The Melungeons (1600s- ) are a mixed-race people in America who live in the Appalachian mountains where Tennessee meets Virginia meets Kentucky. There are about 50,000 of them. They look mainly white nowadays but in the 1690s French traders said they looked like Moors (the Berbers of north-west Africa). They looked neither white nor black nor American Indian.
The Melungeons said they were Portuguese, that they had been living in those mountains since before the white man came. This has led some to suppose that they came from Portuguese shipwrecks who mixed with American Indians. Some have even said they came from Carthaginian shipwrecks thousands of years ago.
It all sounds cool and gives them an air of mystery, but the truth about them was there all along in court and census records – and, of course, in their DNA.
They are part Portuguese and Spanish, but that comes not from shipwrecks but those who worked in the slave trade in the 1600s. They are part American Indian, Cherokee mainly, but not all that much and mostly from the 1800s.
The Melungeons mainly come from free black men in Virginia who took white wives in the 1600s. In the late 1600s and early 1700s they moved westward into the mountains – just about the time the colour line was hardening in Virginia.
Multiracial communities: Even as racism deepened in mainstream American society there were at the edges people like the Melungeons in Tennessee, the Creoles of New Orleans, the Seminoles in Florida and the Brass Ankles in South Carolina, where the races mixed more freely and were not so unequal. The level of segregation seen in America even today in our supposedly enlightened times is not “natural” but a creation of white racism.
The white club: In the 1800s as whites moved into the region, they did not quite know what to make of the Melungeons. They were suspected of being part black but because they acted as if they were white – they owned property (even slaves), voted, served in the militia, went to white churches, were culturally white and denied any possible blackness – they were regarded as pretty much white or something close to it. “Portuguese” was just about right for the Anglo colour scale of the day.
Not that they did not experience prejudice – the name “Melungeon” itself was a put-down till the 1960s – but it was nothing like what blacks experienced, who were denied even basic human rights.
On census records the Melungeons first appear mainly as mulattoes or free people of colour. As the 1800s wore on they were increasingly counted as white – in part because they were becoming physically whiter from marrying white. “Mulatto” back then, by the way, did not necessarily mean half-white and half-black, like it does now, but anyone who was mixed-race, even those who were not part black.
Common Melungeon family names: Bunch, Collins, Goins, Gibson, Minor, Williams, Breedlove, Mullins, Denham, Bowling, Moore, Shumake, Bolton, Perkins, Morning, Menley, Hopkins, Mallet.
See also:
Abagond 
ok … i’ll ask it.
Do they actually look like what america should have looked like ?
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@abagond
Thanks for posting such a fascinating article and great collection of pictures! This is real history instead of the manufactured and whitewashed version we usually see.
It is also strongly rumored that the former president Abraham Lincoln was a Melungeon (a non-white) and if you examine his features, his complexion, and his jet black hair, it is almost a certainty that Lincoln was not a white anglo-saxon.
This might explain why Lincoln’s face is on the lowest denomination of U.S. currency — the penny — AND — why he’s facing to the right instead of facing left like the white males on the nickel, dime, and quarter do.
A clear indication — to me at least — that the currency designers knew Lincoln was “different.” (a non-white).
There was a recent change to the nickel during the last five or six years where the white male’s face is turned toward the right but not fully right like Lincoln’s profile.
The white supremacist society is filled to the brim with symbolism, from the ritualistic ‘Skull and Bones’ to making sure that the major TV networks’ traffic reporters cover the predominantly white areas before they cover the predominantly black areas. (If you doubt this, check it out)
But most of this symbolism is hidden in plain sight because most people do not understand what they are seeing OR what they are hearing
But I guarantee you, nearly EVERYTHING — from the external architecture of government and financial-industry buildings — to the design of our coinage and paper currency — has some hidden meaning.
Some non-whites are so focused on gaining “equality” with whites we are completely oblivious to all the clues that say white people don’t play that
and are dedicated to maintaining a system of white supremacy/non-white inferiority — EVEN when it comes to something as trivial as the U.S. penny.
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I never knew anything about the complex history of the Melungeons so tyvm for this post. I wonder why U.S. history class is still so limited in describing the lives of various people.
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Really informative article–now Black folks found another gang of people that hate us.
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@ hunglikejesus
I don’t see it as hating black people, I see it as KNOWING white people hate black people, and who wants to associated with the most hated when it’s obvious white people are mistreating them?
It’s like being in a schoolyard and the rich, popular kids are bullying another group of kids. Heck, you’d probably avoid those kids so you don’t get mistreated.
Not saying this is true of you, but it is so troubling (to me) when black people talk about other groups of people not liking us when in reality, black people don’t like ourselves or each other for the same reasons these other people supposedly don’t. It’s what we have been TAUGHT by a racist system.
Just imagine the day when the so-called unpopular kids stop caring about being liked by the popular kids. Right then and there you have taken away their power to hurt your feelings because it was all based on BS anyway.
A club that nobody cares about joining ceases being a ‘privileged club’.
If we put most of our time and energy into liking and loving each other, we wouldn’t have the time or the inclination to care about what some other non-white victims thought about us
AND we’d have more time and energy to solve the real problem: white supremacy
If you have read any of Abagond’s blogs the real problem is obvious.
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Hey Ms. Pam this Blacka!! I was mostly joking, but good points.
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I love this…Although I don’t know if this applies to me…as I don’t know what race I “should” belong to. I have always been told by my family that I am white/caucasion (That is for another story-Hiding ethnic lineage to “blend in”) and that is what I have put on every application or told people every time they asked me “what are you?” As a child my fair, freckled skinned friends would call me “N____R Lips” because my lips were fuller than theirs. They would burn in the sun and I would tan easily. I have been told I look many different things..Panamanian, Indian, Italian, Latino, mixed with Black. My original hair color is dark brown almost black and it is thin and straight…it lightens in the sun with red overtones, my eyes are considered hazel…but they change colors (I call them mood eyes) from green, blue, brown, a combination of those three, and gray. I have full lips. My eyelashes are dark and long…have natural curl to them…I have had many people think I wear fake lashes. I have olive skin tone. Right now my skin is paler than it used to be and most people consider me to be white.,,but think I have lip injections… When I am asked “who does your lips” I just smile and say I was born with beautiful luscious lips 😉 The sad thing is…I used to let it get to me when I was a kid. and would wear lighter makeup to keep people from asking questions I even did this as an adult. I was going for the “porcelain doll” look and achieved it most times. My mother has fair freckled skin that burns easily, straight, very thin brown hair, Brown eyes. My father had thick black wavy hair, brown eyes, and olive complexion. I still have lots questions that none of my family are willing to talk about.
