Topic 35 of 42: The Melungeons
Tue, Dec 5, 2000 (13:01) |
Marcia (MarciaH)
They dwell among us, mostly in the American South Eastern states. Their origins are dimly known, at best. They hid and changed "ethnic identities" to avoid being segregated where they lived. Let us consider the origins and culture of a most fascinating but little-known - and less understood - American sub-culture people.
45 responses total.
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 1 of 45: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Dec 5, 2000 (13:09) * 16 lines
Here is a good place to start:
http://www.forteantimes.com/artic/106/melung.html
Huddled against the Appalachians in the most north-easterly
corner of Tennessee lies Hancock County. The term 'off the
beaten track' could have been coined for it and the neighbouring
Lee and Wise counties across the state line in Virginia. In his
travelogue of America, The Lost Continent, Bill Bryson
commented that they received so few visitors to the area, that
when he drove out of the county seat of Sneedville, he was looked
at "the way you might stare at a man riding an ostrich". This and
other similar pockets high on the Cumberland Plateau, are home
to a modern ethnographic mystery, the communities of people
called Melungeons, perhaps the first non-indigenous people ever
to settle in America.
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 2 of 45: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Dec 5, 2000 (13:25) * 20 lines
The fact that the Melungeons are a distinct people might not even
have been known today were it not for the physical traits that mark
them apart from other ethnic groups in Appalachia. For the
Melungeons, this phenotype has been the bane of their existence.
Many exhibit the typical features of Europeans, slim-faced, with
lanky builds and often fair hair and blue eyes, but with dark,
sometimes almost Negroid skin. Marriages outside of the
Melungeon community have diluted these characteristics to an
extent, but older photographs reveal some who can only be
described as black-skinned white people.
The theories about the origins of the Melungeons are many and
varied. Until recently, the most widely-accepted theory held them
to be a "tri-racial isolate" of Black, White and Native stocks.
Some of the wilder ones suggest that they are one of the lost
tribes of Israel; descendants of the Welsh explorer Madoc, who
visited the southern Appalachians in the 1100s according to
Richard Hakluyt's Voyages (1582) or possibly the remnants of Sir
Walter Raleigh's ill-fated Roanoke Colony of 1587.
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 3 of 45: Cheryl (CherylB) * Sat, Dec 9, 2000 (10:41) * 1 lines
There was a rather controversial theory in the 1960's, I believe, which suggested that the Melungeons were actually descended from the Phoenicians. The Phoenicians were perhaps the finest seafarers of their age, and may possibly have circumnavigated Africa. One version of the theory was that a Phoenician ship crossed the Atlantic and the survivors made it ashore and survived to interbreed with the indigineous people. Another version is that it was a colony ship which made it across the Atlantic.
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 4 of 45: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Dec 9, 2000 (15:44) * 2 lines
Thanks for reading and posting. This really fascinates me and keeps asking more questions than I can answer. The book by Kessler and Ball on the subject is my christmas present to me.
http://www.mupress.org/webpages/books/kessler.html
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 5 of 45: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Dec 23, 2000 (17:06) * 30 lines
http://www.backrescue.com/Melungeon.html
n amazing new history is emerging of a Mediterranean people, sometimes referred to as Melungeons, who settled American in the 1500's
long before the Northern Europeans first arrived. (The Arabic origin of the name Melungeon--"Melun-Jinn"--means one who has been
abandoned by God--a cursed soul.) No, this tale does not begin with the early New Mexican settlers, but begins with a Southeastern lineage
that has spread throughout the United States, and the rare and potentially decimating genetic disease traced to these colorful people.
Even more intriguing, this disease parallels some of the symptoms of Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS), fibromyalgia,
Alzheimer's, Multiple Sclerosis, and Diabetes. It also includes a group of other symptoms regularly ignored or misdiagnosed by physicians:
acute chest pain, pleuritis, appendicitis-like attacks, arthritis--particularly of the feet, ankles, knees and hips, and the symptom for which it
is named, a recurring high fever that lasts three to four days and dissipates. The name of this insidious genetic "misspelling" is Familial
Meditteranean Fever (FMF). If your family story featured an ancestor called "Black Dutch," "Black Scot," or Cherokee, listen up.
Ironically, the story of the Melungeon people has been broken not by the US press, but by the BBC correspondent Richard Lister. He was
astonished to find the streets of the Appalachian village he visited filled with Melungeon descendants who "would not look our of place on the
Turkish coast with their dark olive skin ad straight black hair."
