[Cedar Spirits]

Techteach:

I found the Mitsawokett site first and had just begun perusing it when I came across this site. After reading Linda’s Other Blackfoot article and a few posts I decided to take my first leap here, but I’m beginning to think my people were not yet “Whaleys” down south and anything traceable stops in Delaware. I think your suggestion of checking back at the Mit. site(s), and perhaps even subscribing, a good one.

Forest and Linda:

I’ve read a few fun theories about how the term “Moor” came about…Spanish sailor marries redheaded Irish maiden…I think there was one about an Indian or African and that Irish maiden too. Some believe the stories came about to explain the unusual look produced by the tri-racial mix of black, red and white. I’ll have to check back into it.

Cedar

[Cedar Spirits]

There is a nutshell explanation of the various “Moor” legends Weslager listed in his Forgotten Folk book at…

http://www.mitsawokett.com/MoorsOfDelaware/trirace3.html

(hope I did that correctly) Then Ned Heite expresses his view at…

http://www.mitsawokett.com/MoorsOfDelaware/moor9.html

His idea seems to be that the “Moor” stories provide a complicated explanation for a rather simple phenomenon. Namely, that pockets of Blackfoot or Nanticokes, for instance, mixed with the locals (black and white) while retaining their id as Blackfoot or Nanticoke, etc…much in the same way, I imagine, as we Blacks, Natives, Caucasians, Asians and Latinos of today can point to a variety of races in our lines while retaining our id as Blacks, Natives, Caucasians, etc…whatever we consider dominant. In our family we just go by “Other” on the gov forms.

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