Melungeon: America's hidden heritage 

Just want to let you know I think you are such a beautiful spirit, you are so sweet and accepting of all people. I wish I grew up with people like you. You are not ashamed of your heritage no matter what. I admit I grew up in the time I if I could I would do what Great Granny did and pass, but you let me know you feel like gave up a lot and I do too. That’s the part that breaks my heart. You made me feel it’s OK to be whatever you are. Thank God for you. I love your heart.

You can look at him. Every Black family has someone likes that in the tree

My great grandma was Melungeon but she pronounced it different she was a sharecropper, and her grandmother was a newly freed slave when she married a native man, my family last name is satterthwaite from North Carolina, I know a lot of people with the Melungeon last names you mentioned

it's such an honor to know and love georgia. i am so proud of the work she is doing and the woman she is! i moved close to her so that we could raise our children together with melungeon traditions and its the best decision i ever made ❤

I didn't know anything about Melungeons until I started watching your videos. An elderly relative expressed his disappointment that our family's traditions regarding the deceased were no longer being used. He mentioned the covering of the mirrors and the clocks. I wasn't aware that was done. It was also a tradition for family to hold a all night prayer vigil . The women would cut their hair based on the moon chart. My father and other relatives planted seeds based on the Farmer's Almanac. I'm not sure if that is similar to the Man of signs chart. I have family members who have the physical characteristics of the Melungeons and same last names. I will have to dive deeper into my family's history. Thank you for these videos and for sharing what you are learning ❤

This is the best video I've ever seen on Melungeons. Thank you so much for this authentic representation. This means so much to me.

Thank you so much for bringing Georgia on. I do admit it's a touch disconcerting hearing someone who doesn't have the Appalachian accent talking about things that I grew up with, like talking the fire out of a burn and planting by the signs. I wish when all my grandparents were here that I'd have listened and learned more. I didn't find out about there being a Melungeon connection on my mom's side until I was older and doing family tree research and going on ancestry. There have always been things mom wouldn't talk about from her family and I think that part of it was during the time she was growing up and the area she grew up in at that time, it was not okay to be different. I didn't have kids myself, but, I have a bonus daughter and grands from my husband. A lot of the plant medicine and such got lost because of modern medicine and moving to the city and not having access to the plants and things from back in the hollers.

I know it’s totally off topic but your curls are so beautiful!

I have done research on the Mulengon culture and it's my personal opinion that this label was created so folks could erase their African ancestry.

I just found your channel. I was adopted from Harlan, Ky at birth. It wasn’t until I submitted dna to every genealogy testing site possible that I learned about Melungeons. My dna kept coming back with sub-Saharan African, and there was no way to place where that line was coming from. As a child, my mother that adopted me was frequently asked if I was Israeli, my mom worked in a Jewish nursing home in Chicago. My features are very distinct and I found out who my birth mother was and I definitely didn’t look like her, her family, or her sons. They are all blonde with blue eyes, and actually exceptionally tall. My biological brothers are 6’7 and 6’3, my birth mother is 5’11. I’m 5’5. I was born with black curly hair with black eyes that changed to dark brown as I aged, I have light olive skin but I’m covered in freckles. I still have very dark almost black hair that is wavy. My nose is very distinct and my eye shape is almond. I couldn’t figure out why I looked like I do, but no one on my maternal line looked like me. After years of research, I found out I am Scots-Irish, sub-Saharan African, a very small percentage of Asian, very small percentage of Native American, and a small percentage linked to the Middle East. Through genealogy groups, I was able to pinpoint surnames from my dna matches that were Melungeon lines. I’m still trying to learn more and feel very lost on all of it, but I appreciate you covering this topic!!

If you have any surname Goins family members your most likely connected to the Melungeon community. I traced one of my family lines to Shadrack Goins in Grainger Tennesse, they were a melungeon community who considered themselves Portuguese and Indian. They would be considered black today.

Hi Danielle, I didn't know what Melungeon was until me and my family received a genealogy book which talks about my great-grandma paternal grandfather side of the family which details him and his family being melungeon, and tracing back to Colonial America.

