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Archiver > Melungeon > 2009-09 > 1253385740


From: Anita Wills <>
Subject: Re: [MELUNGEON] Minqua of Southeastern Pennsylvania's WelshMountains
Date: Sat, 19 Sep 2009 11:42:20 -0700
References: <d5d.48c740d9.37e679f7@aol.com><f2efa5340909191129l513c5a37xe1a6e1157ae2f799@mail.gmail.com>
In-Reply-To: <f2efa5340909191129l513c5a37xe1a6e1157ae2f799@mail.gmail.com>


This is a posting from a site about the Susquehanna, and there is no mention
of the Iroquois. The names there were called by the Dutch and Swedes was
Minqua. The racial conentations may not be clear in the postings, but many
Natives were separated by race. My ancestors were descendants of the Minqua
or Conestoga Indians of The Welsh Mountains. Their descendants are not
black, white, or Indian, but a mixture of all three. Are you are the board
to share information or knock everyone else who does?

Anita

Susquehannock appears to have been an Algonquin name meaning the "people of
the Muddy River" (Susquehanna). Whatever name they used for themselves and
their confederacy (if indeed there ever was one) has been lost. There are
several other different names for Susquehannock which were commonly used by
early Europeans. The French called them Andaste from their Huron name
Andastoerrhonon. The Dutch and Swedes used the Delaware name of Minqua
meaning "stealthy" or "treacherous." Eventually, they made a distinction
between White Minqua (Susquehannock) and the Black Minqua who lived farther
to the west and were probably part of the Erie. Variations of these were:
Andastaka, Andasto, Atrakwer, Gandatogué, Mengwe, Menquay, Mincku, and
Minque. The English colonists in Virginia and Maryland called them the
Susquehannock, but Pennsylvanians during the 1700s preferred Conestoga
derived from Kanastoge (place of the immersed pole), the name of their last
village in Pennsylvania. The Powhatan in northern Virginia may have called
them the Pocoughtaonack or Bocootawwanauke. Although it is likely these
peoples were Susquehannock, their precise identity is uncertain.


On Sat, Sep 19, 2009 at 11:29 AM, Anita Wills <> wrote:

> The black Minqua had to do with the race or look of the person, as did the
> word white. It is a reference to the Welsh Mountain the mixed raced
> Susquehanna Indians. I know you want to remove the race aspect but this is a
> Melungeon site. It is not an Iroquois term it is a Algonquin term.
>
> Sorry.
>
> Anita
>
> On Sat, Sep 19, 2009 at 11:16 AM, <> wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> "Black and White Minqua had nothing to do with the color of their skin.
>>
>> ''_Honniasont_
>> (
>> http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/tribes/indiantribehistory2.htm#Honniasontkeronon)
>> . An Iroquois term meaning "Wearing something
>> round the neck." Also called: Black Minqua, the word "black" said to
>> refer
>> to "a black badge on their breast," while "Minqua" indicated their
>> relationship to the White Minqua, or Susquehanna ''
>>
>> There may not have been any name associated with your family and if you
>> want to call them tri racial isolates I certainly don't have a problem
>> with
>> it. The Melungeons, Redbones, etc., did have a name associated with them
>> -- just as the Cherokee, Shawnee etc., did. I have never seen it argued
>> anywhere that the Melungeons were NOT Indians. I don't understand why
>> they
>> can't be 'called Melungeons or Indians'. Why do we have to coin yet
>> another
>> name for them? Joanne
>>
>>
>> In a message dated 9/19/2009 1:32:05 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
>> writes:
>>
>> There is some disagreement on the list regarding the reference to
>> Tri-Racial
>> Isolates. The reason I posted the name Tri-Racial Isolates to the list
>> is
>> simple, there was no name assigned to my ancestors. They resided in the
>> Welsh Mountain Region of Southeastern Pennsyvlania, long before the
>> Europeans arrived. When Free Blacks and whites went into the Mountains a
>> mixed raced group emerged. Upon looking through documents I have gathered
>> I
>> found the name, they called themselves. They called themselves Minqua,
>> and
>> they were also referred to as black & white Minqua. By the way the Welsh
>> Mountains are part of the Appalachian Range, and those in the Mountains
>> used
>> that range to visit relatives in the Mountains of Virginia. The Minqua
>> were
>> also referred to as Susquehannock, which means, People of the Muddy River
>> (a
>> reference to the Susquehanna River).
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> "I have been too long barked at to be mindful of the noise."
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ATTENTION:
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>
>
>
> --
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>
> Pieces of the Quilt: The Mosaic of An African American Family<p>
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> Afriquest<p>
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Pieces of the Quilt: The Mosaic of An African American Family<p>
http://pcsquilt.com

Afriquest<p>
http://afriquest.com/</p></html>;


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