This lecture explores the History, Origins, and Persistence of Tri-racial Isolates and Mixed-Race Peoples. Special emphasis will be placed on the question of creolization in early North Carolina and how the mixing of Africans, Native Americans, and Europeans has led to hundreds of mixed-race communities and millions of mixed-race peoples all over North Carolina and through migration, the United States. Though many of these people remain clustered in well-known communities, a large number live autonomously today without any knowledge of their mixed-race heritage.  Reflecting on a time when people struggled to survive negative changes in the world around them, from this talk, Dr. Smallwood hopes the participant will walk away with a broader appreciation for what it means to be American