2008 Fall Conference

Redbone Heritage Foundation has rescheduled the 4th annual conference of The People Known as Redbone. This even is sponsored in part by the Texas Humanities.
We will celebrate our heritage in Nacogdoches, Texas this year, however confirmation dates have not been set. We will still be at The Nacogdoches Public Library.
DNA kits will be available to members in attendance. Helpful workshops on DNA including,
DNA 101 and Best applications for genealogy
Are we related to the Melungeons?
We will have some answers to that lingering question!! RHF is excited to announce the Redbone Goins family DNA test results in comparison to the Jack Goins Melungeon family DNA test results.
Dr Frank Sweet will speak on The Color Line
For more information and reschedule dates and times, please Copy and paste to your browser the following link For Earlybird Registration, Accommodations &
For more information and details you can visit our website at .
www.redboneheritagefoundation.com or you can
Copy and paste to your browser the following link.
http://www.redboneheritagefoundation.com/2008 Fall Conference.htm


Redbone Heritage Foundation extends a warm invitation to you and your family.

Reception hosted and sponsored by The Melungeon Heritage Association

Please contact Chesalon35@... if you are interested in displaying your family genealogy, heirlooms or pictures. We have reserved The Lanana Hall for Sept 20th where we will enjoy a more intimate gathering with presentations and displays.

Presentors & Presentations

Cyndie Goins Hoelscher & Dr Sosebee
DNA 101,
Redbone DNA results, what do they mean?
 DNA applications to genealogy!
 "Legal History of the Color Line"
Melungeon Heritage Association
viewing of...Melungeon Voices
by Brent Kennedy
Texas Rangers-Goins/Goyens/Going Family
Earliest Authenticated Texas Ranger Badge circa 1889
The first Texas Ranger badges were made for individual Rangers from Mexican coins at their request. Some were probably made by jewelers, others may have been made by gunsmiths or metalworkers. The legend of Rangers cutting them out of coins around campfires is unlikely.
These first badges were used as a means of identifying Rangers in the midst of feuds and disputes that might involve several law enforcement agencies, or where hired guns were introduced. Photographs taken in the 1870s through the 1920s show that there was a great variety of badges and that comparatively few Rangers wore badges.

Anthony "Tony" Kirk

Walking Toward the Sunset
A comprehensive portrait of the "Melungeons"
Walking toward the Sunset is a historical examination of the Melungeons, a mixed-race group predominantly in southern Appalachia. Author Wayne Winkler reviews theories about the Melungeons, compares the Melungeons with other mixed-race groups, and incorporates the latest scientific research to present a comprehensive portrait.

In his telling portrait, Winkler examines the history of the Melungeons and the ongoing controversy surrounding their mysterious origins. Employing historical records, news reports over almost two centuries, and personal interviews, Winkler tells the fascinating story of a people who did not fit the rigid racial categories of American society. Along the way, Winkler recounts the legal and social restrictions suffered by Melungeons and other mixed-race groups, particularly Virginia's 1924 Racial Integrity Act, and he reviews the negative effects of nineteenth- and twentieth-century magazine and journal articles on these reclusive people. Walking toward the Sunset documents the changes in public and private attitudes toward the Melungeons, the current debates over “Melungeon� identity, and the recent genetic studies that have attempted to shed light on the subject. But most importantly, Winkler relates the lives of families who were outsiders in their own communities, who were shunned and shamed, but who created a better life for their children, descendants who are now reclaiming the heritage that was hidden from them for generations.

Heritage Foundation. We hope to see you there.