Sir Francis Drake brought many of these Portuguese, Armenian, and Ottoman Turks to America after he freed them from the Spanish in
1587. Genetic studies now also indicate Jewish lineage in the Melungeon people as the Portuguese Jews were fleeing persecution.
I suspect Drake was relived to deliver this human cargo and avoid whatever strange malady these people suffered. In an era of mysterious
plagues, a shipload of people running high fevers would have terrified any captain.
Dr. Brent Kennedy, a foremost Melungeon researcher, theorized that the people left by Drake worked their way inland and married into local
Indian tribes, a surmise well supported by the recurrence of Turkish and Arabic in the local Indian dialects--the Cherokee word for mother,
Ana Ta, is identical in Turkish. Dr. Kennedy also writes about the ancient Hebrew and Roman coins kept for generations as Melungeon
family heirlooms.
A client of mine from a Melungeon center in Tennessee, explained that many Melungeon were 'accidentally' rounded up with the Cherokee
and sent on The Trail of Tears. My Blevins ancestor was a Chief of the Whitetop Cherokee band.
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 6 of 45: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Dec 23, 2000 (17:13) * 8 lines
http://www.kentuckyconnect.com/heraldleader/news/101997/forgins.html
Melungeons claim among their number such American icons as Abraham Lincoln, Elvis Presley and
Ava Gardner.
Melungeons characteristically have black hair, blue eyes, dark skin and an "Anatolian bump" on the
back of the head, a characteristic of Turkish people. Among the ethnic groups thought to be
Melungeons' forebears are American Indians, Jews, Portuguese, Spanish or Africans.
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 7 of 45: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Dec 23, 2000 (17:14) * 1 lines
I am merely posting current theories and hoping to bring about awareness of this most interesting group of Americans. Please add what you know or have heard about this. All help or any at all is most welcome.
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 8 of 45: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Dec 23, 2000 (17:21) * 1 lines
The last above URL contains much information I need to have imput on before I post it. There are apparent racial ovetones which I want to avoid as assiduously as possible.
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 9 of 45: Cheryl (CherylB) * Tue, Jan 9, 2001 (18:48) * 5 lines
Wow! I wish I knew more about them than what I posted previously.
This is off-topic but a bit related. It concerns the theory that the Olmec of Mexico were of Sub-Saharan African origin. The genesis of this theory is the the rather Black-looking features on depictions of people in Olmec art.
Sorry to post that here, but I didn't know where else to post it.
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 10 of 45: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jan 9, 2001 (22:21) * 1 lines
Good as any. I am gonna post more Melungeon information as relevant information make it to the net. Some is still so new that I am tracking it down and awaiting my book. I know both authors so it makes it even more exciting! Thanks Cheryl. I will be on the hunt agan tomorrow! Today was the British Lunar Eclipse
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 11 of 45: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jan 10, 2001 (16:17) * 9 lines
Cheryl, I posed your question on Yahoo anthropology club and received this response:
Well the Negroid features of the gaint Olmec skulls of La Venta and
other sites aren't new, but there are many other comparisions. The Wings
of Maat, the Headdress of Olmec priest with the stern of Ra's Solar Ship
for instance. The best book to read on this issue is They Came Before
Columbus.
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 12 of 45: Cheryl (CherylB) * Thu, Jan 11, 2001 (17:31) * 5 lines
Thanks for asking around on the subject, Marcia. Other possibilities I've come across are that: a) The Olmec royal line was very inbred and exhibited quite specific physical features; or b) The Olmecs revered the jaquar in their relegious practices; hence, their depictions of their gods show a melding of human and feline features. I do know that there is a depiction in Olmec art of a were-jaquar, if you will. I series of small scupltures showing a man changing into a jaquar.
Another bit of trivia before I leave ancient Mexico. I think I mentioned to you that my father was quite interested in the great Precolumbian civilizations of Mesoamerica. This bit of trivia concerns the Aztec, the people who gave their name to the country of Mexico. Before they were Aztec, they were Mexica, and believed themselves to be a chosen people who had wandered in the wilderness for ten generations.
Now I return to the United States, and await further information appearing here on the Melungeons.
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 13 of 45: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jan 11, 2001 (23:29) * 3 lines
A brief aside - you know the name avocado is Aztec for...! About right I'd say even in cross-section! Oh dear, and I consume them with great relish...
You mean the Olmec heads were not early plastic surgeon advertisements for silicone injections of the lips ala Ivana Trump?!
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 14 of 45: Cheryl (CherylB) * Tue, Jan 16, 2001 (18:13) * 5 lines
Keep enjoying those avacadoes, Marcia. Those Atzec, what can you say.
