Melungeon: The Criminalization of Race 

Wonderful!! 👏🥰 I am Melungeon based on records and DNA. My dad’s family are first Eastern Kentucky settlers and they’re all tri-racial & related to most of the Tennessee Melungeon. My family…Mullins, Jones, Brown, Owens, Reed, Collins, Gibson, Hall, Goins, Scott, Tate, Smith, Morgan. I remember my grandma showing me how she straightened her hair and bleaching her skin and telling me that someday I’ll have to do the same. She also told us daily that we were the dark Germans near the Italian border. My grandma definitely didn’t look even remotely German and none of us believed her. I am very proud of my heritage. They were very brave people who helped protect people during Trail of Tears and during slavery. Noble deeds that could have horrible consequences. As far as DNA, I show various European, African, but not Native. That’s because there is no Eastern Woodlands database for most companies. I have legal proof that I am descended from Powhatan, Chickahominy, Cheraw, & Cherokee. I also have been able to confirm dna connections to the Lakota, Dakota, & Canadian Natives through a project Cambridge is working on to sequence Eastern Woodlands Native DNA & create a viable database of each chromosome.

I’m from the Appalachian area and we are made up of so many races, we are proud of who we are.

This also made me think of some Carribean & New Orlean mixes: Native, European & African mixes however different in subculture & histories. We are all connected.

It was very important to my grandmother to keep her heritage hidden. My mother said family pictures were kept at the bottom of a trunk, and was told they had to keep them hidden because they were Indian, and people would not want them around if they knew. However mama said a lot of them looked african american. In my family you either have stick straight hair, or super kinky. 3 of my grandparents came from Harlan Co. Ky. We ended up south of Detroit during the "great migration". My sister always wondered why we had no sub-culture. When in second grade had to do a project on where our ancestors came from, my mother refused to tell me, and said just put an arrow around the world map. Later when she was elderly she let it slip she knew the migration of the family. My great grandfather never spoke of his people, either. However my GGM Malinda Thomas Vaughn's mother was Debby Brock descended from Jesse Brock. There are many other names in the family kept hidden and now know it was to keep from discrimination.

Im from Eastern Kentucky and I'm of Melungeon, African (Gowan-Goins), Native American (Terry) (Hicks) (Moore) (Gibson) (Collins) (Allen) (Chavis). My mother's DNA shows European, Native American, Sub Suharan Africa-Angola-Congo, and Portuguese

As an immigrant, finding new stories about this country is amazing. Thank you for putting this together.

My mother always said "Don't let your Oppressors tell you who you are".

There is so much valuable information here, but the music takes away from concentrating on the words and their impact. It's a good song (I love Stevie Wonder), but it's too busy for this important presentation.

Thank you for posting. As a mulegeon descendant it was insightful.

One more point that I personally still struggle with is identity and belonging. For much of my life, I personally felt that I was in a way lost or not fully fitting in with one community and culture over another. I still find folks trying to box us into one group over another group sometimes by skin color, sometimes by features aka your exotic looking or not fully one race, etc. Today, its really painful as folks seem to do this more often than the use to in the 80s, 90s and early 2000s. Some things that people say about one race against another is so hurtful sometimes as I feel like it is ripping me apart inside spiritually. I cannot hate one grandparent or parent over another, but the vicious words used sometimes feels like this and it hurts as bad as the time that a KKK person talked how he hated NAs, and how they were sorry, thieves and alcoholics. I stood up to him in the hotel restaurant and said do you hate me as a NA mix and he said yes. And, I told him off; but the pain of hearing him ripe apart my dad, grandparents, etc. still hurts and remembering the derogatory statements made at my grandfather when we went to the stores, and the insecurity and pain that my dad carried his entire life still haunts me especially today with folks boxing us into one color over the other. I just wish folks understood how hurtful they are when the do this as some don't care as they are a politician trying to win at all costs. Not sure if others understand this pain but I have to believe some do.

A Canadian here. I found this fascinating. Thank you so much for the education!

Lyn Ford is a phenomenal story-teller. I could listen to her all day.

