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An interesting article, although I think that the author is oversimplifying things somewhat. My view is that the Melungeons are a group that is similar to the Canadian Metis in that there is a blending of Native and non-Native ancestry, but I think that Melungeon bloodlines are a bit more complex than a straightforward European/Native American mix would suggest. I know that not many people would like to admit it, but I believe that many (but not necessarily all) Melungeons have African ancestry as well, and there is also the possibility of Romani/’Gypsy’ ancestry in the mix, since many Romani people were convicted and transported to the Americas under British vagrancy laws.
Just my two cents worth.
Todd, a.k.a. ‘Tohkai, the Fox’
Dear Tom and Tohkai,
I saw a television series a month or 2 ago called “Weird US” (History Channel) which had a segment on the Melungeons.(I don’t think a population’s ancestry should be thought of as “Weird” but that was the name of the program.)
The question was brought up regarding what the racial mix was of this ethnicity.The hosts went to the regional campus of UVA in Wise County,VA.
The researcher there said the Melungeons were a mix of European,Native American,African,and in some families,possibly some Middle Eastern. (From DNA analysis.)Believed to be mixed,but mostly European,by DNA.
Some fanciful theories were given on the history of the name “Melungeon”in said program. Some say the “geon” part is a corruption of the Arabic “jinni” for demon.I feel it’s a corruption of the word “melange” or mix and “melanin” the dark pigment in our skin and hair.
So,I think the term “Melungeons” was originally a racial slur implying “the mixed-race
darkies”.But now there are Melungeon sites on the Internet,so that term,through their self-
indentification,is losing some of its sting.
Roca
Tom, what that website says is what I have believed, ever since I first heard of the word “Melungeon”.
This is scientific evidence and that can not be disputed. My family has a tradition of that side of the family having Indian blood even before I’d ever heard of the term “Melungeon”.
Good. 🙂
Vance
Hello, well it’s maybe not so wierd that the word “melungeon ” was used., just remember who’s using it I think that it says ita ll.
sAdly tho’ some folks have embraced it.
What I find interesting is that people who’s families descend from core names like Collins , Gibson, etc never had this term used after leaving Tn etc, we were always told Blackfoot Cherokee or just Cherokee.
I am staring to think that the reason why so many people say Cherokee is because when the seat of the Cherokee Nation was in Ga. etc, people moving into the Nation politically became Cherokee, like German Americans etc.
Thanx again.
Tom:
There’s no evidence of any ties to GA in my family and the ID Blackfoot Cherokee is in mine. At least no GA that I have seen yet.
Techteach
Tom, from my earliest memories as a child, when I remember Dad saying he was “part Indian” — my initial assumption was Comanche. Why? Because we live in southwestern Oklahoma. I didn’t think of where we’d come from. We had neighbors that were Comanche.
I later quit thinking that as I learned more.
But perhaps people thought Cherokee for the same reason — they were the tribe one heard of quite often. An early question one is asked if one says they are part Indian, is which tribe? Then you make what you think is an educated guess from the information you have. It is just an honest mistake in this case.
vance
Hello, What I tried to get at was what you are saying Vance, I believe that the term Cherokee is used to denote a certain geographic residency, wether in NC, Ga, Al, etc.
In my family I cannot find a refernce to Ga. just that the last word that I did find was thought to be of Ga. Cherokee origin.
From my own genealogy I can see that some of the eastern souian people did move into Tn. and I have yet to see Cherokee in refernce , not that I do not believe the families oral history.
Everything said , I would really like to pin down a single set of answers to why Cherokee is such a popular tribal descent.
I have a book in my collection entitled _The Appalachians: America’s First and Last Frontier_, which has a chapter on the various ethnic groups in the region. Although the book’s definition of the Appalachians covers quite a bit of territory, the only indigenous nation mentioned in the book is the Cherokee, although there is also a brief mention of the Melungeons, who are described as having ‘mysterious origins’.
I get the sense that many people are simply unaware that there are First Nations in the Appalachian region other than Cherokee, and because of this, any Native ancestry originating in or around Appalachia is therefore assumed to be Cherokee in absence of any knowledge to the contrary.