The Olmec were early plastic surgeons. Hmmm. There might be a theory there.
Are there Melungeon words which have been assimilated into everyday English usage?
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 15 of 45: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jan 16, 2001 (20:21) * 1 lines
That is another good question, are there words or even a creole used amonst the Melungeons - and I need to get back to hunting that down. There is much to learn - even for those whose blood is Melungeon!
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 16 of 45: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jan 22, 2001 (03:29) * 102 lines
This article deals with the area in which Melungeon culture mixed with the other American cultures. With the kind permission of the senior author, I post it here with thanks to JSK:
A SUBSTITUTE HAY WAGON IN SOUTHERN OHIO: NOTES ON RURAL MATERIAL CULTURE
John S. Kessler and Donald B. Ball
___________________________________________________________________________________________
A simple implement resembling a mono-runner sled used for the transportation of hay from the field in the days before baling
became a locally common practice is described as observed in a restricted section of rural Ohio in 1945. This device
appears to be previously unreported in the European and regional material culture literature; no antecedent implement is
presently known. The simplicity and temporary nature of such items of material culture demonstrate the problems in inherent
in interpreting disarticulated yet previously recycled historic artifacts.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Editor’s Note: The description of the subject farm implement for the first time in print affords the opportunity to
simultaneously document this humble and little known item of material culture and contemplate its interface with regional
historic archaeological investigations. As may be noted from the following discussion, the few items of likely recycled stable
hardware needed to construct this implement serve to clearly demonstrate the problems - if not impossibility - of confidently
interpreting certain categories of disarticulated historic artifacts.
A major portion of the senior author's childhood was spent in Brushcreek Township in rural Highland County,
(south-central) Ohio. This location at the edge of the Appalachian escarpment was in many respects atavistic, retaining the
southern-weighted flavor, customs, and methods of the 19th and perhaps 18th centuries. One possible holdover from earlier
times was a method for transporting hay from the field in which it was cut to the haystack.
In general, the prevailing method for hay harvest (prior to the local rise in popularity of baling in the 1950s) was cutting with
a horse drawn or tractor mounted sickle bar mower, raking into windrows, and loading into a wagon to which hay racks
had been attached for transport to the stack site This process was labor and equipment intensive. A typical crew consisted
of two wagons with drivers (each wagon pulled by either a team of horses or a tractor), at least three loaders, and one
stack builder. This broke down into six people, two wagons, and four horses or two tractors. If the hay was being stored in
a hay mow (barn loft), about the same size crew would have been required for reasonable efficiency.
During the season of 1945 while World War II was still in progress, there was a shortage of either manpower, equipment,
or both in the hay crew with which the senior author (then 12 years of age) was associated. Consequently,
a different method of transporting the hay to the stack site was adopted. After being cut and allowed to partially cure, the
hay was raked and piled into "doodles". A hay doodle was in fact a small stack about four ft (1.2 m) in height and about the
same in diameter. Thus, a hayfield would be filled with these small stacks or, colloquially, doodles which needed to be
transported to the hay stack.
TRANSPORTING HAY
The actual transportation was assigned to the senior author and another boy somewhat older in age. This was accomplished
by providing each of us with a horse to which a rather unusual contrivance was attached via a single tree. As recalled over
half a century later, this device (Figure 1) consisted of a pole made from a freshly cut hickory sapling about three to four in.
(7.6-10 cm) in diameter at the base and about eight ft (2.4 m) in length. A ring was attached by #9 wire to the basal end
while the other end had been sharpened to a point with an ax. One end of a rope about twice the length of the sapling was
tied to the single tree while the other was passed through the ring attached to the basal end of the pole. Another ring equal
to or greater in size than the basal ring was then attached to the free ("bitter") end of the rope. Thus, when the pole was pulled behind the horse, the ring attached to the rope would prevent that rope from being pulled
completely through the basal ring.
After these contrivances were attached, the horses were ridden into the hayfield and halted at a hay doodle. Here a hay hand would shove the sharpened end of the pole under the doodle, put the rope over the doodle, and place the ring tied to
the bitter end over the sharpened end of the sapling. The doodle was then in a loop formed by the rope over its top and the sapling beneath it. When the horse walked forward, the loop tightened as the bitter end ring was pulled up the length of the pole and the rope was pulled through the basal ring. In this fashion, the doodle was secured and pulled to the stack site
where it was released by removing the bitter end ring from the sharpened end of the sapling.
