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Archiver > Melungeon > 2005-12 > 1134753179


From: "Dennis Maggard" <>
Subject: Re: [Melungeon] Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish, Sephardic and other meaningful, non-Indian exotic cultural Presence in NORTH America before 1619
Date: Fri, 16 Dec 2005 12:12:59 -0500
References: <20051214231715.11216.qmail@web31206.mail.mud.yahoo.com> <003d01c60182$4d4d0fb0$acc58641@hopestar> <003201c601a3$d6c157d0$6401a8c0@charlie1> <012b01c601c8$a3a45260$0a00a8c0@pennylaptop> <01f501c60208$544c0560$3382b443@curtisnew>


Curtis,

I see no reason to believe that the Melungeons originated with Spanish
colonists either; however, in order to grant primacy to Tim Hashaw's
Angolans, he must first demonstrate:

A) That the Melungeon core families of circa 1813 were descended, in part,
from these Angolans.

and, even more importantly,

B) That the descendents of the Angolans formed distinct, recognizable
communities and/or kinship groups with a continuing existence over the
course of more than a century and a half culminating in some of them
becoming the Melungeon core families of circa 1813.

I'm not sure he's done A, and I'm even less convinced he's done B. Until he
does, Angolan ancestry remains just one of many possible/probable Melungeon
ancestries and there is no reason to value it above the others. Note also
that in any event Angolan ancestry at best only accounts for only a fraction
of Melungeon black ancestry and it is unclear why it should be valued above
other black ancestry.

In my opinion, much confusion in Melungeon research has been caused by the
early to mid 90's belief, based largely on the alleged Sevier letter, that
there was good reason to believe the Melungeons were found living in
Southern Appalachia by early English explorers from Virginia and North
Carolina. Once you realize that was not the case and that the circa 1813
Melungeon forebears can be documented living in the east and moving west
along with everyone else, the need to find "exotic" Melungeon origins
involving lost colonists and stranded Turks and such goes away. However,
this is not to say that there is no "exotic" Melungeon ancestry --
personally, I suspect there is -- but that if it is there -- as the DNA
evidence more than hints -- it most likely arrived in the New World the
conventional way, via the docks of colonial Virginia.

Dennis

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