I'm a melungeon watch the movie Big stone gape, that's where I am from. We are a mix a many races and ppl used to treat us wrong but in the state of Virginia we cannot be known as melungeon because of Jim Crow laws that still exist in Tennessee they can be known on their birth certificates as a melungeon

She's so knowledgeable about this culture and so willing to share it. I love giving and welcoming people. Fascinating discussion as always. Thank you Danielle for uploading and sharing this with the world it's an important apart of our American history that most people are not aware of. Let's talk about these things.

It’s crazy honestly cause me being from a Puerto Rican, Mexican and Cuban family, I have quite a few siblings that look just like her grandpa, it’s funny actually cause he honestly kinda looks like me in real life,( my profile pic on RU-vid isn’t actually me that’s a character from a game ) if I saw him on the street I’d honestly assume he’s Caribbean. Honestly, Melungeons and Caribbeans seem to have pretty similar DNA interestingly, almost exactly the same; with West African, Spaniard, Portuguese, Indigenous American Ancestry etc. That’s pretty cool alright. 💯👍🏾👍🏾

As already mentioned in comments, « melungeon » comes from the French verb « mélanger » which means « to mix » or « to blend », more precisely its first-person plural, infinitive or imperative moods : « mélangeons », meaning « we blend » or « let’s blend ».

My grandfather use to also heal folks that had been burned and it would remove the heat and heal the burn. We call it "Talking the Fire". My family hail from Danville, VA. It involved him praying over the person, but somehow the person never remembered what he was saying, just that it really worked!

Yes, and so proud of it now that I’ve found out. My dad would probably be upset to find out on the other hand.

Danielle just wanted to say thank you for all that you do!! All my life and throughout school people always asked me what I was, if I was part Asian/part west Asian/middle eastern etc and I never knew exactly what my family story was so I didn’t have a concrete answer. Digging into my family history now has helped me to understand why I might have inherited some of the features I have and also to understand what my Melungeon ancestors probably went through. I’m mostly Irish Scottish and German with small amounts of South Asian, Native American, middle eastern and small amount of African DNA and me and my family have lived smack dab in the middle of the Appalachian mountains in WNC. Thank you so much for your videos they have really helped me to better understand so many different aspects of genealogy!

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I've known many elders that would also speak the heat out of burns, i wished i would have leaned it from my grandmother

Yall keep doing what you're doing. You're helping people with their background. We are not put in a box like they want us!

I always feel left out of this. My Grandma is a citizen of the Muscogee Creek in Oklahoma, through her dad, she had a white mother and her birth certificate says Creek Indian on it. That's about as definitive as it gets, yet I feel like a lot of people will still say I don't deserve to consider myself Muscogee because I pass as white, even though my grandma and great-grandpa would certainly not.

Covering mirrors, Old Christmas or Little Christmas and Decoratio n Day. These are all very familiar to me. Be yourself and don't change for anyone.

I’ve honestly never heard of Melungeon people before until now, so I just did my own little research on Google. How I see it is like Melungeons are like the Creoles of the northern United States.

Don't sleep with your feet facing the road, that's how the dead rest.

I am blond hair , green eyes and white skin. My family are all from the south and both parents are part native American and my father is part black. My father's family was dark and my mother was very light but some of her siblings were dark.

Thank you for the most fascinating conversations!!!

Thank you for sharing. I've discovered that my grandmother practiced so many of the things you were discussing. Through doing the family tree, and looking at our DNA, I understand her so much now. So much was lost and hidden, so they could survive. But those of us who are descendants must keep the stories, and practices alive.

This is so exciting to me! I randomly learned about Melungeons last year while getting into the rabbit hole of the Appalachian Mountains in Pennsylvania & West Virginia. I came across the term and photos and was blown away! Why haven’t we heard/learned this more? Now this year you’re doing THIS?! I love you and your channel so much Danielle!! My sister’s name too 🥰 We are kindred spirits haha

Race is actually a good identifier for census if it wasn't there many African Americans wouldn't find their ancestors. Even writing the word M to denote mixed ancestry helps people find out their real history. This is even how white Americans found out that they had some black ancestry. Just look at finding your roots. The box should and think it does allow you to mark more than one box.

