Melungeons

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History and Tidbits
The term "Melungeon" has generally been applied to a widely distributed group of people associated with the general region of Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Kentucky in the United States, but perhaps concentrated in the general area of Eastern Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, and Northwest North Carolina. Although definitions of what exactly constitute a Melungeon differ, these are a mixed-race people.

Some have been described as being "swarthy" or at least somewhat dark-skinned in appearance, but the physical characteristics of Melungeons differ greatly. Because this is a mixed race group of people, and because the exact racial characteristics vary, it is impossible to pin down a precise Melungeon appearance. In addition, again because of the mixed race nature of Melungeons, even siblings can differ greatly in their physical characteristics. That is demonstrated by the photo that accompanies this article.

Melungeon identity is assumed to involve a mixture of some combination of Western European, Native American, and sometimes African ancestry, with early assertions of "Portuguese" or "Portuguese Indian" background being widely claimed. The term "tri-racial isolate" has been academically applied to this group, but this term is problematic in that not all Melungeons claim a tri-racial identity and, in many cases, these families appear to be anything but "isolates."

Stories and claims abound as to how this group of people descend from Portuguese, or Turks and/or Moors, who navigated to the American shores with the Portuguese, and who intermarried with Native Americans prior to English settlement.

Some of the most prominent surnames that have been claimed as potentially associated with a Melungeon identity include Bowling (Bolin), Bunch, Chavis (Chavez), Collins, Epps, Evans, Fields, Francisco, Gibson, Gill, Goins, Goodman, Minor, Mise, Moore, Mullins, Osborn(e), Phipps, Ridley (Riddle), Rodrigues, Stowers, Vanover, Williams, and Wise. This extreme partial list should not be taken as suggesting, however, that every family using this surname is considered to be Melungeon.

Some of the sources and discussions pertaining to the Melungeons suggest that, in some cases, there may be a relationship to Native American groups generally referred to as Saponi. In addition, alternate names exist for Melungeons, one of the most prominent being Guineas, another being Black Dutch. Sometimes the "Black" designation will appear in front of a Melungoen surname, not necessarily to indicate sub-Saharan African ancestry, but merely to designate a tendency toward somewhat dark skin.

DNA Project
This site is self-explantatory about the DNA projects hosted and currently underway. The site has larger list of known surnames.

The Melungeon DNA Surname Project.

Genealogy and History Websites
Note: These are in alphabetical order.


 * African Native Americans: We Are Still Here
 * Atlanta Melungeon Project
 * Beneath Myth, Melungeons Find Roots of Oppression (Washington Post)
 * Cyndi's List: Unique Peoples &amp; Cultures
 * Examining Melungeon History and Genealogy by Jack Goins
 * First Union: The Melungeons Revisited
 * Hancock County, Home of the Melungeons
 * History of the Mullins Family of Newman's Ridge
 * Links of Interest (Melungeons)
 * The "Lost Tribe" of Appalachia
 * Lost People of Appalachia (BBC News)
 * Melungeon
 * Melungeon (DMOZ Open Directory Project links list)
 * Melungeon (Google Directory)
 * Melungeon Cemetery: Carmel, Highland County, Ohio (YouTube video)
 * Melungeon Core DNA Project (Family Tree DNA)
 * Melungeon Descendants Celebrate their Mysterious Heritage (Biloxi Sun Herald)
 * Melungeon DNA Project
 * Melungeon Forum
 * The Melungeon Health Education and Support Network
 * Melungeon Heritage Association
 * Melungeon History
 * Melungeon History (video lecture by Wayne Winkler, Melungeon Historical Society Conference, 2009, in YouTube), Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6
 * The Melungeon Indians
 * Melungeon Origin (Yahoo Groups)
 * Melungeon Page News and Articles (The Portuguese American Historical &amp; Research Foundation)
 * Melungeon Resource Page
 * Melungeon Voices documentary trailer (YouTube)
 * Melungeons.com
 * Melungeons, Redbones, and Other U.S. Maroons (video lecture in YouTube)
 * The Melungeons: Who Are They?
 * Mystery Still Hangs Over Melungeons' Heritage (Tennessee Journalist)
 * The Myth of the Black Irish: Spanish Syntagonism and Prethetical Salvation
 * One Hundred and Sixty-Nine URLs for Melungeon Research
 * Origin of the Melungeons
 * Origins of the Melungeon Appalachian Subculture
 * So You Were Told You Were Black Dutch or Black Irish
 * Under One Sky: The Melungeon Information Exchange
 * What is a Melungeon?
 * What is a Melungeon? (different site)
 * Who Were the Melungeons?