The Forgotten People: Cane River's Creoles of Color [Paperback]

Gary B. Mills (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 277 pages
• Publisher: Louisiana State University Press (June 1977)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807102873
• ISBN-13: 978-0807102879
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #693,624 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eradicating historical stereotypes, May 12, 2001

By 

events3 - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Forgotten People: Cane River's Creoles of Color (Paperback)

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.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Please Be Careful, June 26, 2006

By 

Monique "Pissaulis" (Seattle) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Forgotten People: Cane River's Creoles of Color (Paperback)

I'm responding more to another comment than the book.

I notice that cane river creoles are becoming increasingly popular... and some believe they are an accurate representation of all creoles of color across the board, the standards set in that family are not the same set in all families. In proclaiming their own identity... they would discredit anothers. They describe themselves as such an exclusive group... I am not disputing that for them. In many other places too there were similar communitites - but it wasn't always the case... so please take care when you make comments about "creoles" in general... or at least specify that you are talking about a specific group of people... i.e. the creoles of cane river vs the creoles of lafayette, new orleans, lac charles, new iberia... there are differences.

13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars in response to the initial review, August 3, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Forgotten People: Cane River's Creoles of Color (Paperback)

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.