I have family who is Melungeon, Collins from E. TN were mixed but most are white my aunt has hair like black people and she was picked on, she wasn't accepted by the whites nor the blacks.My mama had olive skin small pug nose high cheekbones. My Grandfather was very handsome darker skin not black. I don't know what all Melungeon is. She had a DNA test and Africa showed up, I am proud to claim my African heritage. God bless all God's children, in God's kingdom, all of us will be able to be who God made us to be. This makes my heart sad, I'm so sorry for all who have been mistreated abused, and killed. When my mom went to visit Tn the Melungeons in Sneedville Tn they accepted my mama as soon as they saw her and they were very private from what I was told. I would like to find out more about them.

That Josephus story gave me chills. Bless his soul and every other of his kind 🙏🏾

Story of my family is they lived in Kentucky , were dark complexion and blue colored eyes. They self identified as Indian and White. Before the Civil War they felt threatened , packed the wagons in the middle of the night and left Kentucky for Illinois where they could be safe until they moved to Kansas. My great aunt researched and wrote a book on this migration. Later my sister and I took a DNA test for health and ancestry. We showed only 3% Native American but unexpectedly 5% West African. I guess I must be Melungeon too. Now I can't find that book and my sister and great aunt have passed on.

My family is decended from the Moores, Gibson, Collins, and Coles that moved from Kentucky to Highland County Ohio. They called them "Carmel Indians" here. I didn't know any of this history until recently. I do remember the stories of hardship and how they were treated. Ancestry shows a lot of European and Scottish in my DNA. Then there is 4% African, and 2% Portugese. I remember my mom telling me that most of her moms siblings had "Negro" on their birth certificates. They were just "free people of color." Finding these roots were crucial in my healing process. I see so many people here I could possibly be related to. Tell me... how's your family now? Mine is dysfunctional and full of ancestral trauma. If anyone is interested in any information I may have, or would like to connect as family, let me know.

This must be the end of time as we know it. this is a great think that came to light answering many questions that was shunned or lied about. bur grandma told me more than she was suppose to now, that things come back to mind. Yesterday i came across the topic and it grabbed me. Felt kinda alone whole life, and now i understand, why they tell me i'm not normal. honest to GOD i aint looking for nothing but a place to fit in. been looking for home since i was 15 for 45 years. they messed up the way i talked with speech therapy. ooops sorry for venting. told girl of 37 years i was going to Tennessee this spring and if she wasn't coming, then i'm making a sign Home bound Tennessee unless i get another direction before then . this is great and thanks for all involved

Thank you for the upload. I'm Melungeon and on the constant search for answers behind my ancestry.

Thank you so much for shaing your important history with us!! These stories are heartbreaking and beautiful and bittersweet all wrapped in one...they are important and must be shared!!!! side note i watched a doc saying that Abe Lincoln was Meloungeon, and it made sense to me!!!!

My mom maiden name is Bolen and her fathers side is direct decedent's of pocahontas in West Virginia.. They're also related to the lily family in West Virginia .. Proud of my heritage !! Proud to be melungeon !!

Wayne: The Vinton County Ohio Melungeons, sometimes known as "Vinton County Indians", are a group of people who removed from Louisa County, Virginia after the Nat Turner Rebellion when free people of color were forced to leave the state. They were the mixed race families with names such as Thacker, Sprouse and others who's names now escape me. A Thacker was involved in Hawk v. Thacker, a landmark Ohio voting rights case.

My grandparents on both sides of my family are Melungeon. My mommas daddy, Lloyd William Mullins is a grandson of Mahalia Mullins, the moonshine queen of the Appalachian mountains. We are British-Irish, Scottish, German, Cherokee/African American and Portuguese. Mullins family came over on the Mayflower in 1620.They settled in the Appalachian mountains of Tennessee. The Keeleys and Tilley are also my Kin Folks.

So interesting, my thanks to all of you for your work. I wonder how my grandfather's family photo got included in your opening and by whom. I really liked the stories because they remind me of the stories I grew up hearing.

totally subscribed. next episode is the day before my birthday 🥳

Thank you for this! I always heard stories and saw (now lost) pics of Native but rumors of Melungeons but until recently, did not have much information. I have started doing geneaology and will be sending off my DNA after the holidays.