All my life I was told that we were Cherokee Indian on my Collins side and Blackfoot on my Mullins side. Both of these lines settled in the Wise Co. , VA area , Collins’s by way of TN, NC then VA. Mullins’s are harder to determine…..just VA. You would think they fell out of the sky and landing in Wise! I do know that my Mullins side is from a core Melungeon line and I suppect my Collins’s line is also Melungeon. However, nothing was ever said by any family member pertaining to the word Melungeon, it was always Indian ancestry. I just heard about the Melungeons around 7-8 years ago and since then I have tried to research , read and look at anything and everything Melungeon…..even attended the 5th reunion in Kingsport, TN last year. There were
” Melungeons ” , “Indians ” , “Brass Ankles” and “Black Dutch ” with many, many different surnames attending from all over the country and you couldn’t have had a bigger mix of physical features………. but most all of them thought to have tries to the Melungeons.
My Mullins line looked and still does look Indian. And my Collins’s line did – stopping with my Great Grandfather……..but then my Grandfather and Father did not! Of course they married into Irish/German/English lines and thus deluded the line with fair haired and blue eyed offspring.
Well I should clarify one statement……..my father, a Collins married my mother, a Mullins ( she is from a core Melungeon line). What I meant was that my G Grandfather Collins and my Grandfather Collins married Irish/German/English ancestry women . Thus the Cherokee / Melungeon?Saponi ???? was already lossing much of its characteristic’s by then.
Join the club Bushtick my Saponi/ Cheroenhaka(Nottoway) great grandmother married a man of French, English ancestry than my grandmother married a man of Scottish/English ancestry and my mother married a man of English ancestry so I am a blue eyed blonde too. But I still carry the high cheekbones, shovelshaped incisors and my second toe in longer than my big toe on one of my feet. LOL and when I tan I get brown/RED not sure if that’s cause of the Scottish blood or the NA blood but I get this nice red glow. I actually look a sight cause my hair gets lighter and my skin gets red. My grandmother use to tell me that was my indian coming out who knows maybe so but when the suns hits me I get brown with the red tint on top of it.
Linda
Another thing I have been told by my family I am 1/8 NA and it’s been tough documenting that for sure since it comes from so many sources. I wonder if any of us can be sure just how much we have…..is it really important I think probably not. It’s what is inside of each of us that’s makes us indian not what the outside appearance is…we all had to grow up in this world and we all had to adjust our actions to this society without losing who we are inside. I don’t know about the rest of you but when I see the pollution of this earth and all the destruction of our precious planet I get sad. I frequently point out to people that baby diapers and foam cups and such take forever to decompose. When I see people making war over organized religion it brings real sorrow…a persons communion with the Great Spirit is that persons concern and no one elses. I say stuff like this to people and they look at me like I’m some sort of freak of nature…. I’m not a freak just an indian in my heart whether I have blue eyes and blonde hair or not.
Linda
I also have the shovel teeth, a bump at the back of my head and both feet the second toe is longer………then I have the ridges inside the front four teeth, top and bottom ( bump and teeth considered Melungeon traits).
I have 6 siblings and 3 of us are fair skinned/blue or green eyed with blond hair and only sunburn. The others are dark/olive skinned with gray/green eyes and auburn to dark brown hair. Two of them can tan so dark as to look African American, color wise only. My father was fair to ruddy skinned with black hair and blue eyes. My mother is dark auburn with grey eyes and olive skin. The Mullins’s are mostly dark skinned and haired,some with black or dark colored eyes, but mostly grey. The Collins’s today are very Irish/English looking.
I have no documented proof as to NA on either side, only oral family history and research. Melungeon is a more accurate explaination , but then WHAT EXACTLY IS A MELUNGEON? I am at odds to how I feel about the Indian/Melungeon issue, but I agree, DOES IT REALLY MATTER. I am who I am , and nothing can change that fact…………however, I would love to solve the mystery and really know!!! I also feel you can be NA in spirit and thoughts, without proving you have the blood.
And it also greives me to see the disregard many today have for our earth and our many blessings.
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