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@Michelle
Thank you for sharing information about yourself. I’m glad you grew out being affected by how others see you 😀 ..no one deserves to made to feel like a spectable for being “different”. If you have names and places of origin (city/state wise) then you could look-up census data using something like ancestry.com. Isn’t it always weird how some families (even some of my own) tend to keep their past a secret. Maybe there is some hurt and pain there. IDK. But I’m sure it is very complex like the history of the Melungeons and almost any other multiracial community.
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@ Michelle
That is why I consider “white” as more of a political classification than an ethnic classification. There really is no such thing as pure white people, at least not in the United States — in my humble opinion.
You are white ONLY if the most powerful white people say you are white. For example, Zimmerman was classified as white until he murdered Trayvon Martin even though he looks more Hispanic than white.
In reality, most so-called white people are not 100% anything and many are hiding their origins OR the fact that they were granted ‘honorary whiteness” like the Italians, Greek, Irish, Portuguese, and most eastern Europeans.
They don’t want to talk about it because they don’t want to be classified as non-white and because they benefit from their honorary (and false) white status. The sad thing is many non-whites especially those who are passing for white still think being “white” means they are superior when in reality that superiority is all made up.
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In reality, most so-called white people are not 100% anything
This is true for over half of the so-called “whites” who make up hollywood. From Cameron Diaz, Johnny Depp, Keanu Reeves, Vin Diesel, Raquel Welch, Jessica Alba, Carly Simon, etc.
But back to the subject at hand, these people (above) are no doubt
the decendants of African men and white women who were indentured servants in North America.
But i say, let them identify as they wish.
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@ phoebeprunelle
I agree and have no personal problem if a person wants to identify themselves as belonging to the goat family
however, within a system of white supremacy (under which we currently live, our
‘classification’ can mean the difference between employment VS unemployment, police protection VS police harassment, good schools VS inferior schools, and in some cases it can be a matter of life or death.
(Ever heard of a white Trayvon Martin?)
Bottom line, our classification is NOT determined by what we tell ourselves it is. It is determined by what the most powerful white people say it is. I can’t waltz into a restricted golf club and say I am a white person today and want to play golf
That’s why I’m so determined to make that point as many times as I can. I’ve run into too many black and non-white people who think they can change their classification to suit their whims or purposes. This kind of denial is dangerous and delusional and does not help to eliminate racism.
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@ JGreyden
In a sense they were like an alternate America, an America that never was, one without castes, one that could only live in lost corners of the continent.
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In the film “Hidden Colors” They said Abraham Lincoln may have been of African descent. I had heard this years ago. The reality is there are alot of white people who will claim being “part Indian” but most wont tell you if they’re “part Black”.
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Thank you for all these history lessons! I always wondered what these names were about and why people who I thought were Black, claimed something else. Now I see!
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Bottom line, our classification is NOT determined by what we tell ourselves it is. It is determined by what the most powerful white people say it is. I can’t waltz into a restricted golf club and say I am a white person today and want to play golf
Yea but how do you convince people of color this? Biracial people really believe that they are in control of how the world perceives them simply because they want it to be that way. The truth of the matter is, no one is in control of how the world perceives them, in fact, we are not even individuals in our own right.
We are a part of a larger social context. Hence generalizations are a motha. When black girls act crazy, people at work look to me for an explanation. I find myself doing this with other people. Why do white girls?, etc. or why do Asian girls? etc.
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@Kushite Prince…The original people of America were known as black. William Penn wrote back to London about he Native people of American “…Of complexion Black, buy by design, as gypsies of England. They grease themselves with bear fat clarified…”
Websters 1828 dictionary; American. A native of America; originally applied to the aboriginals, or COPPER colored RACES, found here by the Europeans.
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Tom Hanks is said to be of a melungeon background; he is also supposed to be a relative to Bill Cosby’s wife.
I read somewhere that Heather Locklear has a melungeon background through her father. But seriously, ‘melungeon’ is just another way for ‘pure whites to discriminate against ‘whites’ with a minute admixture of another racial dan. Silly rabbits.
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OMG I loved this post essay Abagond.
thanks
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I think these are the people that my grandmother would refer to as “Turks”. And I know that she didn’t mean people from Turkey. She meant brownish, sort of White people that kept to themselves.
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Wait; wasn’t mulatto a term that specifically came out of slave times to refer to the mixed children of slaves?
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Everyone needs to keep in mind that “Original Americans” were dark haired and skinned-we invited them to dinner one day and took their land
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I Had Heard This Years Ago. The Reality Is There Are Alot Of White People Who Will Claim Being Part Indian But Most Wont Tell You If Theyre Part Black.
You will see all these same yahoos claim black blood once reparations are announced. It will be in the millions!
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@Bulanik
Misquote much? I said; “And I know that she didn’t mean people from Turkey…”
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@Amenta Thanks for the info! I appreciate it!
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I’ve known about Melungeons and other “tri-racial isolate” groups for a while. The Melungeons, as far as I am aware, are the only ones who seem to have the Mediterranean linkage, with a significant number suffering a genetically-related health issue found typically in people (the males, I think) of Mediterranean descent.
About Heather Locklear, from what I’ve read she is half Lumbee through her father, rather than Melungeon. The Lumbee classify themselves as being a Native American tribe. Photos I’ve seen of Lumbees, however, typically feature individuals of visibly mixed descent.
My family is from Tennessee and we are, for the most part, multigenerational multiracials. I had thought at one time that we might be of Melungeon heritage, but my research thus far is pointing in other directions.
On another note, I’ve noticed since I was a child that there seems to be two types of Amerindians: those who are tall and dark, but more or less “Caucasoid”/Mediterranean in appearance (similar in looks to some of the Melungeons), and who were often played in old, Hollywood westerns by Italian-American and/or white Hispanic actors (eg white Mexican Ricardo Montalban); and the stockier built, more supposedly “Mongoloid” appearing, Indians.
Well, there is a theory that Turkish sailors were stranded on our shores sometime in antiquity and, over time, mixed in with particular tribes of the Southeast. If this is true, it might account for the tall, Caucasoid/Mediterranean Amerindian. Bolstering this theory are certain words in the languages of these Southeastern tribes — these words are said to bear striking similarities to their Turkish equivalents….
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@Parfum,
There are many different Native American ethnic groups. And they can look quite different! After all we’re talking about people that span two continents and all the islands between, and have been here for thirty thousand years at least. The “New World” was ethnically diverse; it’s just that the initial people from the “Old World” pretty much thought everyone looked alike at first. And of course, there’s been a quarter-millennium for the people of both hemispheres to hump like bunnies in a wide variety of ethnic combinations, leading to even more variety.