Three of my direct ancestors, all with the surname Collins, were prosecuted for illegal voting during the 1844 elections in Hawkins Co, TN, and faced accusations that they were ineligible to vote, having African blood...even though the Collins, and associated "free colored" families, had been voting, owning land, and suing in courts for generation up to that point. During the trial, the men were asked to take their shoes off and display their feet... charges were dropped because these men weren't FLAT-FOOTED!! It was actually believed at that time that people with a certain amount of African blood were flat-footed! I believe the suit came about because these men were all patriarchs of large families, and the family patriarch had a considerable amount of political persuasion, because the family would vote however the patriarch voted. Nullifying their votes could've definitely affected the outcome of the regional elections (hmm, sounds familiar...). Thanks for the video...shout out to Wayne Winkler...hey buddy!

Thank y'all for the acknowledgement!!!

Hello Alicestyne! It is Matthew Zip Irvin here. I am using this in my Appalachian Studies class..

Ms Lynette Ford, "time may take away my ability to remember the names and locations of your story, but I shall never forget the pride and dignity that your words made me feel - ib

I'm glad to have watched this whole stream, great information... If you're also on the Melungeon Surnames list, hello cousin! :)

This is reason you don't accuse people of Indigenous Descent of lying.

So it was the the British who passed inequality laws way back in the 1600's. Thank you for the history lesson.

I was arguing with an old friend that there are more groups of people in America then he knows about. I was trying to say whether you like/dislike a certain race of people they are possibly part of your bloodline. I wish I could share this with him! I try to tell people that you can be racist/prejudice but that's your bloodline!

born and raised in columbus. my whole family is from appalachia. so intrigued to getting closer to my roots i can’t believe the bump on my head is explained finally wow

Good video as it hit upon many things that I witnessed with my father's side of the family. Our families were in Southeastern KY and upper East TN/ KY border. My dad and some of his siblings, his grandparents showed more of the African American features while I and some of my father's other family members passed as more NA. I always knew our people were different as our culture didn't fit in the community where my mom's family lived and were raised. We didn't cook like whites, my dad and his people didn't go to a doctor or stay at a hospital until the 1960s. My paternal grandfather was treated horribly as his skin was extremely dark and folks knew about my dad's people and whites were not always accepting, but overtime they accepted us into the community. We have a lot of mix race history that has been traced to the 1600s and as recent to my grandparents. 2 of my great great great grandfathers Jesse Powers (Ridgetop Shawnee) and Hutson Collins were Black and NA mix, and served in the Union Army as Spies to track and report the movements of the Confederates because they knew the mountains and were known in the community to hunt in the TN/ KY border. Sadly, the Confederates after a while were found out and executed as they were considered freed African Americans which meant immediate execution when you were caught. I liked the question posted by the chairperson about key areas where focus is missing in the Melungeon community and history. One definite shortfall is Healthcare as autoimmune disease is rampant, GI related cancers, blood disorders as I battle like my dad's people rare forms of anemia, GI cancers namely Esophageal cancer, Liver cancer, pancreatic cancer, colon, Lupus, MS, Dystonia, etc. The other gap is education as many Melungeons in SE KY and Campbell County TN who remained like my dad's people had limited opportunities for education and advancement. Example, many of my cousins dropped out of HS as they saw no future and felt trapped. My family surnames in Southeast KY and Campbell and Claiborne County TN included Gibson, Chavis, Collins, Powers, Bennett, Collins, Osborne, Hatfield, and Hurst. Many Hurst of Bell County including my dad, his siblings, his father and aunts lived in an areas known as little South America which is were the mixed race and Melungeon families lived away from the whites. My Powers, Bennetts, Collins mostly lived in Whitley, Knox, Bell, Harlan, and Campbell. Pine Mtn KY/ TN was a very prominent area of my dad's family and where many Melungeons lived. Our mix is Choctaw, Cherokee, Shawnee, Lumbee, African American, French and Scottish.

A Great Pennsylvanian a Beautiful Family ,I was the Only Black in My Class in School,I Love your Stories. Cross the River Josephus Free us All.

Thank you for this, this was beautiful and healing for me.

Magnificent Storyteller! 🙏🙏🙏👏👏👏👏

Didn’t Elvis Presley have a Melungeon background?