It is perhaps notable that most of the authors’ professional lives have been associated with fieldwork in rural settings in the
eastern, southeastern, and midwestern portions of the United States. However, we recall only one instance of encountering
a situation bearing similarity to that described herein. During the late 1960s while driving in the Pocanos of Pennsylvania, a
small hillside hayfield (estimated less than 5 acres/2 hectares) containing "doodles" was casually noted by the senior author.
Whether these doodles" were later moved by use of the mono-runner sled is not known. The steep topography of the field,
however, would have been hazardous to the stability of a wheeled hay wagon but not to a farm sled or sledge as it was
sometimes called.
Although to the best of the senior author's recollection at least 10 doodles would have been required to equal one wagon
load of hay, this method reduced the previously enumerated personnel and equipment requirements to but one stacker, two
hay hands, two boys, two horses, and no wagons or tractor. However, it increased the effort required at the hay stack as
there was a loss of the elevated platform which would have been provided by a hay wagon. Regardless, it worked well
allowing three farm neighbors and two boys to successfully "make hay" during a year when resources were minimal.
DISCUSSION
The authors have no knowledge as to either the origin or name(s) of this device. Though it may have been invented due to
the necessity of that particular time, this is highly doubtful. At the time this implement was observed and used, there was no
experimentation or trial and error. These devices were built and they worked the first time. In consequence, it appears
logical to believe that due to necessity a piece of the past was reclaimed and put to good use.
A brief review of the literary sources referable to material culture studies in both the Old and New World produced no
additional information concerning historical antecedents of these humble implements. Although the relative simplicity of the
device would suggest some possible antiquity, its origins remain unknown. Historical studies of English farming practices
from the 11th-16th centuries note that hay production was a regular, though secondary, farm activity (Ault 1972:25-27;
Homans 1970:41-42). Among the early non-wheeled forms of transport reported in the Scottish Highlands are a
travois-like horse-drawn sledge fashioned from two parallel poles; a sled with two parallel runners; and the slipe (also
slype), fabricated from a sturdy forked tree trunk (Grant 1961:281-283). Though the practice of “making hay” is briefly
discussed, no mention is made of any specialized means of transporting it (ibid.:97-98). Generally similar drawn vehicles
(typically designed for human rather than horse motive power) wer
also used in Ireland (Evans 1957:170-174). In that area, the two recorded means of carrying dried hay to the selected
storage site were slipes and a wheeled platform called a rick-shifter (ibid.:155). Studies of traditional Welsh transportation
devices have recorded only human-drawn slide-cars (a form of travois) and horse-drawn sleds (Fox 1931). Synoptic
studies of traditional French agricultural tools and implements (Delamarre and Hairy 1971) and forms of rural transportation
(Delamarre and Henninger 1972) make no mention of the use of a device such as observed in Ohio.
Of the forms of non-wheeled transportation recorded in Europe, sleds are abundantly documented in the folk cultural
literature of the southeastern United States (cf. Glassie 1969:187-188; Riedl et al. 1976:149-150, plate 70) and "lizards"
(vernacular name for slipe) have also been recorded in the region (Cavender 1975; Riedl et al. 1976:150-151, fig. 55).
Implements such as the Ohio hay sled are not reported in either studies of southeastern traditional woodcraft (Clarke and
Kohn 1976) or early American farm life (Sloane 1974). Though the material culture of hay stacking and storage is well
documented in the western states (Jordan et al. 1997:105-121), the conveyances actually used to transport the hay are not discussed.
CONCLUSION
The combined attributes of size, load limitations, minimal cost, and ease of construction of these implements as observed in
this part of rural Ohio suggest that such mono-runner sleds were probably used by small scale farmers for short distance
hauling in situations too steep for the safe use of a wagon or, in the reported instance, when confronted with atypical periods
of labor shortage which necessitated the revival and use of an archaic, less efficient but simultaneously less personnel
intensive means of transporting their crop. Much as it may be anticipated that the near universal availability of tractors has
effectively rendered this implement obsolete in terms of practical farm usage, it may reasonably be speculated that even in an era dominated by draft animals, its relative inefficiency likely always relegated it to being a secondary - rather than primary - means of harvesting hay. With the assistance and observations of colleagues in the region, the origin, history, distribution, and, indeed, the name(s) of this work-a-day item of material culture may be better understood. As an aside, it is somewhat interesting to speculate that the senior author may be the last living person to have used this device.
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 17 of 45: Cheryl (CherylB) * Mon, Jan 22, 2001 (18:24) * 1 lines
Wonderful article, Marcia. Many thanks to John S. Kessler and Donald B. Ball for letting you post it.
