way toward correcting the over-simplified views we have of the gens de couleur (people of color) in American history. A slave (the daughter of two black persons brought to the United States as slaves) woman, Marie Thereze Coincoin develops a long-term relationship with the wealthy Claude Thomas Pierre Metoyer. She eventually becomes free and gains property (including slaves). Once Metoyer and Marie Thereze go their separate ways (or at least end their intimate, if not their business assocation), Marie Thereze continues to add to her property. Her oldest son, the mulatto, (Nicolas) Augustin Metoyer buys property on Brevel Isle and is soon followed by his siblings, their children, and various other free people of color, forming a colony, which includes some of the wealthies people in the very wealthy surrounding community, including, of course, Augustin Metoyer. Many live in very fine mansions, such as Melrose. The colonists live as well off as the wealthiest whites even when economic stagnation sets in. They side with the Confederacy and, after the war, the community begins to crumble.

The book also offers us a tantalizing look at the placeage system, which also has its less official counter-parts in places such as Charleston.

Rating:
Summary: A people resurected
Review: Cane River has not only captured an era gone by, but has resurrected a legacy. The Metoyer family has multiplied beyond believe and the book has given them a tool to link together their roots and acknowledge their heritage. it also disspells any rumors of their true ethnic background

Rating:
Summary: Excellent account of "forgotten" Creole History
Review: Gary Mills' book is an excellent example of why "mulatto" or "mixed-race" history should be separated from "black" or "African American" history. We learn that obviously mixed-race people wee presumed to be free, not slaves. This was not true for blacks. The term "free people of color" was a generic term for "non-white" and not synonymous for those who supposedly carried the dreaded "black blood." Mills shows how people of white/Indian ancestry were called "free people of color" and often married into elite mulatto and quadroon families. Elite mixed-race Creole families were endogamous, French-speaking and Roman Catholic. "Creoles" should be recognized as a separate ethnic group akin to "Latinos." "Latinos" are not characterized as "black," despite their African ancestry. The same respect should be given to Creoles.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent account of "forgotten" Creole History
Review: Gary Mills' book is an excellent example of why "mulatto" or "mixed-race" history should be separated from "black" or "African American" history. We learn that obviously mixed-race people wee presumed to be free, not slaves. This was not true for blacks. The term "free people of color" was a generic term for "non-white" and not synonymous for those who supposedly carried the dreaded "black blood." Mills shows how people of white/Indian ancestry were called "free people of color" and often married into elite mulatto and quadroon families. Elite mixed-race Creole families were endogamous, French-speaking and Roman Catholic. "Creoles" should be recognized as a separate ethnic group akin to "Latinos." "Latinos" are not characterized as "black," despite their African ancestry. The same respect should be given to Creoles.

Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT HISTORICAL READ
Review: I picked my copy up at a yard sale primarily because it was a genealogy book. I started reading and am now really caught up in the history of these people. There is much we can learn from this society where people had common goals, helped each other, and as a result built a strong society. I find it criminal that their way of life, buildings, etc are destroyed. Reminds us of the stupidity of war, bigotry, and misuse of power.

Rating:
Summary: in response to the initial review
Review: this book is not a "story" or "novel" at all. this book was intended to be an historical account of a group of people of which, incidentally, i am a part of. the history of my people is not all romance and happily ever after as the reviewer, and even the author, leads one to believe. in doing research of the information gathered and documented about my people, there are several inconsistencies in Mills' book. he even contradicts his own findings when comparing this book to others he's written on the same subject. this book is useful only in that it is the only historical resource we have about the cane river creoles of color, but that, i assure you, will not always be the case.

Rating:
Summary: Accurate and Informative on a unknown past in AmericaHistory
Review: This brief history of America's "unknown" Southern minority, "People of Color". This book tells a wonderful story of how the "melting pot" in America works. This is not only an accurate portrayal of Louisiana/American history but, also a romance noval and a story of triumph. This history is not African-American, but Minority-American. Little is known or even spoken of "CREOLE" America, none the less this is part of our history. An EXCELLENT book if you would like to research your roots to the people of CANE RIVER. Better than "ROOTS".

Rating:
Summary: More French than African
Review: What most do not realize if they are not from this area, is the creole/mullato are much more french than they are black & most do not consider themselves as black. I do not mean this to be demeaning to the African Americans of this country, but they are not familiar with many Creole/Mullatos that I know personally, as I grew up in that area of Grant/Natchitoches parish.

Rating:
Summary: More French than African
Review: What most do not realize if they are not from this area, is the creole/mullato are much more french than they are black & most do not consider themselves as black. I do not mean this to be demeaning to the African Americans of this country, but they are not familiar with many Creole/Mullatos that I know personally, as I grew up in that area of Grant/Natchitoches parish.