For me I'm certainly appreciative of People exposing the truth behind Melungia and the Melungeon Race it's hard to explain why your Sephardic, English Seferati, European Asian and Low amounts of Sub Saharan African over all genetically I'm similar to North Africans because between both my parents I have 24% African Genetics of which only 1

Pictures Are All We Have of our History ❤

The information is fantastic and I am very interested in it. The slides go by too fast and I have to keep going back. It would be great if the progression through the slides could be controlled by the viewer. The music makes reading the slides very difficult since it has lyrics and I had to turn it off.

The music is highly distracting

I made a previous comment on a thread. Can’t seem to find right now. Many Melungeons migrated to other areas and described themselves as either White or “ Cherokee”. They “passed” and entered the larger White community. Many Southern families with a family tradition of Cherokee ancestry actually have Melungeon ancestry. Most remained in Appalachia and ended up intermarrying with the later Scots-Irish, German & Anglo-American settlers in the area. The intermarriage has made most of these descendants appear White. Most all White Southerners (with roots back to the 1700’s) have some African Heritage. Much of this is thru a Melungeon (“Cherokee”) ancestor. It is sort of like Neanderthal Ancestry. Did the Neanderthals die out? No. Although you do not see any Neanderthals walking around today, Most Europeans possess 2% to 5% Neanderthal ancestry. Among East Asians, the percentage is a little higher. So in one sense there are more Neanderthals around today than there was in their heyday. There certainly is more existing Neanderthal DNA around today. Melungeons survived & thrived. Their DNA is flowing through Southerners, Mid-Westerners & Westerners. Melungeons are the backbone of America. The African & Native American markers in DNA are the clues. But a lot of European DNA was passed down, too. I imagine that identifying Melungeon ancestry in predominantly Black families might be a little harder. Most all Blacks in America with roots back to slavery have a significant amount of White ancestry. Maybe more dependence on family histories is required there.

I was honored to care for a Tuskegee airman during his final days.

Omg Lynn make me cry. Thank you

Piedmont Melungeon here 97% European, 3% African. But, I've felt a little alone, as most people do not see the transition over generations, from darker to lighter. Making it weirder, I ended up going into foster care, and eventually got adopted So, I had my piedmont relatives that kept giving up their children for adoption. My mother had to straighten her hair, but not me.

I would love to find my ancestry. I know it's Melungeon but I don't currently have the means to research. Would anyone here be able to help?

I'm more than likely Melungeon. Mullins, Brown, Morgan are my all in my immediate family and were from Murfreesboro, TN.

Thank you for you informative lesson! I believe my husband has Mulengeon heritage. His DNA shows African and European but not indigenous. However he is a decent of John Moore and they were in Eastern Ken, Rowan and Carter counties. I've watched them on census record go from FC, Mulatto, Black and then finally White.

Thanks for sharing your story

Fascinating. I think we have melugeon in our family.

Thank you so much for this wonderful discussion!

I recommend that people watch the movie with Ashley Judd about Big Stone Gap it can give you a better perspective of the life of how things were back in the 50's or so

For both my mother and father's families, which actually overlap, the evidence that triggered me into believing we were part of the Melungeon people is that both sides of my family are mixed race black people, MOSTLY listed on all Census records as being Mulatto. Also, according to my DNA Summary, one of the people areas we descend from is the Eastern Bluegrass African Americans. Then the further breakdown shows which areas of the country are evident in each of my parents, including Appalachian settlers, which to me SCREAMS the fact. The Native American tribe that was passed down through oral history is Creek. And I have found through my DNA Matches two Creek women from an early North Carolina County named after another tribe called the Pentatauck (sp?) but also where the Sawyer family settlers were tracked which is where we get our Surname Sawyer. I also found several Cherokee women, again from the 1700s, in an area of Tennessee where they were clearly fighting with settlers and had been either traded or kidnapped. The last evidence for me is that, I saw a video of the racial break up of the appalachian people, which honestly showed there was African and NA but I have every single European ethnicity in my DNA except for Dutch, with a whopping 21% Scottish. That was my final confirmation.