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 18 of 45: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Apr 10, 2001 (18:34) * 24 lines
Ah Don Ball has sent me more Melungeon information and finally one contains the meaning of the word
Current popular theory suggests that the Melungeons were descendants of abandoned Portuguese and Spanish
settlers.
The English word Melungeon has both Arabic and Turkish roots, meaning "cursed soul." Also in Portuguese,
"Melungo" means shipmate. In the Turkish language Melungeons are called Melun-can, "Melun" being a
borrowed word from Arabic meaning one that carries bad luck and ill omen. And "can," which is Turkish, means
soul. Meluncan then means a person whose soul is a born loser (Melungeons' Home Page). This term was in
common usage among sixteenth-century Ottoman Turks, Arabs, and Muslim converts to Christianity in Spain and
Portugal, and is still understood by modern Turks as a self-deprecating term by a Muslim who feels abandoned
by God.
Traditionally, Melungeons have been darker skinned people and, as a result, have frequently been discriminated
against by their Anglo-Saxon neighbors. Many Melungeons have hidden their heritage, and until recently, history
has not revealed where they came from or even how long they have lived on the American Continent. During the
struggles for land, when the white settlers arrived to the territory of the copper-skinned Melungeons, the whites
declared that they were "free persons of color." In many cases this legal designation stripped the Melungeons of
their many rights, including the right to vote, to own their own land, educate or send their children to schools, to
defend themselves in courts of law, and also to intermarry with anyone who was not also Melungeon. Kennedy, a
Melungeon researcher, says that "Melungeons had always been precluded to get all those rights until 1942." This
designation led to the taking of Melungeon land by the new white settlers.
More... http://www.multiracial.com/readers/cakir.html
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 19 of 45: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Apr 10, 2001 (18:37) * 3 lines
Cheryl, I will pass on your thanks. They are both very special men to me and I treasure their friendship and sharing what they know with me. I am still awaiting the delivery of their book. I can scarcely wait!
Thanks for being interested - it makes digging for information so much better!
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 20 of 45: Cheryl (CherylB) * Fri, Apr 13, 2001 (14:18) * 1 lines
I'm very interested, you might even say that I'm agog. I've never really used the work "agog" in a sentence before.
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 21 of 45: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Apr 26, 2001 (09:16) * 1 lines
I am, too. Fascinated and amazed. I cannot wait for my book to arrive. Rather, John S. Kessler and Donald B. Ball's book. I will share with you what was not included in the above information. They want me to have the book too. It is like waiting for the birth of a child for months after it has gone to the printers. I bug the UPS and USPS and FedEx guys about reading MY book first.
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 22 of 45: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Apr 26, 2001 (09:33) * 1 lines
I would truly love to have someone with Melungeon heritage join us. So much to learn and appreciate and admire about the entire subject. At this time I have questions which lead to more questions and very few answers.
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 23 of 45: Marcia Hemming (marci) * Fri, Apr 27, 2001 (04:12) * 1 lines
Cheryl, as usual, you keep me thinking, and for that I am eternally grateful. Your interest in this makes it so much more worth the efforts of hunting up information. Otherwise, it is much like orationg in an empty room hopeing some lurker overhears me and comes in to post. I am grateful and a whole lot more than that.
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 24 of 45: Cheryl (CherylB) * Sun, May 13, 2001 (15:09) * 1 lines
I'm a fan. So please keep hunting. Has your book arrived yet?
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 25 of 45: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, May 19, 2001 (14:18) * 5 lines
In bleary-eyed state yesterday afternon I opened a thick mailer from Mercer University Press containing my cope of North from the Mountains by John S. Kessler and Donald B. Ball. On Euphoria alone, I managed to email both of the authors that the long-awaited book was now in my hot little joyous hands. At least one of them was amazed since neither author had yet received notice that the book was out. Perhaps my persistence got to them. I asked regularly when I could expect to see my copy. They kept moving the date until a few days ago I heard June 1. Now, I must write the patient lady who handled my letters to thank her.
More about the contents as soon as I inhale it.
http://www.mupress.org/webpages/books/kessler.html
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 26 of 45: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, May 19, 2001 (14:20) * 3 lines
The book is subtitled:
A Folk History of the Carmel Melungeon Settlement, Highland County, Ohio
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 27 of 45: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, May 22, 2001 (19:05) * 0 lines
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 28 of 45: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, May 22, 2001 (19:09) * 7 lines
Now that the book is out and mine is being consumed mentally, take a look at what I am reading about
http://www.geocities.com/BourbonStreet/Inn/1024/carmel1/Carmel1.htm
Be sure to go on the second page (part 2)
http://www.geocities.com/BourbonStreet/Inn/1024/carmel2/Carmel2.htm since it has map and charts and names.