The idea of a “pure blood” Indian is an inherently racist myth. It allowed the conquering (white) culture to look back at all the people it had killed and say “those pure Indians, they were noble warriors,” while at the same time denigrating and abusing the survivors, who weren’t “pure-blooded” and thus weren’t REALLY Indians according to the myth.
That’s why we have the Hollywood Indian; Disney’s “Pocahontas” was a pretty terrible movie, but it’s very, VERY useful as a handy guide to Indian stereotyping; you’ve got the Indian Princess (Pocahontas), you’ve got the Stoic Brave (Kokoum), the Wise Chief (Powhatan) and not one, but TWO Wise-ned Elders (Kekata and Grandmother Willow; bonus points, the later is a TREE.) And all of them are drawn as the “Hollywood Indian.”
The Hollywood Indian is a VERY whitened version of Indian-ness. it draws heavily from old western movies and the subcultures they created; every Hollywood Indian, regardless of his origins, has a Cheyenne-style war-bonnet and ululates for a battle-cry, for instance. The Hollywood Indian’s physical appearance is designed to be cued to what caucasians generally find attractive – high, sharp cheekbones, clean-shaven faces (ALWAYS; to the point where many people are convinced Indians can’t actually grow facial hair) a tapered body structure for men, slender “willowy” figures for women (barring of course, the stooped, big-bottomed “squaw,” sort of the Indian equivalent to the mammy) always tall, usually with prominent chins and noses. Basically if you took a Hitlerjungen propaganda poster, added a little sepia tone and a Cher wig to it, you would have a Hollywood Indian. The more feathers the better.
This image has become so ingrained to the culture that any Indian who doesn’t fit this description (which is to say, a whole hell of a lot of them, between both continents) isn’t “really” an Indian. It’s what leads so many people to conclude that those big stone heads in Olmec territory HAVE to depict Africans, for instance. “Everyone knows” Indians have rectangular, high-cheeked profiles with aquiline noses. Never mind the fact that the Indians who still live there have the same round faces, broad noses, and full lips depicted on the carvings done by their ancestors.
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Reblogged this on Your Info Linc.
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My apologies to you, chulanowa.
Discussions such as these are always a delicate matter, and it did occur to me after I posted it that my comment could be construed as offensive. I am mostly of Native descent myself and meant no offense in discussing Native Americans or their various phenotypes.
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Inregards to the race mixing of natives, isn’t there some thought that the original settlers of south america were black?
Also didn’t the chinese have some involvement in the americas as well?
And that tribe that has connections to the japanese……
The possibility of a roman colony from back in the day having been set up in south america….
The various vikings, welsh etc…..who came here and and interbred/married on occasion with indian tribes….
That being said; I think most people don’t really view the south american natives as “Indians”….in the same sense that they don’t view Eskimo’s as Indians.
Basically they are native americans but when people say “Indian” they seem to think primarily plains or wooded area cultures. And mostly cultures from the lower 48 states, occasionally Canada….
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If Im not mistaken, there is actual proof that there is DNA in some Indians that links them to DNA from France. When there was a severe ice age , it seems some people crossed over to the Americas from Europe.
There was also actual proof that some mummies from Eygypt, actualy had traces of nicoteine and cocaine in them, which are plants that were native to only the Americas back then
The Olmecs are interesting. That one big head might be an actual Olmec, but there are other statues that are unmistakingly African looking. And, what about the Indian stone carvings in one of the Indian ancient remains , that depicts men with beards ?I mean big beards that look European ….
Being in Brazil, you really can see a tremendous amount of mixtures of the Indian, white and black , put together in the most amazing ways.
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Hi Abagond,
Great Blog ! I must take time out to read all your other ones. They must be very interesting, seeing you have many faithful followers.
Thanks for posting about the Melungeons (I descend from). It is an interesting study.
The picture of the girl at the top of your page is Elizabeth “Betts” Goodman (married Reuben Morgan), she is my 2nd great aunt (my 2nd great grandfather’s sister). I posted an article over at PBS last month, with her picture, hoping to bring awareness and interest concerning the Melungeons. My hope was that Mr Gates and managers of the TV program “Finding Your Roots” or another show might find an interest as well and maybe pursue different Melungeon ancestor lines, do DNA, and finally help solve the great mystery. There are still many unanswered questions, yet.
Article is “A Mystery People – The Melungeons” and can be found at http://www.pbs.org/wnet/finding-your-roots/stories/race-ethnicity/a-mystery-people-the-melungeons/
Thanks again!
Karen
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@Parfum,
None was taken. I was just trying to be informative.
@ B.R.,
Actually false about the mummies.A fair bit of that is contamination; remember, mummies were big “curio” items in the Victorian era (As were shrunken heads… weird people, those Victorians) and, at the same time, cocaine and tobacco were both very popular “tonics.”
Further, while the specific species used to obtain cocaine and tobacco are of South American origin, closely-related plants are common in Africa as well. There are native varieties of Nicotinia (the tobacco genus) that live through Africa and into Asia, for instance. While probably not good for smoking, they still contain nicotine, which is a pretty good preservative (being a rather strong toxin, it’s good for killing microbes). It wouldn’t surprise me if the Egyptians included it in whatever mixtures they used to preserve their dead.
Regarding the Olmec heads… Again, I just need to point out that a broad nose and round face are not strictly “african” features, and in fact exist in several other ethnic groups around the world, including among native Americans. Similarly there is nothing that stops an Indian man from growing facial hair (ever seen a picture of Leonard Peltier or John Trudell?) Some men (or women) grow thicker than others, just like among any other race. Also there was a strong tendency towards depilation among many native cultures; just as there are among many African and Asian cultures, where hairiness is often seen as being at least somewhat “bestial”
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Chulanowa , thanks for giving me that information
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The root of the word melungeon may well be ” melange ” or French for mix…, just to add to the mix.
