  The usual description of 2+1 dimensional Einstein gravity as a Chern-Simons
(CS) theory is extended to a one parameter family of descriptions of 2+1
Einstein gravity. This is done by replacing the Poincare' gauge group symmetry
by a q-deformed Poincare' gauge group symmetry, with the former recovered when
q-> 1. As a result, we obtain a one parameter family of Hamiltonian
formulations for 2+1 gravity. Although formulated in terms of noncommuting
dreibeins and spin-connection fields, our expression for the action and our
field equations, appropriately ordered, are identical in form to the ordinary
ones. Moreover, starting with a properly defined metric tensor, the usual
metric theory can be built; the Christoffel symbols and space-time curvature
having the usual expressions in terms of the metric tensor, and being
represented by c-numbers. In this article, we also couple the theory to
particle sources, and find that these sources carry exotic angular momentum.
Finally, problems related to the introduction of a cosmological constant are
discussed.
