My Mother's People

2009-07-12T13:04:00.000-07:00

Bearhead Creek, Beauregard and Calcasieu Parishes, Louisiana There is no group of people known as the Redbones of Bearhead Creek, although there are plenty of Redbones living along Bearhead Creek.

2009-05-22T15:22:00.001-07:00

Louth, IrelandSomeone from Louth, Ireland has been visiting this blog on a fairly regular basis this past month or so. I'm just curious as to why. Hey there, visitor from Ireland. Introduce yourself.

2009-04-21T20:06:00.000-07:00

Terry JacksonWe buried Terry on Friday, April 17.It didn't rain until after we said our last good-byes to Terry. In the several hours between Good Hope and midnight, it rained six or seven inches. I sat out on Brenda's patio watching the lightning flashes and counting for the thunder the way I was taught to count as a kid, you know, "one Mississippi, two Mississippi, and so on." The lightning was

2009-04-15T11:38:00.001-07:00

Royce "Terry" JacksonAugust 5, 1958 - April 14, 2009 Rest in peace, dear cousin, rest in peace. The world is a poorer place now without you.

2008-12-26T20:24:00.000-08:00

If you're still not sure about whether or not you're a Redbone, here's a few Redbone faces with Hershel Frazier's song, "I'm a Redbone."Enjoy!

2008-08-17T09:25:00.000-07:00

Who are My Mother's People?I had an email the other day from someone who asked me what names are generally considered Redbone names. That question begins more arguments than it settles. To get to it, you first have to define what a Redbone is. Is it simply someone of mixed-race ancestry any where in the United States? Is it a combination

2008-05-08T14:52:00.000-07:00

A few things about Louisiana you may not have known.Little Known Louisiana Facts ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Just in case Hurricane Katrina causing the levees to break in New Orleans is the only thing you know aboutLouisiana, here are a few more interesting facts about the Bayou State: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2008-02-05T12:14:00.000-08:00

The Beginning of a Dynasty?

2008-02-03T12:12:00.000-08:00

Another Voice Added to the ChoirLV Hayes, a respected elder of the Bearhead Creek Redbones has published his response to the blog posting by Jim Serra which he called "Mystery in our Midst." You will remember Mr. Serra once asked me to write a story about southwest Louisiana's Redbones, and when I didn't do it quickly enough for him, he did it himself. That was bad enough, but he relied on

2008-01-12T10:40:00.000-08:00

The Main Reason We Don't Believe We Have African Ancestry Is ...Because our ancestors told us we didn't. It's like that ol' time religion, if it was good enough for grandma, it's good enough for me. Besides, no one has ever shown us any proof of it. I ain't saying there's anything wrong with having African ancestry, but just as it would pretentious for me to claim to be descended from

2007-11-07T12:28:00.000-08:00

Drums along the BayouCousin Terry has a new blog which he calls My Redbone Roots. Today he takes aim at two of the most dispictable creeps ever to suck air from real humans, old (and near death) Tupperwear Two Feathers, who is known by more names than Carter has little pills, and Princess Pig Face, the president of that group of wannabe Redbones. You know those two, they're the thugs Don Marler

2007-10-08T09:51:00.000-07:00

Nature or Nurture: What makes a RedboneThe nurture vs. nature debate is one the online Redbone-identified community dealt with ten years ago, at length. After vigorous research and debate, most of us concluded that there really isn't a cultural difference between people who might be called Redbones and their neighbors. There is no line separating the two.This conclusion was met with stiff

2007-10-06T09:23:00.001-07:00

Happy Redbone History Day!A lot of people are put off by the idea of celebrating a day dedicated to a lost Italian sailing on someone else's ships looking for one place while stumbling onto another. What a loser! A lot of native Americans say we should call it Indigenous People's Day, but why would we give what is probably the worst day in their historical experience a day dedicated to joyful

2007-07-26T14:35:00.000-07:00

Family PhotographsWhen I was home at Memorial Day, several cousins brought all of their photographs over for me to scan. I haven't had time to go through and identify everyone yet, but I will over the next week or so. Here's the link for them to be viewed as a slideshow: Bearhead Creek Redbones.Yeah, yeah, I know, there's no such thing as Bearhead Creek Redbones. We're a figment of an overactive

2007-06-28T08:37:00.000-07:00

A Point of ClarificationJust because someone is white trash with a bit of Indian in 'em, does not make that person a Redbone. I'm just saying, that's all.