I'm friklin' MELUNGEON?! This is not even a term I heard growing up, but my family is ALL OVER this video! In the Pee DEE pocket, I saw Both my (patrilineal) tribe "Winyah", ( *very proud*, very dark-skinned, un-"redbone"-like), to which I have traced to the chieftain line, (but I believe is pre-Columbian, as the Spanish began enslaving us in the 1520s).. And also listed, is my wife's tribe (Croatan). In the other list are practically THREE of my (matrilineal) surnames, the primary "Harris", which has been traced to the chieftain family of the Catawba tribe. At the bottom, are listed the South Carolina county where I grew up, (Sumter) the County of my father's people (Williamsburg), my mother's ancestral people (Lancaster), and the county where I currently reside (Kershaw)! What is extra crazy, is from my native North American DNA, South American (Olmec/Inca),African/Israelite/Judean/Levite, and Even the European DNA, all seem to go back to ROYAL (or priestly) LINES,...(The European line even claims that Thor and Loki are my uncles, as I am allegedly *Son of Odin"! (Meanwhile, learning that much of the European Royal history is far " BLACKER" than they would like for us to believe!) I say this, because, my bloodline has got me thinking that the Royal bloodlines were blended intentionally, not just Euro-continentally, but perhaps even GLOBALLY!! It's also interesting that you mention the Filipino DNA, because I got the same Filipino/South China Sea hit in my DNA profile as well, but have not documented a viable historical papee-trail to follow on that one! (*good luck, right!) They have *disappeared so many of us "ON PAPER"!!! VERY INTRIGUING INFORMATION! ❤ ✊🏾 The Great, Great Awakening Continues.... Stay strong, Beloveds! Be Love. -Watchman Winyahudah Adéwalé Amaru

Good evening, had to catch this one late, glad I subscribed!!!!!😊

This is my favorite so far. Thank you.

Thank you for showcasing this!! I worked on my ancestry and found I am Melungeon!!!!

It's important to teach your kids about their roots, but it's also important to teach your kids that their country is America, and important for them, for their country to stay tolerant

I find your videos very interesting and informative. At nearly 64 I had never heard the word Melungeon until I listened to you. Like many, I have heard about a mysterious Indian princess on my maternal grandmothers side but all roads to discovery have hit a dead end. Or rather, to the time without birth certificates.

Thank you so much. This discussion seems to have nailed my ancestry.

What a great guest Georgia was! We need more people like her in the world!

Melungeon is not a nation nor a race... it was created as part of the caste austen System... the real confusion was to change who black Americans were... Black Americans are the Indians that lost our land, and that why all this confusion is what it is

Oh wow - this is so new to me thank you for explaining! ❤

This is great information!!

That is a great way to feed your family if you are poor. My grandmother was Italian but she did similar things with the food she had.

Thank you. I just learned something today. Appreciate this video.

My granny was a Gibson, but have had a hard time finding info on her parents. Makes sense! Ty for sharing

Hi there NYTN. This doesn't concern this video directly, but I found a hidden possible community, that would make a great story for you below: Boon County, Watauga County, North Carolina. The oldest African American community in the Appalachian. I found out it's 86 miles away from my mother's side of the family in Winston Salem North Carolina. may be a Malungeon connection here. Theres a straight road between the two.

🎯🎯🎯🎯Great discussion (a lot of extended family from the Appalachian region).

Thanks for sharing. I’d never heard of them before.

Very intresting, the funeral ceramony that she explained it's very close to what many southern europeans do in there tradition. We are very close more then you think.

I love this interview

Well, now, this explains a lot. My gg grandmother on my dad's side was a Cox who married a Knight in Mississippi. The Free State of Jones people. It all makes a special kind of sense. Thank you for working on uncovering our families hidden past. ps...we eat melungeon food too.

Love your channel. You should read about the Ramapo mountain people. They're trying to gain tribal recognition.

The death traditions and healing traditions with herbs she described are West African. We have something similar in Cuba in my Afro Cuban Yoruba tradition. In Latin America and the Caribbean much of what existed in Africa is luckily in tact. Proverbs, detailed healing remedies, and much more is still passed down. The gumbo she discussed in Africa is called "ochiniwa gumbo" , the word for stew with okra in it. From Sierra Leone West Africa..

Do you have any information on how to find out if your family is Melungeon. There are some similarities in my family.

I was able to look up Decoration Day & Little Christmas, but what the heck is the Fire Circle thing?

So interesting.

It can mean different things. The multi racial heritage can be different races, depending. Example: Caucasian, Jewish, Native American, African... and even Arab.