My ancestry test had me at European.. I took another test through 23&me and it gave me North African/ Western Asian along with West African. To be honest, at first I thought they did it on purpose. I went back on ancestry and looked at close cousins and they were showing small percentages of Native, African, West Asian.. looked into 3rd and 4th cousins who to my surprise were pretty mixed. Then started looking at more cousins ( 3rd to distant) had some that ranged from fairly mixed to 70% African. I figured it was because after the 60s people married who they wanted.. My major connections are through the Carolinas. Followed by Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio and Missouri ( Midwest). When I research my ancestors.. I GET LIES!! I try to reach out to people to tell me the truth.. they don't!! I want the truth. They are my ancestors too and they deserve to be acknowledged. I just did FTDNA and hopefully I can connect the dots. Just waiting for my results.

A Great Family Story.

Thankful able to mute the "music" at the start,

Very interesting. Amazing how this Country was settled. My Family came from Northern Europe in the 1940's and 50"s. We all had it hard too. Whites were not entited either, but I am proud of my Prussian, German, Nordic Heritage too.

Others have commented about how the music you put with this presentation is distracting from reading and thinking about the information. Comments about this error in your production have been posted as long ago as 8 months ago. Doesn't anyone at ISC read comments and care about correcting the presentation by deleting the music? So what if it's Stevie Wonder?--it's inappropriate for this.

My mama and I were both adopted at birth. I found mama and she then got her DNA done when I got mine done. It made us scratch our heads for sure. It wasn’t until we found out our family came from West Virginia that we understood who we really are. I’m now learning about my ancestry the best I can, the hardest part is not have a full family tree.

Hi. I descend from the Cooper, Clark and Brooks family in Lincoln, Gaston. Cleveland and Rutherford Co NC. They were mixed blood. The Clarks and Coopers were Portuguese/Croatan. Other families that lived in the same community or married into our lined are ancestors the Revels, Oxendine, Hunt, Hunter, Reeves, Slade, Goins, Lockett, Richardson, Collins.

I pretty sure I’m a descendent of melangeon. My dna came back 8% African and traces of Native American , my 4th great grandfather was married to a Native American according to the 1800s census. I’m from the mountains of North Carolina. My family has lived in the area for 250 years. The area im from is called Quaker Gap. I can’t find any where my family owned slave or black household memebers listed on the census.

Zilpha Bulls was a family member, many of them come out of North Carolina & Virginia

Descendant of Mayle and Culberson right here.

Is this slide show available?

Ma’am what do you know about the Cole’s, Morris, goins and tan of Indiana and Illinois. I believe my father was a melungeon

Harlan County is Abraham Lincoln Country. Hodgenville Kentucky

Interesting story

DNA Consultants have a Melungeon DNA test and we took it and we show up in the category Melungeon.

I love the story of Josephus

Ive heard other historians speak on the Moors that were expelled from Spain and Portugal during the Spanish Inquisitions and they came over here or were sent over here. A lot of them mixed in with various groups and thats where the Spanish and Portuguese is coming in at

Does anyone know any common Melungeon surnames in Pennsylvania and West Virginia?

Looking for the name Dodd or Gossett. Married in Virginia than moved to Pulaski County Kentucky. Ann or Anna Dodd is listed as 'Mulatto' in a birth record, can find no other records. I am a Sickle Cell carrier, got it from someone.

My former deceased fiancee wrote a book on this group of tri-racial people in Ohio. His name was Donald B. Ball and Co-author was John Kessler. Don wrote the book but it was about relatives of John Kessler.

Thanks for talking bout me and mine.....

some of my ancestors on my mother side were Collins from Hancock co Tn. and some other around that area.

Much respect for choosing this Stevie Wonder song. I can't remember the last time I heard this.

How do I found if I’m mulungeon? I just found my Métis ancestry.

I have a question that perhaps someone will be able to answer. Is the term 'black dutch' also used for Melungeons?

Howard Universitys Finest

I love these histories! Are there any Jones in the melungian society? I was born in Jackson, Michigan, we have the safe house in the Wesley Mansion, and tunnels they say go under the new JHS building. My childrens' granny was from I think Danville? tennessee She was a Jones as am I (from Michigan) and her son their daddy was a true Redbone lol (fine as wine) but from his hair skin he was redbone, but if he wore shorts he looked white on his legs lol Myself I was raised in white society but didn't always feel comfortable, but my daddys history is a blank, though I did a dna with CRI genetics and omg I am MANY nations, I believe we all are though. (spanish, english, irish, welsh, dutch, german, n africa, w africa, nigeria, persia, Turkey, peru, alabama, puerto rico, N India, S India, W japan, Bejing, and S china) MTC Dna It tracked 35000 years. Need to research my brother to find the Nuclear line of my dad.