2007-05-13T10:49:00.000-07:00

The MayhawCan you believe that people found something to do with mayhaws? In case you don't know, the fruit of the mayhaw i's a bitter, seedy, little thing sort of like a crabapple, but smaller and less tasty. It's supposed to be some relative of the hawthorne. I have no idea about what a hawthorne is, but I do know what a mayhaw is, and I have the utmost admiration for the first determined

2007-03-12T16:23:00.000-07:00

The Orange County War of 1856Here's a version of it I bet you never heard before.(From the Calcasieu Press)Madison, Orange County, TexasJuly 4th, 1856Mr. Editor: Your readers will perhaps be benefited by a knowledge of the present state of affairs in Orange County, Texas. If you think so, you are at liberty to publish in your valuable paper, the following statement which will be found

2007-01-15T09:11:00.000-08:00

A Letter from BearheadHey Cousins,I've got to share this with you all.This event happen yesterday to Erlene when she was leaving one of the stores here in Dequincy. It was right at dark, Erlene had gotten into the truck to leave the store, as she was backing up to turn around to enter the road, another truck passed. She heard a noise and looked around and this truck had slammed on its brakes and

2006-10-13T12:16:00.000-07:00

Bumper Sticker TimeThis is the first bumper sticker. It'll be ready for the Ashworth and Droddy gatherings in early November. If you want one before then, send me $2 each to cover cost and postage and I'll get one in the mail to you.My personal favorite, Red to the Bone! does not have the word Redbone in it, and no, close isn't enough in this instance. Likewise, I did not go with the RHF sloan,

2006-09-08T22:11:00.000-07:00

Redbone and ProudAcceptance of the word "Redbone" is not something imposed from outsideby others. We've rejected that approach for as long as we've heardthe word. Don and LV just reenacted the gunfight at Smokey Grove.Don uses the term like someone in the dominant culture as simply adescriptive noun. LV responds with the Al Pacino line, "you talkingto me?" Amos knew who and what the guy meant

2006-09-06T23:06:00.000-07:00

EldersAn elder is someone to whom you go for guidance, not necessarily information. I'm not sure how one earns the status, but when they're there, everyone knows.

2006-08-30T14:53:00.000-07:00

Drums along the BayouTuesday, August 29, the list "owner," Bill Farris, banned LV Hayes from the Redbone Yahoo Discussion Group. Last week, LV got into a contentious exchange with two other members of the group and exchanged strong words. At least two or three people quit the list ostensibly because of the bickering. Then things settled down. That is, until Bill cut LV off from the group without

2006-05-29T14:04:00.000-07:00

Going FishingThere used to be a tradition in our family of going out and camping for the week-end. The two I can remember were over the course of a July 4th week-end. There were at least two of my uncles, my aunt Lela and family, my aunt Elsie, Mama, Bubba and me. Lela's group consisted of husband Albert, sons Clebert, Donald Ray, Darrell and Buddy, daughter June and her husband, Bobby and

2006-05-20T21:07:00.000-07:00

Speaking in TonguesI hear in my head every story I was ever told. Most of the time it's a lot of mumble jumble. Sometimes it's in one of the "tongues of the spirit." My grandmother was a pentecostal. They spoke in tongues. She spoke in tongues. Sometimes I remember exactly what they said. Sometimes, I'm sure I understand what it was they were saying.

2006-05-18T09:43:00.000-07:00

Redbone Clans and HomelandFor the most part, we Bearhead folk have been slow to embrace the notion of Redbones as a separate people. Our history is one of opposition to that idea. We were never taught that we had kinship to other similarly situated mixed-race people. To us it's always been about kinship. If I'm not kin to you then there's no connection.While we never thought of ourselves as