The authors have finally gotten their copies - much to their delight!
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 29 of 45: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, May 22, 2001 (19:14) * 1 lines
Actually that is the technical stuff for scholars and such. The personal life and time in the first person (John Kessler) is in the book of which I will tell you in a bit. I am busy making it part of me at the moment. This is great stuff. I wish I could have been there...
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 30 of 45: Cheryl (CherylB) * Wed, May 23, 2001 (18:41) * 1 lines
I'm waiting with baited breath to learn more about John Kessler.
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 31 of 45: Wolf (wolf) * Thu, May 31, 2001 (16:00) * 1 lines
i have found this topic most fascinating that i skipped down so i could talk! *laugh* reading it made me wonder....my dad said to me that if i do a lineage chart or such on are family, not to be shocked to find african americans with our name and in our bloodline. so now that makes me wonder, never hearing about this group, if that is what he meant (he is from PA).
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 32 of 45: Wolf (wolf) * Thu, May 31, 2001 (16:01) * 1 lines
oh, and though this may not belong here but...creole was mentioned above and i always understood it to be a mixture of french and haitian. is it a bi-ethnical race or tri?
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 33 of 45: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jun 4, 2001 (16:48) * 5 lines
Wolfie, I personally find hybrid vigor a good thing and anyone adding to my gene pool no matter who they are or where they came from is a plus for me. I asked Don Ball (the archaeologist on the above book) about how far back we would have to go to find we all have the same racial mixtures no matter how "pure" one hopes theirs is. He opined that it was probably not all that far. Another archaeologist/ethnologist who communes with me privately suggested to get the DNA testing done and eliminate the guesswork and conjecture (and endless chatter.) Kessler has suggested that it will not be done any time soon because being part Indian is wonderful. Being part black in the South (if you think of your family as "WHITE") is not all that welcome information.
Wolfie, to answer your question, Mix blood is what the duality of the creole, mestizo, mulatto cultures are. There are some "tri-racial" mixed-blooded folks who are trying for tribal status on the basis of their having AmerIndian mixed in with the other two. One such group, the Lumbees, have succeeded in their quest for a slice of the American Tax Dollar. If we all take from the pot and no one puts it back in, we are indeed doomed to third world status and NO one will remember how to earn a living wage as their forefathers did.
Cheryl I will email you - John Kessler is a most amazing man who has lived an interesting life. The same could be said about Don Ball. Both are most special as is this book. It is the first truly scholarly attempt to consolidate what is known from what is Politically Correct or hoped for, and it is throughtly researched and documented throughout.
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 34 of 45: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Jul 8, 2001 (18:50) * 4 lines
From an archaeologist and ethnologist of whom I have the greatest esteem I have this comment:
**They have done 100 DNA studies on Melungeons--mix Of East
Indian, Mediterranean, Blacks,and Amerinds**
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 35 of 45: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Jul 8, 2001 (21:36) * 1 lines
I wish he had a citable source. Now if only he would answer my email...
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 36 of 45: Maggie (sociolingo) * Mon, Jul 9, 2001 (05:53) * 68 lines
Found this for you Marcia ...
Melungeon DNA Study to be Completed in Summer, 2001
http://www.geocities.com/bourbonstreet/inn/1024/DNAannouce.html
An Announcement from Dr. N. Brent Kennedy
Author, The Melungeons: The Resurrection of a Proud People
March 27, 2001
For decades, critics have pointed to the lack of DNA evidence to support the centuries old Melungeon claim to possess at least partial Mediterranean/Middle Eastern/East Indian heritage. While respected gene frequency studies (e.g., Dr.James Guthrie’s 1990 study published in Tennessee Anthropologist) have supported the Mediterranean hypothesis, skeptics have generally dismissed such studies as “inconclusive.” All this is about to change. In the summer of 2001, a comprehensive genetics study on the origins of the Melungeons should be concluded. Dr. Kevin Jones, a molecular biologist and professor at the University of Virginia at Wise, is coordinating the study with several other genetics labs and local area physicians.
For the past year, we have been systematically collecting Mitochondrial and Y-chromosome DNA samples (maternal and paternal lines, respectively) in an effort to determine the general origins of the Melungeons. For the maternal lines we are utilizing hair samples and for the paternal lines, buccal cheek cells. In each case, the resultant DNA sequences will represent the DNA passed from mother to daughter to daughter or father to son to son. In other words, the DNA sequences obtained in this study should provide strong evidence of the original geographic (and thus, ethnic) origins of each of the lines being tested. Approximately 150 samples have been collected, and represent nearly all of the earliest known Melungeon lines, including, among others, Vardy Collins, Buck Gibson, and Mahala Mullins. Other well established Melungeon lines represented in the study include Goins, Mullins, Moore, Hall, Bennett, Bell, Osborne, Sexton, and Bowling/Bolling.
