[Only the first part of this message is displayed. The entire message has been turned into a text attachment, which you can retrieve by selecting Download. Once downloaded, open it with a word processor or text editor for reading.] PURPOSE The purpose of this paper is to pull together the scant writings on the Louisiana Redbones and to present from those materials an account of their arrival in Louisiana, where they settled and how they lived. A definition of Redbones will be offered and it is hoped that their relationship to the Melungeons of the southeastern United States will be evident. The Melungeons have been called the mystery people, but their mysteriousness pales beside that of the Redbones. In order to properly understand these mystery people it is necessary to look first at the state into which they came. THE STATE To say that Louisiana is culturally diverse is to state the obvious. What is not so obvious is the extent of the diversity. Louisiana has nurtured more cultural and ethnic diversity than perhaps any other state. One usually thinks of Louisiana as having two cultural groups: French Catholics in the south and Protestants in the north. That division is only a fraction of the picture. It omits the Germans, Irish, Spanish, Cubans, Mexicans, Italians, Czechs, Hungarians, Croatians, Canary Islanders (Islenos), Guatemalans, Filipinos, Chinese, Japanese, Laotians, Thais, Vietnamese (largest population of Vietnamese in the U.S.), Africans, Haitians, Jews, Greeks, Romani (Gypsies) and Native Americans. Louisiana has more than thirty Native American groups. Louisiana has had its share of demagogues, discriminatory laws and practices, scandals, and racial and ethnic abuses (especially in regard to African Americans and slavery); but it has fostered, more than most southern states, a milieu in which ethnic groups could survive. The state has avoided large scale massacres, deportations or forced migrations of its ethnic groups such as that which led to the "Trail of Tears." Reasons for this relatively benign treatment of minority groups are varied and speculative. Among these reasons are that the French generally practiced Hi Everyone, This was sent to me from Turtle. Roosweb does not send attachments. If you want a copy please contact Turtle or Bright Star, and it will be sent to you directly. Bright Star