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“…DNA study seeks origin of Appalachia’s African-Americans…”
http://thegrio.com/2012/05/25/dna-study-seeks-origin-of-appalachias-african-americans/
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Abagond:
Blackness is not a yo-yo that goes up and down over the course of time. Melungeons, another sub-group of colored folk who used to be black. I’m assuming, they disavowed their african ancestry to fit into white society as is usually the case. Creoles in New Orleans did the same thing. What irks me about this insanity, is that, colored folk like the Melungeons will throw their african ancestry under the bus so easily, and years or decades later will scream from the mountaintop that they’re “Black Too.” Dilution was an easy choice. It was so simple, so they thought. The thing about selling-out, is that, it’s hard to put the genie back in the bottle. Blackness is a fragile thing, contrary to popular opinion. Black folk can’t mix as much as they want, and still remain authentically black…Not So! This is the lie and contradiction of “Mulattoness.” The same group of people who are descendants of mulattos will get into heated arguments with “real” black people over hypothetical ish. If my great-grandfather had married a blackwoman instead, blank blank blank. Well, that doesn’t do them any good now, because, they’re not black anymore. The same insanity takes place with arabs, east-indians, and spanish blacks. African people run away from who they are, and over the course of time, they realize they made a mistake in hindsight. Puerto-Ricans are the poster-child for this mindset. White and non-black colored boriquas break their neck to be accepted as pseudo-black people by african-americans, Why? If they truly loved black people as much as they claim, they’d be black right now…Am I Right Black People? Personally, i don’t have patience for black people who play stupid games with our african ancestry. We deal with a lot of ish on this planet, but, i wouldn’t trade my blackness for anybody and anything…Ditto! All black people should feel the same way. Yes, black people mix because other races are physically attracted, i get that. At the same time, we have to keep our eye on the prize…A Black Planet! I’ve went back and forth on this issue over the years. As blackmen, we need to show humanity what “Black Eros” is really about…literally and figuratively speaking. If the planet wants to be black…So Be It!!!
Tyrone
Black Eros…Dark Eros…Global Eros
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Interesting topic. I’m from the TN area, so I’ve read a few things about this group.
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I think it’s safe to say that Americans are going to look increasingly Melungeon over time.
Heck, people of this physical type were probably much more common in the 1800s than they are now. If you were to go though the old family photo albums of “light-skin” individuals like Beyonce or Terrence Howard, I’m sure you would find that many of their ancestors appeared similar to those pictured above.
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@FG
“If you were to go though the old family photo albums of “light-skin” individuals like Beyonce or Terrence Howard”—You do not need to be “light-skinned” to find those individuals in your family. I am a beautiful brown and I can find individuals like that in my family and in many of the families in the town I grew up in.
My grandfather and his brothers look similar if not darn identical to many of these people. I have always assumed my Indian great grandmother was the reason, but this post allowed me to search a few different alley ways in my geneology search.
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Michelle, if your family won’t talk about it, its proably cuz you’re black.
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LOL at Herneith. Not gonna happen, but LMAO at the prospects!
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Actually The Melungeons are unique because they embodied all three of the primary racial groups in North America African, European and Nativa American and many were said to have Arabic blood. Famous “Melungeons” are Tom Hanks, Ava Gardner, Elvis Presley and Heather Locklear who came from a very famous generational melungeon family, The Locklears , that is not an Anglo name, btw , it is a native american name which means holdfast. A lot of melungeons were sephardic and carried jewish blood. I believe my mother is a melungeon. Like when I first heard of melungeons something clicked in my head, even though my mother was adopted and raised by an African-American family she was never considered as such..
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@ Tyrone, it’s not always about u and it’s not always a story of blacks disavowing their “Blackness” to be white.. It’s narrow-mindedness like this that is so irksome, it is not always “Black and White” . So if someone has black blood in addition to native or european blood they should overlook all their varied bloodlines to satisfy people like u and call themselves “Black”? I mean, C’mon..
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Elvis Presley had some Cherokee in him. Only! He was a blonde and died his hair black after his favorite actor.. “Tony Curtis”.. Search ‘blonde’ in IMBd site: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000062/bio .. and i’m not even a fan of him.
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No, according to a lot of folk , Elvis mama was “passing”? Elvis always hung around black people and I am fully aware that Elvis was originally blonde, so what does that mean? And Cherokee’s intermarried with blacks very seriously. I don’t know why it is a problem to entertain the idea that Elvis Aaron Presley may have had black blood in him , when you hear him sing and watch him move , I think it is fairly obvious.
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ddc said – “Locklear… is a native american name. A lot of melungeons were sephardic and carried jewish blood.”
Sorry to burst your made-up history bubble, but Locklear is NOT a Native-American name – it dates to early England. Furthermore, no DNA tests show any Jewish connection to the Melungeons – so NO, there are NOT a lot of Melungeons who “carried Jewish blood.”
I’m not sure why you would make such patently false claims, but they are easily disproven, which leads one to wonder . . .
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ddc said – “Locklear… is a native american name. A lot of melungeons were sephardic and carried jewish blood.”
Sorry to burst your made-up history bubble, but Locklear is NOT a Native-American name – it dates to early England. Furthermore, no DNA tests show any Jewish connection to the Melungeons – so NO, there are NOT a lot of Melungeons who “carried Jewish blood.”
I’m not sure why you would make such patently false claims, but they are easily disproven, which leads one to wonder . . .
Deep:
I am not sure why u feel the need to be so nasty, but u need to calm down. I actually researched this and Locklear is a native-american name that means “hold-fast” I don’t know why this is angerung u so much. And u need to post PROOF if ur going to attempt to disprove what I have posted.. I mean who r u? And when u talk to me, keep a civil tone, got it? And stop behaving like a two year old. Ur dismissed.
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From Wikipedia:Locklear is the youngest of four children.[3] Her surname, “Locklear”, is Lumbee, a Native American tribe in North Carolina.[4]
So not only r u hateful, ur ignorant. Here is the link..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heather_Locklear
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I don’t know why I cannot post any comments here , oh heres why because whites control these boards and hate to be one-upped..lol.
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Furthermore, no DNA tests show any Jewish connection to the Melungeons – so NO, there are NOT a lot of Melungeons who “carried Jewish blood.”
I’m not sure why you would make such patently false claims, but they are easily disproven, which leads one to wonder . . .
Deep:
Heather Locklear is part Lumbee heritage on her father’s side. Her surname Locklear is actually a Lumbee name meaning ‘hold fast’. The Lumbee are a tri-racial people made up of African, Native and Anglo descent. Would u like the link? Here u go..
http://ethnicelebs.com
/heather-locklear
In 1990, physical anthropologist and chemist James Guthrie analyzed blood sampled from 177 Southern Appalachian people identifying as Melungeon tested by Pollitzer and Brown in 1969. Guthrie’s analysis was consistent to a remarkable degree with the Hirschman-Yates study.
All studies to date have verified and confirmed repeatedly that Melungeon descendants carry an unusual mix of Jewish, Mediterranean, Turkish, Iberian, Native American and African DNA. They also inherit genetic predispositions toward developing Familial Mediterranean Fever and other disorders. Here is the link:
Disprove that, genius..