One focus of the study will be an attempt to differentiate between the Melungeons of Southwest Virginia and those of east Tennessee (for example, are the Melungeon Collinses of Stone Mountain in Wise County, Virginia closely related to the Melungeon Collinses of Hancock County, Tennessee, and so forth). The report will present data and draw conclusions based on the broader population sampling, but just as importantly on the subgroups within this sampling (e.g., the approximately 25 Hancock County samples, the approximately 30 Wise County samples, and the approximately 15 Lee County samples).
A second focus will be to conduct this study in such a way that it can be verified and reproduced by subsequent researchers. While those individuals who have participated in the study may certainly identify themselves, their names will not be released in the study report itself. It is worth reiterating that this is a serious scientific investigation, where stringent regulations concerning anonymity and access to DNA data have, and will continue to be, adhered to. Still, nearly all those involved have volunteered to participate in future projects for validation purposes or more specialized studies. I do plan on releasing my own DNA data, at least in terms of likely origins, for the various maternal and paternal lines. I will leave it to others in the study to make their own decisions.
While exceedingly important, this study will not be the end-all for Melungeon genetic research. There are several dozen Melungeon related populations in the Southeastern United States and Ohio River Valley that could provide equally important data. But this study should provide benchmark information in our understanding of the likeliest origins of Appalachia’s Melungeon people. Spin-off benefits to medical research and healthcare should also materialize over time and should prove to be of immense value, especially in improved diagnosis of genetically related diseases.
I hope all those who are sincerely interested in better understanding our heritage will join with me in both welcoming this study and supporting its eventual findings, regardless of the nature of those findings. There is no room for racism in what many refer to as the “Melungeon Movement.” Remove any single ancestor from any of our lines, and you and I are not here. I embrace each and every one of my forebears and anticipate with great joy the opportunity of better knowing them through the miracle of DNA analysis. White, Black, Red, or Yellow, they are part of me and I am eager for this chance to reach backward in time to make their acquaintance.
Finally, whatever the results of the study, the real work of historians has only begun. Once we know with some certainty the likely genetic origins of the Melungeons, the truly exciting research into just how - and from where - some of these early settlers came can begin in earnest. As an example, if we discover that Romany Gypsy, East Indian, Semitic, or East African genes are represented in the early Melungeon population, then that discovery begs the question of precisely how those genes arrived. Exiles from England, Barbados, or Trinidad? Surviving sixteenth-century Portuguese or Spanish Conversos? Turkish and/or Armenian indentured servants or abandoned sailors? Only time and further research will tell. And on the flip side, we may also find that the longstanding claims of Mediterranean and/or Turkic/East Indian heritages have no genetic basis whatsoever, and that the Melungeons are indeed, as some have steadfastly maintained, a simple conglomeration of Native Americans, West Africans, and northern Euro
eans. But either way, we’ll be enriched by the truth. And whatever the results, the Melungeons - and Melungeon dignity - are here to stay.
I appreciate your support as we continue to seek the truth regarding our ancestors, while understanding the undeniable kinship of ALL human beings. The Melungeons are truly One People, All Colors and our hope is that the rest of America will learn from us and adopt the same mantra.
Note:
Although Dr. Jones and the others will likely publish their findings in a refereed journal, a synopsis of the study results will be made available at an appropriate time on the Melungeon Heritage Association (MHA) web-site.
UPDATE!
Melungeon DNA Study Results Expected Late Summer
Given the growing interest in the Melungeon DNA study, I wanted to provide a
brief update. It is our intent to conduct a thorough and competent study
that can be both replicated by future researchers and further refined as
future gene bank data is generated. Given the approximately 175 samples (both
Y chromosome and mitochondrial DNA) that must be sequenced, as well as the
computationally intensive task of then comparing those results to known world
populations (and across the Melungeon population sample itself), completing the
study will require
several more months. Early September, or perhaps late August, should see the
conclusion of our efforts. While we understand the interest and desire to see
results sooner, speed is not as important as accuracy and quality. For
example, we are still acquiring samples, and there are approximately a half
dozen important family lines which remain to be collected. The sequencing and
analysis is also being conducted at several geographically separated labs and
this, too, requires time and careful coordination.
