Melungeon
From Wikinfo
A Melungeon is any member of a particular set of populations in the United States, concerning whom a rich variety of theories exist regarding their ethnic, linguistic, cultural and geographic connections.
The term Melungeon is often seen as a 'test' of the nature and notion of nationhood, as it encompasses so many of the aspects which characterise both distinctly non-national and national entities, in particular that of a diaspora without a unitary homeland.
The extent to which any of these aspects constitute a unique or specific race or ethnicity is controversial, because members of this group are considered to be ethnically mixed rather than exhibiting characteristics which can be incontrovertibly classified as being of a single racial phenotype. The Melungeons currently inhabit the south-eastern United States as well as southern Ohio and Indiana. "Melungeon" is the term applied to those group members living in:
- eastern Kentucky
- south-western Virginia
- eastern Tennessee
- southern West Virginia
Potentially related populations also include:
- Carmel Indians of southern Ohio
- Brown People of Kentucky
- Guineas of West Virginia
- We-Sorts of Maryland
- Nanticoke-Moors of Delaware
- Cubans and Portuguese in North Carolina
- Turks and Brass Ankles of South Carolina
- Creoles and Redbones of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.
Among the Native Americans, connections exist within:
- Algonquian tribes of eastern and central Virginia
- Lumbees
- Monacans
- Saponi
- Catawba
- Cherokee
- Muskogee
- Creek
Each of these groupings of Melungeons has a particular history and culture, but historical evidence shows relationships between them and indicates a common origin.
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Origin
Melungeons claim to be of the following origin:
Mediterranean and Middle Eastern origins are said to be proven by contemporary genetic and medical evidence, specifically Guthrie's Mean Measure of Divergence. However, that is not precisely the case.
Mean Measure of Divergence (MMD) of Melungeons from Other Populations taken from a 1990 study by James L. Guthrie.
POPULATION MMD (From the closest to the fartherest away).
Libya (Tripoli*) 0.017
Cyprus (Toodos-Greek) 0.017
Malta* 0.018
Canary Islands (Spanish) 0.019
Italy (Veneto) 0.022 Close Matches
Portugal 0.024
Italy (Trentino) 0.026
Spain (Galacia) 0.027
U. S. Whites (Minnesota)+ 0.028
Ireland# 0.029
Italy 0.030
Sweden 0.030
Libya (minus Fezzan) 0.030
Germany 0.031
Britain 0.031
Greece 0.032
Netherlands 0.032
Wales 0.033
Corsica 0.034
France 0.035
Spain 0.036
U. S. Whites 0.036
England 0.040
Sicily 0.040
Iceland 0.041
Northern Ireland 0.042
Finland 0.046
Sardinia 0.051
Turkey 0.053
Cyprus 0.058
U.S. Blacks 0.189 Distant Matches
Gullas (Blacks South Carolina) 0.222
Seminole, Oklahoma 0.241
Cherokee 0.256
Seminole, Florida 0.308
It is interesting to note that the Melungeon population tested showed a closer relationship to Finland than to Turkey.
The reports of physical traits such as sexdactyly, "Indian toes" and the Anatolian bump are a fallacy.
Although many Internet sources say Melungeons have genetic health conditions, this has not been proven. In fact the opposite is often true. The theory stemmed from a popular book in which the author made these unfounded claims. The Melungeon population does not suffer from the following genetic conditions:
- Thalassemia
- Behcet's Syndrome
- Machado-Joseph (Azorean) Disease None found among Melungeon descendants[1]
- sarcoidosis[2]
- Familial Mediterranean Fever
Language
The number of Melungeon and Native American terms which have been preliminarily linked with Ottoman period Turkish and Arabic words with identical pronunciations and meaning (and thus 'reinforce the Melungeon construct') is at least 1000. The origin of "Melungeon" as a term is highly controversial.
External links
References
- Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Melungeon" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melungeon, used under the GNU Free Documentation License