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The problem with u white people is that u really believe that ur “superior” and that ur always right. This is why, in effect, ur stupid. Because u don’t feel the need to “learn” anything and u really believe that just because u say or believe something, that makes it so.. As u can see, it does not. have a nice day! LMAO.
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ddc – So, let’s see… I disputed what you wrote, and you responded with:
“the need to be so nasty”
“u need to calm down.”
“post PROOF if ur going to attempt to disprove what I have posted.. I mean who r u?”
“when u talk to me, keep a civil tone, got it?”
“stop behaving like a two year old.”
“Ur dismissed.”
“not only r u hateful, ur ignorant.”
“ur a moron.. “smile” a nasty moron..”
“u white people … really believe that ur “superior” and that ur
always right. This is why, in effect, ur stupid. ”
Do you expect people to treat you with respect or to respond positively to you, when you write comments such as those?
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ddc said – “Locklear… is a native american name. A lot of melungeons were sephardic and carried jewish blood.”
Sorry to burst your made-up history bubble, but Locklear is NOT a Native-American name – it dates to early England. Furthermore, no DNA tests show any Jewish connection to the Melungeons – so NO, there are NOT a lot of Melungeons who “carried Jewish blood.”
I’m not sure why you would make such patently false claims, but they are easily disproven, which leads one to wonder . . .
Do you expect people to treat you with respect or to respond positively to you, when you write comments such as those?
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ddc – Nine replies so far . . .
You should go back and re-read your posts.
Not much there – mostly childish, hateful and bigoted comments.
I don’t know you, but I haven’t attacked you.
Leads one to wonder . . .
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Just for starters, you might want to consider this . . .
The surname Locklear originated with the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture of Britain. It comes from a name for a person who was a locksmith. Its meaning in ENGLISH is to “lock fast, or to hold fast.” Known variations include Lockyer, Locker, and many more. The name was first found in Warwickshire from the early days of British kings, and dates back as far as 1294. Early settlers in the American colonies named Locklear, Lockyear, and other variations came from England in the 1600’s.
This info comes from various genealogical sources, including at www -dot- houseofnames -dot- com/locklear-family-crest . . .
Verify it for yourself if you have doubts.
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Ok I presented proof that the name Locklear is a Lumbee name. Please stop bothering me. I taught u something , please go forth into the world and don’t talk about topics like u know what ut talking about unless u can present proof. Have a nice day.
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ddc said “I actually researched this and Locklear is a native-american name… I presented proof that the name Locklear is a Lumbee name… I taught u something,… don’t talk about topics like u know what ut [sic] talking about unless u can present proof.”
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
That is your “research” ? “Proof” requires meeting some objective standard of fact – not some vague, unsupported assertion.
There is NO support for your contention that Locklear is a Melungeon surname. The Wikipedia information you cited claims the Locklear surname is not the “Melungeon” name you claimed, but a Lumbee (Native American) name from North Carolina. The Wikipedia claim comes from a PBS article listed in the footnotes. The PBS article says “it WOULD APPEAR that Ms. Locklear’s family, at least on her father’s side, once belonged to the Lumbee population.” However, there is NO evidence cited in the article to establish that claim.
There are thousands and thousands of people named Locklear throughout the U.S. with no relationship to the Lumbee – many, many more than those named Locklear who belong to the Lumbee group. The existence of several Lumbee families with the surname “Locklear” DOES NOT make “Locklear” a Lumbee name. “Washington” is not an African name simply because that is Denzel Washington’s surname. By the same token, the surnames Bell, Brooks, Hunt and Cummings – which are common among the Lumbee’s – are still Anglo-Saxon surnames. They are NOT Lumbee names just because there are Lumbee families with those surnames.
Until Ms. Locklear herself claims Lumbee heritage, or someone produces genealogical data showing such heritage, there is NO factual basis for claiming she is a Lumbee descendant.
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As for the so-called “Sephardic” heritage claim of the Melungeons you mentioned, I would refer you to the post by Kwamla, above, (Tue 29 May 2012 at 14:50:44). It refers to the results of the lengthy DNA study conducted by Roberta J. Estes of the core Melungeon families, the Melungeon DNA Project.
It is available on Wikipedia under ” Melungeon_DNA_Project “, and through the website of the Journal of Genetic Genealogy. It is a highly-regarded, scientifically valid study that has been subject to peer review, and has no commercial affiliation with any profit-making organization.
The Hirschman-Yates “study” uses a test that is sold commercially by Mr. Yates’ firm, which violates the principles of research, and biases the entire “study” and its claimed results. They also utilize testing protocols and databases that have not been proven, and are not accepted by the scientifically-based DNA research community.
There is a wealth of information out there that discredits the many unproven claims and suppositions about the Melungeons. You merely have to do some basic research to find it.
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I already said what I had to say and proved my point with easily researchable references, I am done with U, find someone else to irritate. Have a great day!
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Anyone wondering about the crazy claims that “Melungeon descendants carry an unusual mix of Jewish [and] Turkish DNA.” ?
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
If anyone is interested in the Melungeons’ REAL history, I would recommend reading the results of the “Melungeon DNA Project” at the Journal of Genetic Genealogy website. It COMPLETELY debunks the crazy claims of Jewish and Turkish bloodlines among the Melungeons. The URL for it is: http://www.jogg.info/72/files/Estes.pdf
It documents their origins via historical records (birth, marriage, property, tax and voting records) dating back to the 1600’s. It also used family histories, oral histories, and very thorough DNA studies of the core “Melungeon” families of Hancock County, Tennessee and nearby areas to identify their genetic history.
However, it is a fascinating tale of how ethnic identity, racial discrimination, and folklore affected the history of a group of mixed race people, and how they eventually located themselves in a secluded, endogamous community in the Appalachian backcountry.
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As Elzina lay on her deathbed, I received an e-mail from Dr. Elizabeth Hirschman. Entitled simply “Cooper Ethnicity” it suggested that my mysterious, yet historically prominent Cooper family was of Sephardic Jewish derivation. I knew immediately Beth was right. We embarked on a long journey of collaboration, applying for grants, writing books and speaking at conferences. The simple message we would like to share is this: Melungeons were crypto-Jews. They were children of Israel, some Semitic, some from converted populations such as the French and Spanish, and knew it, often recalling their line of descent or adoptive line from patriarchs Judah, Levi, Benjamin or David. How long they have lived in the lower Appalachians is anyone’s guess. In the following paragraphs I should like to sketch some recent events that have established a Jewish identity for the Melungeons. I will mention some of the leading figures and surnames, along with their places of origin. I will introduce as many pictures into the narrative as possible, since I believe pictorial evidence is compelling. I am sure what I have to write will bring down thunderous disapproval, so I would just like to say that this piece has not been prepared for publication as a scholarly article. It was done as a favor to Helen Campbell and her readers at Melungeons.com.
http://www.melungeons.com/articles/march2003a.htm
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Thanks for the link, but I am very familiar with their site. It is just painful to read the undocumented claims that Hirschman-Yates continue to sell.