In short, we are delighted to see the interest in our work and are confident
that we will have results by the end of this summer.
Kevin Jones, Ph.D.
Dept. of Natural Sciences
University of Virginia-Wise
May 22, 2001
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 37 of 45: Cheryl (CherylB) * Mon, Jul 9, 2001 (19:07) * 1 lines
This is getting exciting, sort of like a mystery story. I'm sorry that's a bad analogy, but it seems like the solving of a puzzle.
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 38 of 45: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jul 10, 2001 (20:34) * 1 lines
Thank you, Maggie! Fascinating stuff. By the way, this website also contains the work of Kessler and Ball who gave their introduction to their book, North From The Mountains, as a paper at Wise, the home of Dr Kennedy and the research cited above. I have not heard from the esteemed archaeologist, but that does not surprise me. I suspect he has better things to do...
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 39 of 45: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jul 10, 2001 (20:36) * 1 lines
Cheryl, it IS a mystery story and that is what fascinated me about it in the first place. I have an invitation to visit the authors and tour the places in the book, North From The Mountains. It would be fascinating to see it and I could take photos and post them... and... and... actually MEET some of these people!
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 40 of 45: Wolf (wolf) * Thu, Jul 12, 2001 (21:33) * 1 lines
this is sooooo coool!
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 41 of 45: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Sep 19, 2001 (19:36) * 5 lines
More mix-blood isolates in the US?
They're searching for a Black Seminole village in Florida:
http://www.naplesnews.com/01/09/florida/d648785a.htm
http://braden.infi.net/content/bradenton/2001/09/09/local/0909seminole_1cw.htm
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 42 of 45: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jun 25, 2002 (14:06) * 7 lines
Time to revitalize this topic. I have just returned from the "Fourth Union of the Melungeon Heritage Association", heard lots of fascinating papers delivered by all sorts of knowledgable sorts including my host, and am wearing the t-shirt to prove it.
Papers from the unions (conferences) should be made available on the net but for this volunteer organization, time is limited and wishes are great.
I have had dinner with John Kessler and Donald Ball, the co-authors of a book on the Melugeons of Ohio which is both readable and scholarly. I do not often get this honor given to me, but they were fantastic, interesting and full of stuff to load on this naive lady from Hawaii. I took it all in just like I was expected to do - wide eyes and all.
I'll post information on This union just past as soon as I can figure out how to get more than one window on AOL's sad browser. *;)
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 43 of 45: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jun 25, 2002 (14:13) * 6 lines
http://www.geocities.com/bourbonstreet/inn/1024/welcome.htm
The above is the home of the Melungeon Heritage Association.
http://www.geocities.com/BourbonStreet/Inn/1024/carmel1/Carmel1.htm
This one is the url to find the paper much like the one presented by my host and a bit about their book as I have sited in earlier posts. I can hardly believe I have been to somewhere I have lived in my mind but never expected to see. Better still, I have met the men who brought them to life for me!
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 44 of 45: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jun 25, 2002 (14:19) * 28 lines
DNA Study Update
September 26, 2001
UVaWise professor Dr. Kevin Jones has announced that the anticipated
Melungeon DNA study will take about six weeks longer than originally
planned. Dr. Jones continues to sequence both Mitochondrial and
Y-Chromosome samples, but the most recent samples were not available for
sequencing until mid-September. Likewise, additional British genetics data
banks will also soon be made available, thus permitting an even more
accurate study report. Jones indicated that the gathering of more relevant
samples and having a more extensive world data bank for comparisons makes
the wait worthwhile. "It is imperative that we present the most accurate
and reliable study report possible," said Jones. "Our professionalism and
accuracy continue to be more important than speed of delivery. I believe
this is what the Melungeon descendants both want and deserve and it's what
I, as a professional, demand of myself. Nevertheless, I do anticipate
results by the end of October."
Dr. Brent Kennedy added, "Like everyone else, I'm also eager to know more,
and to know it sooner than later. But I respect Dr. Jones' approach to the
subject and I know that in the end we'll all be better served by this more
deliberate and impartial procedure. The worst thing Dr. Jones could do
would be to release the results in a piecemeal fashion. We've waited
several centuries, so I think a few additional months won't be a problem."
much more... http://www.geocities.com/bourbonstreet/inn/1024/DNAannouce.html
Topic 35 of 42 [cultures]: The Melungeons
Response 45 of 45: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jun 25, 2002 (14:20) * 1 lines
Unfortunately, we had to miss the first day of papers which dealt with the DNA studies up to this date. I am hoping abstracts of these papers will be available in the future. I do want to know more.
cultures conference 
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