Your grand dad was a handsome guy . Interesting Convo glad I tuned in

I know this is not most Melungean Peoples, I came across a few Melungean People online who were having some sort of identity crises of their origins, they said they were the First Cherokees and they look White American. These People often hated on the three Cherokee Tribes as if they were jealous of the Cherokee being Indigenous and having ancient history in the Americas. People who are part of these modern day ethnic groups should just realize they are from a mixed race and multicultural background - there is no ancient origins of these groups, they came about during early American mingling and cultural appropriation, which is fine.

Such a great video with lots of information. I especially liked seeing the written information. I am not only related to the author Jack Goins (4:29) but also Ted and Ned Sizemore (5:21) and All George Sizemore. That is a very interesting line. Old Ted was hung during the revolution for being a Tory (loyal to the British crown). One of my Great Aunts was married to "Wild Bill" Sizemore of Rogersville, TN. He killed many Civil War soldiers, but not on the field. It started what was like a Hatfield and McCoy family fued. His cousin ended up shooting him in front of the court house. He was so hated in the town it took over an hour for his wife to get any help moving his body.

Thank you

My family descends, it appears, from the historic Lumbee (pre-1910 Census/pre-indigenous naming/pre-indigenous roll) out of Robeson County, NC and is related to the Oxendine, Locklear, Chavis, Goens/Gowens/Goins, Dial, etc. Lumbee families. Those families are related to my Free People of Color-descended relatives on the other side of my family who resided in New Bern and Carteret, NC. Some of those surnames are Carter, Freeman, George, Godette, and Deadwyler. All of these families appear to have migrated to NC/SC from Virginia. They are also connected to the Melungeon families and other Free People of Color families who resided in Halifax, NC. All of these families appear to be connected - same surnames, same cultural patterns. Surnames like Nickens, Gowens are FPOC surnames in Maryland/Northern VA as well. Nickens is a well-known FPOC surname in MD/NOVA. Shoemake/Shoemaker, Harmon, etc. are also well-known FPOC surnames in NC. It appears all of these families came from VA, are connected, and migrated to other places during the colonial and post-colonial period embracing evolved/new identities in an era of oppression. It's fascinating, and I'm enjoying the journey of discovery. Well-known FPOC researcher Paul Heinegg is also a great resource on this topic.

Until very recently I didn't know that I could have Melungon blood. Then I saw the names Chavez/ Chaves, Harris, Ellis/Ellison. All those are name that appear in my pedigree. Blonde hair, blue eyes, hair, green eyes are also not unusual in my extended family. I myself am black, my husband is Italian my daughter is black, my son is white on official papers. There is a story behind my son's official racial designation.

Which DNA test would you take to find out. Ancestry has lot of descendants from these rural American cities

My grampas family was what they called melungeon. From Kentucky. Wasn't allowed to live in town. Dna test in his 90's- he was Palestinian, Greek, Italian and Scandinavian. Tan skin and coarse curly hair

I’ll bet Mammie was what some call a kitchen witch. The name comes from plant and medical knowledge. These herbs to use in a poultice for a rash, those herbs in a tea help during childbirth, how to set broken bones and so on. Women who were healers for the community are as old as our species.

A Melungeon in Italy is an eggplant.Blackskin on the outside ,light white geenish on the inside.The taste is bittter so you have to salt and let sit till the moisture comes out, then you rinse,bread the slices and sauté in olive oil.Delicious!

Wow this is cool. My ggma side were Hardys and ggpa were Collins from MS and then moved to St. Louis, Mo. and I did hear the Cherokee and Irish references. Need to do a dna test and trace the whole family. They had 14 living children and all the children’s features were different from red hair to long straight hair to curly and complexions. A lot of mixed DNA somewhere.

I don’t know that that specifically notes a heritage.. I think it’s actually speaks more to the region of the Appalachian that they lived in.. It is a word that I have come across in researching My family history… In the section that was describing families in a particular area and what they were referred to…

I suspect nearly everyone carried out corpses feet first. Also I guess because the young lady grew up in the North, cornbread seems exotic, when just about anyone in the south or southwest eats cornbread. Corn is native to the US and so many tribes were moved west of the Mississippi. Still food from TN is a bit different.

Melungeon First time I've ever heard of it

Here!

This was intresting people would be amazed how closely related we are in America.

could you give sources for the surname lists you posted?