DNA doesn’t lie . . .
The core Melungeon families DNA study is the ONLY study that DNA researchers and scientists accept as valid – NOT the “Hirschman-Yates study.”
The core Melungeon families DNA study has concluded that:
“There is no evidence of Jewish heritage in the oral history, historical documentation, genealogy or DNA of the Melungeon families.”
There are tons of links I can post for you here that demonstrate why the Hirschman-Yates claims are bogus . . .
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So, what made the story of the “Melungeons” such an interesting topic?
Nashville writer Will Allen Dromgoole’s stories in the 1890’s are credited by most historians for popularizing the “mystery” of the Melungeons. By her account, the Melungeons arose from African, white, Indian, and Portuguese ancestry, with an emphasis on the latter two. (In the post-Civil War period, some persons of color commonly claimed Portuguese blood, associated with dark skin, as they sought to escape oppression as African Americans.)
Similar works of fiction recounted romantic origins for Melungeons well into the 1900’s.
Then, in 1969, Bonnie Sage Ball, a schoolteacher and amateur writer, wrote a book that discussed the numerous THEORIES for the origin of the Melungeons. They included the “Lost Colony of Roanoke,” shipwrecked Portuguese sailors, followers of Spain’s Fernando de Soto who were left behind in America, Native American tribes, and black slaves.
However, a reviewer wrote “I found most of the book to be disturbing. The tone was so overtly racist and demeaning that I spent most of the book cringing and wincing. As if that weren’t bad enough, there is very little research in the book. Most is just conjecture and hearsay.”
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In 1994, Brent Kennedy wrote a highly controversial book full of theories and speculation about the Melungeons. His book supposedly relied in large part on the fictional accounts of the Melungeon’s origins, which had been speculated upon previously in Bonnie Ball’s book.
Kennedy himself claims to be descended from Pocahontas (yeah, right!), and he has suggested that Abraham Lincoln, Elvis Presley and Ava Gardner may have had Melungeon ancestry.
Kennedy’s book began the movement that proposed Melungeons were either a mix of early Portuguese, Spanish, Sephardic Jewish, Muslim Moorish, and/or Gypsy/Roma colonists – or a mixed-race group with Jewish, Mediterranean, Turkish, Iberian, Native American and African DNA.
Kennedy tested the DNA of a small group of people who self-identified themselves as Melungeons. Many had no ties to the historic Melungeon community, and there was no genealogical history to support their “Melungeon” background. Kennedy had no genealogical/DNA research background, and he used Kevin Jones, a biologist at the University of Virginia, to do DNA research. However, Jones concluded that he could not confirm the Portuguese or Turkish ancestry that Kennedy purports to be the genesis of the Melungeon people.
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Ur still on this? Wow..lol.
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This article is very fascinating, I have been signing papers for years that I am a white female, however, I have scot-irish, english, german, jew, with a little indian in me, would I consider myself melungeon? Our people have been here since the 1600’s, we are going to be mixed, how can we call anybody names when we are no different than they are. I hate hearing people calling people ugly names, because if they really look at their backgrounds, they are mixed with something.
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Kind of funny, people that need to embellish their appearance. “Oh, I have olive skin, people think I have lip injections, but right now, my skin is paler.” Yeah, okay. Most people that need to over-boast about their physical appearance, look no different then your average White folk.
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my father said they where Dark Dutch.Earlier family from his mother,s side hass been traced to France.My mothers father,s father is traced from scaninavia. And i am suffering from the “Celtic Cruse”. the Iron overload diesese..it was caught to late for me.Got one gene from my father,and one from my mother. We all have alot in our blood lines.we are all kin under our skin.
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The image that brought me here [to this blog] is not captioned correctly. There is no evidence of the word “Melungeon” or other versions of spelling and pronunciation being used IN PRINT before 1790, and only one instance that early has been found. The next time it’s found in printg is in the 1820’s. Doubtless the term was used long before it was written in any document that has survived to this day, but the people, themselves, surely would haven been illiterate, and even if they used the term among themselves [possibly descending from an Angolan term meaning “shipmate” or “fellow-traveler”], it eventually became a derisive term used by whites ABOUT them, and was–surely by the 1850’s–eschewed by the group as a racial epithet used to categorize and insult them, and was the basis for some to attempt to limit the legal rights [of marriage, voting, taxation, inheritance, and education] for people who could not prove European heritage. For that reason, many Melungeons claimed that their darker coloring was due to an ancestor who was a “Portugee.” Less often, they claimed to be Indians–and certainly may have had Indian blood–but to be Indian was also very limiting and restricting under the law. Needless to say, given the development of the race laws that grew and spread during the mid-to late 1600’s and on through the entire 1700’s, it was no wonder the families that traveled together, intermarried, and settled in several locations in Appalachia–and who were referred to as “Melungeons” [whatever the origin of that term], avoided any admission of African ancestry. To do so would have hurt their children’s chances for equality, would have made it impossible for them to inherit or to will their land to family; would have kept them from being able to own land in some places; and would have relegated them to a social status that they well knew how to escape: by lying about their heritage … and then (to put an exclamation point on it) … and by vehemently denying Black ancestry to the point of showing hatred for Blacks [i.e., being very demonstrably racist, as a means of throwing off suspicion]. I believe that this phenomenon–PASSING AS WHITE–is a very underexplored root of racism in America.
Anyway, in the photo in the blog located at:
https://abagond.wordpress.com/2012/05/24/melungeons/
it is incorrectly stated that
“The Melungeons (1600s- ) are a mixed-race people in America who live in the Appalachian mountains where Tennessee meets Virginia meets Kentucky. There are about 50,000 of them. They look mainly white nowadays but in the 1690s French traders said they looked like Moors (the Berbers of north-west Africa). They looked neither white nor black nor American Indian.”