I've told My girls that we are Multiracial and that is what we put on the census

Beautiful

What happened to the 300

My family are melungeon and hid their heritage. My great great grandmother maiden name was Malugin . My middle name is Jean

Jaw dropping.

About that lost of names. With today's technology you don't really have to send it to anyone. Anyone who wants the list can stop the video where the list is showing and take a screen shot. Send it to a printer or just copy them and write them down. The whole document could be given the same way.

Have a few of these folks in my family tree on several branches. Amazing how America has obscured racial truths (usually Blackness) with exotic names like Melungeon, Black Dutch, Black Irish, White Russian & Black German. And by "amazing" I mean sad. Thank you for this.

Now they was way more thin just black oh my falt WE WAS WAY MORE THIN JUST BLACK . You people

Wasn’t Abraham Lincoln’s mother Melungeon?

The Jungle Music is very distracting.

I am Melungeon from Hancock County...Sneedville. My Ancestors are noted on the research that Mr. Goins did. My DNA showns no indeigenous ( Native American ) blood. I do not think the lady in the top left corner is Melungeon.

We can find out different stories about Malunjeon at State Library North Carolina. I grew up in the heart of Malunjeon country, close to my frequently visiting New Man's Ridge, which was the heart of Malunjeon settlement. A Collins man, my ancestors, Scot Irish led the Scot Irish came across Virginia. The Phonesians and Nigerians came with them. Malunjeon means mixed tribe. I could tell stories about a large population of Irish slaves over the worker slaves in all 3 of the Americas in the East 200 years before Nigerian slaves. It wasn't unusual for a black man to be over Irish slaves at one time in the deeper south as there is some history for that. I've got through family marriage that that have Spanish bloodline. Different people's through different countries had settlements the whole East coast at beginning of countries claiming parts of the America's. I think all that led to the Malunjeon people's was a mixture of the slaves, shipwrecked and different peoples seeking new rich land, kinda like a Virgin land. The Cherokee which did populate all Tennessee controlled Tennessee West of New Man's Ridge, even before it was North Carolina. My Grandmaw Collins was a Green and part Cherokee, born about 1891. My Paw Collins born in 1889. My 3rd Great grandparents was registered Free Persons of Color and his Wife was an Aitken, So I'm from an Aitken Clan Collins, from som Ed of the first people that were called Malunjeon. There was 3 Collins Chieftain, one Gibson and one Mullins traded that became e Chieftain. The Malunjeon had an Irish type Clan system, kinda like the Cherokee. About a third of the Eastern tribe men showed the Celtic, Scott Irish Y, the farthest back DNA. O yes: The People's that followed the Collins and Scott Irish through Virginia to New Man's ridge, now part of it is Newmans Ridge, well they took different Scott Irish Irish last names. I could go on and on but State Library North Carolina has got many stories that do tie together from what the stories that was told through different families families. Enough studying will give us an idea of who we are.

I have to say I disagree with the feelings about the dna testing. Yes no one should depend on dna alone but my biological father is a stranger and was a stranger from his father it was through dna I found my family and through building my family tree I was able to identify my family as melungeons which explains my dna that otherwise wouldn't make since. I am related to the Kennewick man clovis, have Africa connection and Jewish I was shocked being blonde hair blue eyed as both my bio parents. However my ancestors were north carolina melungeon. Andersons, Sizemore, Goins, Moores and a good 100 members where listed as mulatto and free people of color. I around not be prouder of my family history. We didn't focus on racial differences we wanted to blend us all back to where we originated from all humans are equal. Let's celebrate our inclusion and not focus on how the outside world responded to us.

Why not do both DNA and your family's stories

A family picture of my family is being used in an incorrect context. The picture which includes my grandfather and aunts, uncle and great grandmother was taken in Virginia and they have nothing to do with NC, WV, or TN or Appalachia. It needs to be corrected, taken out. Someone should do their research first before using photos that are not related to the topic.

I’m mahala Mullins grandchild also mulegwn

I just discovered who I am through DNA! A couple years ago My 2 times grandma was Alice B Male

Melungeons peoples of appalachia hello from west by god virginia