Faith healer: Traiteur (in S Louisiana) 😊

The shifting DNA groups for mixed people is pretty funny. I went from being 60% native 30% British isles and small percentages of various African tribes to 40% native 25% British isles to 10% west African and now some Spanish, Sephardic, Ashkenazi, and Portuguese. 😂🤣

Do a lot of Melungeon Peoples think of themselves as a modern day ethnic and/or multicultural group? The moon astrology of some Melungeon must be from a Ancient European European Pagan Culture that a few People brought over from Europe during the early migration era of the USA, no?

Maybe one of the family members married a Filipino from St. Malo ,Louisiana in the 1700s . There was a small community of Filipino seamen that left the Spanish ships and started a colony there .

I have families member that is Melungaeon looks the same way g g grandma did also

Decoration Day is Black American anyone can look that up.

My grandmother would not plant when the signs were in the bowels. She said that the plants would not bear fruit.

My grandma always said to get your hair cut in a full moon

Alot of various peoples like this here in Louisiana........

DNA analysis is the single best tool we have to determine true "Ancestry". Anyone can make up any family story, but no one can "make up" their DNA, which is why we use it in all Professional and Scientific settings. Every good "genealogist" knows to follow the "genes". It's right their in their title. ;) Thankfully, she's putting the "Black-Cherokee Princess" nonsense to rest. It's the oldest, worst, most disproven "meme" in all of AA "history".

I agree with a lot of the points this sister made. I do not wish to join any of the so-called federally recognized tribes due to the fact that the vast majority of the chiefs themselves have such a small amount of Indian blood per se. I did find American Indian ancestors on my tree but the vast majority of my ancestry is from Scotland, Ireland, England and a little from France (great grandfather was French Kreyol from St John the Baptist Parish Louisiana). My dad taught my siblings and I that we were part Kreyol and that his grandfather spoke Kreyol. I would love to reconnect to this part of my ancestry

Me? Nope. Grandparents walked off of boats about 120 years ago.

Rootwork what people call hoodoo also involved herbalism. It wasn't just about magic spells but rather medicinal herbs.

Whoa what’s that synth?

My MGM kept the family pics hidden and later detroyed b/c she said people would discriminate d/t them being "indian", but many looked african. 3 grandparents came from Harlan CO. KY and Lee CO VA. What it means is we have no subculture, or traditions. I got an F in school on a project that we were supposed to identify our country of origin, b/c my mother refused to give that information. She did admit to our ancestors origin before she died. In my 70's now and identify much of what is discussed from my early childhood in Claibourne CO TN.. One thing have not been able to find is the tribe of origin for Jesse Brock who settled in Harlan CO KY. He stated he was 3/4 indian, but the Cherokee, state he was not one of theirs.

Very handsome Granpa!

My grandma tried really hard to keep it a secret from us, that we are Cherokee and possibly melungeon too

All Black people are Melungeon which is Dutch for Mulatte or Morien

I'm in the same boat. I've really been struggling with which race box to check. Like 3% does not count anymore. Yet, I've lived the life. I'm had the grandmother whom was 12.5%. etc. And for me this checked all the boxes, and explains some of my grandmothers conversations (birth mother's mother). What really confuses me, and throws me, is that my grandmother talked about family secrets (lol). What you are missing, the disconnect, is when you pass, then you can be the victim of racism from your own family. So, in my grandmothers experience, she felt discrimination from her sisters, so, she left for the North, where there was more tolerance, and less questions. So, that's how the culture is lost.

Melungeon for sure came from the French verb "mélanger" = to mixt ...

Anybody, do you know cultural origin of hanging an empty eggshell half from a door jamb? Or placing an axe in ground in expected path of a tornado?

Dolly Parton and Elvis are said to be Melungeon.🇺🇲

I am 57 my family is creole and I have never ever heard this word

Good looking dad!

Some don't have an indian princess ancestor. They just don't talk about it. All I was ever told were we were from mountain folk. Like that explains why we look 'different'. When asked why we're darker than other white people we're told "we're olive and tan real easy." Uuumm ok, but why do we tan copper? ......crickets..... ETA: The Racial Integrity Act of 1924 actually had a list of melungeon surnames so that people knew that those families were technically PoCs.

A lot of Appalachian migrated to st louis missouri