While it is no doubt true that the families were already forming by that time–and some earlier–the idea that the name came from the French, or that it had anything to do with the Moors or looking like the Moors is simply unprovable, and very likely not true. There are betterm more plausible explanations than a French term somehow sticking externally to a group that would never have referred to themselves that way–if the term did not originate with them … a group that moved away from whoever identified themselves that way, so that they would have shed the name only to find it waiting for them at each new place … on the tongues of British subjects? And then British Americans? Not likely. It’s too easy an pat an explanation. But it is an explanation that is preferred by people who STILL do not want to accept the African origin of the Core Melungeon families. Recent genetic research has laid the question to rest, but Portuguese origin proponents, Indian origin proponents, and–yikes!–even Turkish origin proponents all want to dodge the inevitable explanation for the looks–and the DNA–of their Melungeon ancestors.
Of course, as is so often the case, the most nasty and racists remarks made against African origin of the core Melungeon families is not made by people who actually descend from them [and whose DNA was the focus of recent reseach proving African origin], but from the wannabees who have made speculation about Melungeon origins their parlor game du jour.
The motivation for some of that speculation is rooted in family lore–much of which says that we have Indian ancestry. And that is probably true, but difficult to prove because of the way DNA testing works. The test that shows the relatively recent links to the Old World are Y-DNA tests … meaning tests that climb back through the generations through the FATHER’s line … tappin the father’s father’s father’s father’s DNA, etc.
The mtDNA test looks at the MOTHER’s line, from your mother’s mother’s mother’s mother, etc. … but not to te relatively recent past, but to the ancient migration out of Africa … the “particular daughter of Eve” idea, that is helpful for “cousin” matching, but not helpful for determining whether your 16th great grandfather was a European, Asian, or African … lik the Y-DNA test can show.
But those who want to find American Indian ancestry are at a disadvantage when looking at their (or others’) Melungeon lines because in was certainly non-Indian men who took Indian wives into Melungeon families, and not Indian men who took Melungeon wives into MELUNGEON families. Indian men may have married into Melungeon families, but would have taken their wives with them. And in either case, the wive’s ancestry would not show up on Y-DNA tests. But it might well show up indirectly through matches with people who can prove Indian ancestry. But even then, WHICH generation the match refers to cannot be proven by the test, itself, but rather by genealogical proofs. So what that kind of testing does best, I think, is give a person hope of finding more than paper records would allow, creating bridges that span the brick walls geneaologists are so used to finding themselves staring at.
But, again, back to the image referred to, above, that family is not Melungeon, but Saponi an American Indian tribe that may have crossed paths with Melungeon families, and which may have married into, or taken spouses from Melungeon families. Little hard proof exists–nor could it–since there were no records and the people were beyond the reach of county clerks, census (for the most part), and any kind of paper documentation. EXCEPT that that particular photo (and a number of other priceless ones like it) is referenced at the Smithsonian … complete with the family members’ names and some information about the family. See the link at:
http://www.freeafricanamericans.com/photos_Indians.htm
Our Melungeon family line has been proven by Y-DNA testing to have come from Africa in the relatively recent past … meaning that the father at the head of the line in America came here from Africa … and was not an Indian, and was not a European. And some haters really hate that FACT. They’d rather take pot shots at those who share test results that hey don’t like than come to terms with the reality of who we–and they–are.
For what it’s worth.
Curtis
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Given how Native American is mixed into both the white and black populations, and also Latino, any DNA testing will hardly prove or disprove any Melungeon origin.
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Please stop emailing me updates from this ridiculous site or I will report you to the FCC. Thanks.
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HI, thanks for posting this! I have been reading your blog for a while now. I am Melungeon, and I identify as such, instead of identifying as White, African-American, or Native because I think a Melungeon/Mestee identity better reflects the complex colonial history that runs through my veins. I don’t understand why it’s so difficult for U.S. Americans to accept it’s Metis/Mestizo populations. Mexico and Canada both legally and culturally recognize the mixing of foreign and native blood AND recognize that those people have descendants.
Also, current debates over DNA testing are simply eugenics disguised as cutting edge science. Boiling people down to either a black or white status is what Walter Plecker did in the early 1900’s to de-legitimize people’s claims to their indigenous heritage in Virginia (and other southern states followed suit). By declaring a people extinct, or their bloodlines so thoroughly “polluted,” the U.S. government has historically and continually been able to absolve itself of its responsibility to honor treaty rights with said peoples.
Two informative resources on this topic are:
Real Indians: Identity and the Survival of Native America, a book by Eva Marie Garroutte
and a wonderful lecture put out by the Smithsonian called IndiVisible: African-Native American Lives in the Americas found on youtube at:
Again, thanks for posting this article and I sincerely hope it stirs the pot a bit!
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[…] Melungeons […]
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Reblogged this on Life in Anglo-America.
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Just to warn people not to believe in many comments talking about legends of “Turks shripwrecked long ago”, or the fairy tale of negrocentrics that “Olmecs were negros from Africa” Nonsense!. Please, DNA analysis has proven them utterly wrong: they and their wishful thinking and wild imagination, and their spreading of lies. Melungeons DNA show to contain african, and indian and caucasian, though caucasian % has been increasing as generations advanced. It is necessary to analyze the DNA of melungeons who lived in the 18-19 centuries, to obtain a true nature of their genetic composition.
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This was a very interesting article and even the comments that were made. As they say, “Live and learn”
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Katniss Everdeen’s ancestors?
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The post indicated that the following photo was of a Melungeon family.
However, I found the same picture referring to a Sarah Lawrence who is a member of the Pamunkey tribe. I found other webpages stating that the man is Lee Major, a Mattaponi, and the photo is ca. 1900 on the Mattapony River in King William County (Tidewater Virginia).
Are we sure they are Melungeons in Appalachia?
(http://www.womenhistoryblog.com/2008/07/queen-anne-of-pamunkey.html)
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@ Jefe
at http://www.freeafricanamericans.com/photos_Indians.htm
it says of the picture:
I removed the picture. Thanks.
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I just drafted a post on the Pamunkey which made brief mention of the Mattaponi. While researching information on the Pamunkey, I came across that picture in at least two separate webpages. If you like, perhaps we could still use this picture in THAT post.
Many of the mixed Pamunkey and Mattaponi with partial black and white ancestry did in fact move to the Appalachian region and become Melungeons. But this was likely well before the Civil War.
You will get some more draft posts on Native Americans as soon as I attach the maps and photos to them.
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The Texas/Louisiana Redbones are said to have come from this group but in reality no one knows (yet).
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@ Jefe
Awesome!
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[…] Read More Source: – hpman […]
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Read another article about the Melungeons and many, today, have been diagnosed with certain Mediterranean diseases……familial diseases only seen in Mediterranean peiples, like only Blacks have sickle cell anemia.
The Melungeons were described in the 1600s as not White, not Black, not Native American, spoke a strange language. Their rituals and homes were Mediterranean.
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There is a hero with Melungeon roots: Christopher Lee Mintz. He is a direct descendant of John Harmon, a man from Portugal.
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Very interesting read including the comments. My youngest brother is a genealogist and has used 3 different DNA testing kits to map our family with extraordinary results. We found out our “Indian” heritage was minuscule as compared to our African, European and Middle Eastern lineage. Exciting discoveries. 😊
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I was excited to see this topic on Pininterest. I am from Hawkins County, Tn., a Kennedy descendant, and with every scrap of info re the Melungeons, I learn more about myself and my own heritage. Thank you for this wonderful, hidden topic, that my own grandparents refused to discuss.
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Very good I am currently researching on my Taino Native roots
Thank you
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I don’t think you can make this just black or white only and completely discount the oral histories. Most pictures of melungeons do not look west African at all. They look very similar to middle eastern people, and gypsies. Arabs and/ or turkic peoples are very similar. They is a range of skin tones. They are not all dark. Also the Melungeons have Familial Mediterranean Fever disease. This is only found among people from the mediterranean. They also have the Anatolian bump, a skull feature found in people of the middle east.
So people point out the undeniability of DNA. The tests showed very little Indian DNA. Did you know that alot of the tests confuse Native American DNA with Middle Eastern DNA? Also did you know that Lebanese people have 10-20% African DNA in them? Did you also know that people crossed the horn of Africa back and forth regularly long ago? Did you also know that muslim explorers had maps of the new world that predated columbus’s discovery? It is entirely possible that moorish or turkish or Arab explorers landed in the new world and were stranded. The African in their DNA is attributable to their mideast roots rather than freed slaves mixing with white women. This explanation, pardon the pun, whitewashes the story. It makes it sound like nothing exciting here. Move on…. But it is interesting. Because why were they free? It sounds like quite often white people weren’t sure about whether they were white or not since some were brown and some were whitish. Remember one hundered years ago Italians weren’t considered white either and Arabs had to prove whiteness in court. Not because they were thought to be black but Asian because they were technically from the Asian continent. That is not to say that in later generations they did not mix with freed slaves. In this extremely racist society you were either black or white. There is evidence that people from South Asian, Sikhs in particular came to the U.S. and integrated into black communities because they were considered black solely on the shade of their skin. If you look at Katherine Johnson of Hidden Figures story, she is very fair, especially in her older years. As a young child she was dark, her siblings were dark but her parents were fair and looked very much like my hungarian great grandparents. ( they may have been gypsy -we don’t know) Katherine herself looks like an Italian aunt of mine. If you look up information on Sikhs blending in with the black and hispanic communities, their pictures look very much like Katherine Johnson and Melungeons. Many South Asians can be very dark and some can look African. Their is also the story of Wayne Joseph. He was raised black and always thought he was black until he took a DNA test. He had 0 african dna, not even a trace. His DNA was from south Asia. Gypsies are also believed to originate in south Asia or India. Maybe the whole Indian princess myth in melungeon history is not Native American at all! And the melungeons are like a mix like gypsies, Arabs, and Indians(from India).
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Curtis,
you say yikes at the thought that you might be part Turkish or Muslim? How racist is that?
I swear nowadays there is more hatred and racism for Arabs and other middle eastern groups. Maybe they even had more reason to hide their muslim roots. I think cultural / religion hatred is stronger than race hate.
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gmom
I think you struggle with understanding what people write. It is common these days for people to engage in a lack of reading comprehension and be mad these days. People do engage in sarcasm and a play on words these days. I didn’t see anything in what Curtis said that indicated he disliked the Turkish or Muslims or that he was part of it.
“Most pictures of melungeons do not look west African at all.”–quote where he said they did? The post frequently refers to them as mixed race.
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@gmom
“And the melungeons are like a mix like gypsies, Arabs, and Indians(from India).”
Because heaven forbid that any trace of African ancestry be found in the Melungeons. They would be considered “tainted” and unworthy of discussion .
“I think cultural / religion hatred is stronger than race hate.”
Not by a long shot, not only in the US, but also globally, race/skin color trumps culture and religion on a regular basis.
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Indian Portuguese yes but I don’t see the black in them has DNA testing ever been done????
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My family is from the Delta area of Mississippi and I can effectively tell you there was so much racial intermingling it would make your head spin! Our family is made up of African (Nigerian), Choctaw, Cherokee, Cree, Chinese, Irish, German Jew- guess anything goes for survival in them back woods behind the cotton fields!
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Oh, Abagond, yet another informative thought provoking post. I was always curious about the history of the Melungeons – prominent multiracial folk similar to my neck of the woods. Thank you,
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[…] merged with whatever major ethnic group they most identified with. In many cases, that meant identifying as white to avoid racial discrimination. As a result, many Melungeon people lost touch with their […]
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Are they connected to Ferdinand Magellan, the Portuguese explorer?Still looking for a connection to go into all the time and the whole story of the Melungon people.
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[…] can take a look at photos of Melungeon people here. There’s a huge range in appearance. Some are look like dark-skinned blacks; others, like […]
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When in doubt of how to regard another person’s race, bite them to draw blood. If that blood is red, no matter what color the hide might be, they’re one of us. Treat them like family. If they bleed any other color and you’ve just bitten them, season just opened on one of you. Sell tickets.
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@ Sander
“…bite them…”
What drugs are you on?!?
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Hardy ha hoo. Thanks for the clicke.
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I think from earlier than 1900 Americans were trying to have ‘respectable’ ancestry, judging from what went on in the 1800s. No poor or criminal ancestry that’s for sure, and it comes out in the literature of the first 50 years of that century. I’m glad some of this is finally being overturned and people aren’t so snooty (I hope!)
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Absolute fascinating. We may learn more about ourselves as we learn more about others.
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I wonder if that is why so many in my family of this descent have the Rh negative blood type?
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Fascinating. My mother’s family is a mystery. Her mother when she was a young girl. Her father was of Scottish – German descent. I am Rh – 0 is this a common blood type for this descent ?
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My mothers family always said we had Indian in our blood….olive skin, dark straight hair and eyes….the one thing I’ve always wondered about is that a lot of us have very little hair on our skin, no under arm hair and very little perspiration…could anyone help me thank you
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You’re Black!
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Melungeons are also VERY prevalent in eastern NC and southeastern VA to this day.
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Was the “Big Fella”, Michael Collins a melungeon ?
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Not everyone with one of those surnames is Melungeon. For example, Michael Bolton is 100% Ashkenazi Jewish, all of his grandparents came from the Russian Empire, and his original surname was Bolotin (pronounced “below tin”).
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